Report on the March 2000 Gauteng Schools’ Scrabble Tournament
Scrabble®, the world’s favourite word game, is a wonderful, entertaining tool for enhancing proficiency in the English language, for both first- and second-language speakers. In the USA, over half a million students play the game in over 15 000 schools. Educators cite its many benefits - improved vocabulary, spelling, dictionary skills, arithmetic, creativity, spatial relationships and co-operative learning.
Although the idea of running a Scrabble Tournament for High School pupils has been discussed for years, this year that dream came to fruition. Over 150 schools were contacted in November 1999 by post, inviting pupils to the first ever Gauteng Schools' Scrabble Tournament. In the end, 36 pupils from 9 schools participated. The tournament was held jointly by SANSPA Gauteng and the South African Council for English Education (SACEE).
The tournament was held in the library at Parktown High School for Girls, on 19 March 2000. It was played over 3 games. There were 16 in the senior section (Grades 11 and 12), and 20 in the junior section (Grades 8-10).
The enthusiasm of the pupils was tremendous. Thanks to generous donations from Roche and Eli Lilly (organised by Diana Mason), there were plenty of spot prizes to be given away - for categories like: first animal played, first geographical feature, colour, etc. We also had fantastic prizes of Scrabble Sets, hats, pens and floating trophies donated by Angelique Thompson, Brand Manager at Just Fun Toys.
Contributions were also received from the Benoni and Johannesburg Scrabble Clubs.
Most of the players were quite new to Scrabble, and some had real potential to become top players. One of the problems was the slow pace of the games, with many ending unfinished with half-full bags! Also some notable words were not challenged ... DURT springs to mind! In fact the tournament had to be cut from 4 to 3 games to finish on time. The pupils really enjoyed the day, and two schools, Forest High and General Smuts High, sent ten players each to the social section of the Gauteng Open in May 2000.
A huge thank you goes to the SANSPA Gauteng Committee for all the hard work put into this tournament.
Results:
SENIOR (Grades 11 & 12)
1 |
Vania Mahotas |
3 wins |
+ 222 |
Forest High |
2. |
Adam Hooper |
3 wins |
+ 126 |
General Smuts High |
3. |
Nitesh Singh |
2 wins |
+ 136 |
Forest High |
4. |
Dennis Ah Ling |
2 wins |
+73 |
General Smuts High |
5. |
Refilwe Sathekge |
2 wins |
+52 |
General Smuts High |
6. |
Nthabiseng Moloi |
2 wins |
+ 25 |
Mcauley House |
7. |
Rene Kruyshaar |
2 wins |
- 29 |
General Smuts |
8. |
Dominique Dos Santos |
2 wins |
-60 |
Forest High |
9. |
Katherine Fletcher |
1 win |
+74 |
Mcauley House |
10. |
Phumzile Mahlangu |
1 win |
+30 |
Mcauley House |
11. |
Mandy Beck |
1 win |
-1 |
Westbury Secondary |
12. |
Patience Masilo |
1 win |
-85 |
Forest High |
13. |
Carmen Pedro |
1 win |
-100 |
Forest High |
14. |
Eileen Eva |
1 win |
-112 |
Forest High |
15. |
Brydo Earland |
0 wins |
-129 |
Westbury Secondary |
16. |
Glen Robinson |
0 wins |
-222 |
General Smuts |
High Game: Vania Mahotas 300 Forest High
High Word: Dominique Dos Santos ZENITH 60 Forest High
JUNIOR (Grades 8-10)
1 |
Michael Jones |
3 wins |
+ 195 |
Parktown Boys |
2. |
Refiloe Tsotetsi |
3 wins |
+ 111 |
Mcauley House |
3. |
Tom Hammond |
2 wins |
+ 208 |
Parktown Boys |
4. |
Keitumetse Seitlamo |
2 wins |
+ 92 |
General Smuts |
5. |
Feela Tshepo |
2 wins |
+86 |
General Smuts |
6. |
Gavin Styane |
2 wins |
+ 85 |
Krugersdorp High |
7. |
Matshidiso Modise |
2 wins |
+54 |
Parktown Girls |
8. |
Penelope Yen |
2 wins |
+31 |
Kingsmead College |
9. |
Nhlanhla Khumalo |
2 wins |
-31 |
General Smuts |
10. |
Mmoneng Gwebo |
2 wins |
-64 |
General Smuts |
11. |
Meghan Greenberg |
1 win |
+62 |
Kingsmead College |
12. |
Yakho Banda |
1 win |
+10 |
Parktown Girls |
13. |
Tebello Thejane |
1 win |
-1 |
General Smuts |
14. |
Mpho Mosholi |
1 win |
-54 |
Westbury Secondary |
15. |
Olivia Stanger |
1 win |
-63 |
Westbury Secondary |
16. |
Emmarentia Rifles |
1 win |
-87 |
Westbury Secondary |
17. |
Neo Maponono |
1 win |
-138 |
Westbury Secondary |
18. |
Rudo Sudomba |
1 win |
-192 |
Mcauley House |
19. |
Janice Khan |
0 wins |
-149 |
Westbury Secondary |
20. |
Terri Tale |
0 wins |
-155 |
Mcauley House |
High Game: Tom Hammond 308 Parktown Boys High
High Word: Gavin Styane FOILINGS 83
The 2001 Tournament promises to be bigger and better than last year's one!
DATE: |
SUNDAY 4 MARCH 2001 |
TIME: |
1:30-18:30 (approximately) |
VENUE: |
THE SCHOOL HALL PARKTOWN HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS TYRONE AVENUE, PARKVIEW, 2193 011 646-5423 |
COST: |
R10 PER ENTRANT |
DIVISIONS: |
SENIOR (GRADES 11 & 12) JUNIOR (GRADES 8, 9, 10) PRIMARY SCHOOL (if there is enough interest) |
DRESS: |
SCHOOL UNIFORM |
We are also offering workshops at interested schools. Please get in touch!
If you would like more information, please contact Steven Gruzd on
É
011 268-0923 (H), 011 482-5140 (W)š
or by email steven@cde.org.zaLink to School Scrabble in North America! http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/schools/
Link to School Scrabble in Hampshire, UK! http://www.hollington27.freeserve.co.uk/schools.html
Link to School Scrabble in New South Wales, Australia! http://www.schoolwords.com/
Link to School Scrabble in Malaysia! http://sites.netscape.net/malscrabbleclub/homepage.html
Link to School Scrabble in Baulkam Hills, Sydney, Australia! http://www.bhsc.org.au/
SCRABBLE® is the registered trademark of HASBRO in the USA and Canada and JW Spear and Sons PLC, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. elsewhere.