Some people enjoy sitting on the couch on a weekend, watching their favourite rugby or soccer game on television. Others sit down behind their home computer to watch other professional gamers take each other on in an action-packed gaming tournament.
Sometimes the games are small in scope, sometimes they’re massive, and other times local teams go on to compete on an international level, bringing home the cup.
If you are in that second category and just can’t get enough of online gaming championships with high stakes and (sometimes) lots of money on the line, you’ve definitely heard of the Minecraft competitive scene. With over 200 million copies sold, it’s definitely one of the biggest games of all time.
Curro Krugersdorp has been running a Minecraft group for their learners for a while now, expanding their horizons. At the beginning of June, they attempted a first for South African esports.
During the Minecraft Esports International Battle, Curro Holdings formed a team of the top players from their various schools to compete against the Fresno Unified School District in California, USA. Four learners from Curro Krugersdorp Primary School, namely Aaron Wecke, Keira Marais, Nathan Hambridge and Nico Arangies joined the team and got to work constructing an intricate three-dimensional world.
Curro Krugersdorp teacher and coach Magdaleen de Kock, who has been working hard to build the Minecraft school’s concept, acted as a commentator during the match and said, “It was amazing to see how the learners were so open to learning and experimenting with new methods during the match. Plans are already afoot to make the Curro/ Fresno match an annual affair.”
The tournament came about after Fresno heard about the Inter-Curro Esports Challenge of 2020, said to have been the first time that an academic institution officially used the Minecraft: Education Edition.
“Fresno asked Microsoft to facilitate an introduction, which has led to an ongoing collaborations between the Curro group and Fresno, which has guided the global implementation of Minecraft esports,” explained Communications and Public Relations liaison representing Curro, Nadia Rossouw.
Each team consisted of eight learners. The first portion of the match was a quick-build 20 minute round where competitors had to build three-dimensional objects in game, in line with the ‘fantasy castle’ theme. The theme for the second round was the fantasy world of Harry Potter, and the teams had 35 minutes to build anything from the wizarding world.
The teams were judged on likeness of their builds, teamwork, added aesthetics and environment, and the manipulation of the space including size and scale. Curro received a final score of eight to Fresno’s seven points, winning the tournament.
