South African learners win against US team in Minecraft esports challenge

A group of Curro school learners emerged victorious against an American team of learners at an international Minecraft esports event.

The Minecraft Esports International Battle took place on 4 June.

The friendly match pitted the South African learners against a team from the Fresno Unified School District in California.

Organised by Curro, the event is a follow-up to the Inter-Curro Esports Challenge in 2020. The school group piloted the project with the help of Microsoft, which makes and owns Minecraft: Education Edition.

Curro learners mine it out in Minecraft esports challenge

Eight learners in Grade 6 and 7 made up the team, four of them each from the Curro Krugersdorp and Aurora schools. Isabella Little from Curro Aurora served as team captain.

The challenge was divided into two parts with the overall aim of constructing a 3D world in Minecraft.

During the first part, the teams competed in a 20-minute quick-build round that required them to build something around the topic, ‘Fantasy Castle’. The topic was only revealed at the start of the event.

During the second part, the teams spent 35 minutes constructing something from Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Wizarding World. The team were made aware of the topic two weeks before the event so they had time to plan their structures.

In the end, the Curro team proved victorious by outscoring their opponents 8-7 in both parts.

“It was amazing to see how the learners were so open to learning and experimenting with new methods during the match,” Curro Krugersdorp teacher and event shoutcaster Magdeleen de Kock said.

“This match between Curro and the Fresno School District will definitely become a regular occurrence. Plans are already afoot to make the Curro/Fresno match an annual affair.”

Curro said it has other Minecraft events scheduled during the next few months. They include the next edition of the Inter-Curro Esports Challenge and its local league.

Feature image: Microsoft/Supplied

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