Barnato Hall residence claims victory at the EAFC24 tournament

by | Apr 23, 2024 | Sport

Wits University students showed-off their skills as they fought for bragging rights this weekend in inter-res, e-sports tournament.

On Saturday, April 20, Wits E-Sports hosted their second annual Inter-res EAFC24 Tournament at Wits Sturrock Park. After multiple hours of fierce competition, the Barnato Hall residence prevailed and emerged as winners on the day, taking home a custom Wits E-Sports trophy.

Wits E-Sports is a club that “promotes mind sports and electronic sports at the university”. Whilst EAFC24 is the world’s premiere football simulation game. The tournament followed a 1v1 knockout format, which was seeded based on the number of registrations from each res.

Packed into the Pete Suzman Conference Venue, sixteen participants representing Men’s Res, Knockando Hall and Barnato Hall attended the event. Players huddled around multiple gaming setups, watching attentively as participants made key tactical tweaks to try and gain an upper hand.

A Barnato Hall representative, Asanda Kubheka, stated that the tournament acted as a “bonding session” for residence members, where students could “get to know each other” and make new friends as they battled together for top spot.

A challenger from Knockando Hall, Thapelo Tlowana, agreed, saying “it’s a way to bring all the res’ together”. 

(From left to right) Asanda Kubheka, Thapelo Tlowana, Silindele Nobadula and Tevin Julius representing their respective residences in the EAFC24 tournament. Photo: Tristan Monzeglio

Off to the side of the action, tournament organisers also set up a table providing snacks for challengers taking a break between bouts. Wits E-Sports chairperson, Sibusiso Khumalo, stressed how they aim to make this tournament “a tradition” and a stand-out date to remember in each residences’ busy calendars.

Khumalo also mentioned tournaments like this allow Wits E-Sport to scout and identify skilled individuals to possibly join their competitive team, which will be entered into the University Sport South Africa (USSA) E-Sport Championships in August this year.

Tebogo Rabothata, Wits E-Sport Sports Officer, added that he believes that “[building] from the ground” will allow Wits E-Sport to become more competitive and will open opportunities to invite professional E-Sport teams like Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs to participate in tournaments hosted by the department.

Rabothata also hopes to one day register teams for the African Cyber Gaming League (ACGL), a South African based E-Sports tournament administrator and broadcaster.

An intense game taking place in the Pete Suzman Conference Venue. Photo: Tristan Monzeglio

Wits E-Sport events co-ordinator, Sean Sesing, emphasised how focused Wits E-Sports is on “[getting] more females into the space”. Rabothata added that he aims to “diversify” the club and mentioned that amongst all the E-Sports teams he manages, female membership increased exponentially, from no members last year, to fifteen members in 2024.

Importantly, Rabothata also thinks that the tournament equips students with a “space… to de-stress” during a busy time of the year and “forget about the books” for a little while. This is echoed by Khumalo, who said Wits E-Sports has helped individuals find their passion outside of academics and enabled them to improve their skills in this regard.

FEATURED IMAGE: The Wits E-Sports EAFC24 trophy in the foreground, as Wits residences compete for first place. Photo: Tristan Monzeglio

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REACHING FOR THE STARS

by | Apr 29, 2015 | Lifestyle, Opinion

Siyabulela Xuza was at the Chamber of Mines yesterday afternoon sharing his life experiences in order to inspire others

There aren’t many South Africans who have the honor of having a planet named after them.

At the age of 26, Harvard graduate Siyabulela Xuza had this honor bestowed upon him after he took first place at an international science fair, the Global Science and Engineering fair for an alternative rocket fuel.

He gave a motivational talk to Engineering students at the Chamber of Mines yesterday afternoon.  Xuza had the audience eating out of his hands after sharing with them that he had been, even if it was for just four months, a Witsie who stayed at Knockando Halls of Residence before he found out that he had been awarded a scholarship to Harvard.

His story is one about perseverance and optimism that knows no bounds. He believes in hard work and to “Remain Ruthlessly Curious” which is his personal motto.

Believer: Siya Xuza sharing stories of his childhood in order to inspire Witsies. Photo: Michelle Gumede

Believer: Siya Xuza sharing stories of his childhood in order to inspire Witsies. Photo: Michelle Gumede

Xuza recounts how as a little boy growing up in Northcrest Township in Umthatha, he was fascinated by watching an airplane in the sky. He did not know what it was, but he wanted to find out.

At some point in his young life he decided he wanted to go to Jupiter, so he’d build a rocket. This decision led to him blowing up parts of his mother’s kitchen in an attempt to create fuel for his rocket.

Xuza’s story is appealing to so many young people because it is authentic. During the question and answer session, he explained how he prefers to tell his own story to inspire young people, in whose position he once was. He believes that because it’s genuine and it’s from him about him, then people are likely to get the message far easier.

“It is estimated that 850 million people in Africa do not have access to energy. As an innovator, it is our [sic] job to try to solve the problems of tomorrow by improving on yesterday’s solutions…” said Xuza. This is the reason he was inspired to create a micro fuel cell that will last longer after it has been charged. He does however admit that even though this cell will revolutionize the availability of power, it is still financially impractical to mass produce.

Xuza says this is why his partnership with TOTAL is so important because then he will be equipped with the necessary financial skills in order to solve this problem.

The humble and quietly confident young man is proof, as clichéd as this sounds, that if you work hard, have a clear vision and persevere, anything is possible.