A lovely little post from facebook

2014 MSSA ON-LINE SCHOOLS STARCRAFT II CHAMPIONSHIP - 2 August 2014

The MSSA sent out the following press release:
With the support from MWEB, the MSSA has been able to give even greater support to gamers than ever before which has allowed the MSSA to continue developing eSports as a fully accredited sport at school level.

The MSSA considers its school development programme to be the fundamental building block to creating top-of-the-line international players.

The on-line championship is able to reach into every 'nook-and-cranny' in South Africa to find aspiring young gamers who will be able to fight for accolades as being the best gamer (in both men's and women's divisions), but also earn provincial colours. Such provincial colours may even allow the deserving recipient the ability to earn a sports bursary at university.

But it does not stop there. The MWEB sponsorship allows the entrants to enter for free......

Incredible - something for nothing!

In 2014 the MSSA shall send a male and female StarCraft II player to participate in the IeSF's 2014 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. However, it must be remembered that only the senior events count towards qualifying for the National Team trials for such team.

Details of the championship are:

Tournament Structure:

• Swiss Rounds

Eligibility to enter:

• Only learners who are registered as high school learners may enter. Registration forms must still be completed and submitted, but any learner that enters does not need to be a Registered Player.
• Participants who are still minors must get a guardian to submit their entry for the tournament
• Participants must own a legal version of Starcraft 2
• Participants must be resident in South Africa

Registration:

• To register, a completed registration form must be either faxed to 086 672 1911 or sent as a pdf to mindsportssa@iafrica.com
• Registrations shall close on 31 July 2014 at 24H00.

When and Where:

• 2 August 2014 - Start time 10H00
• The tournament will run via the European Battle.net server

 The championship is accredited as being of the same status as a provincial championship. This means that the championship shall be used for the following:

• The awarding of school provincial colours;
• The awarding of medals for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places for both men and women;

Please note that the actual hand-over of medals shall only be done at a MSSA Championships, whether it be a Regional, Provincial, and National event. Only if there is not a MSSA event in the region in which the gamer resides shall the MSSA deviate from such policy.

 

Issued by:

Colin Webster
General Secretary
Mind Sports South Africa
P O Box 19275
FISHER'S HILL
1408
Tel: 011 828 4994
Cell: 073 593 9451
Fax: 086 672 1911
e-mail: mindsportssa@iafrica.com
URL: http://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is an affiliate of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee.

The MSSA is responsible for the good governance and promotion of Board games (such as Backgammon, Diplomacy, Checkers, Draughts, Morabaraba, etc.), eSports (whether they are played on 'cell 'phones, consoles, personal computers or similar), and historical figure games (also known as wargames).

MSSA and SASCOC

From the MSSA facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa):

"It has come to the attention of Mind Sports South Africa that it has been alleged on a website that MSSA’s membership of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has been terminated. We wish to state that this is not true and that MSSA’s membership of SASCOC has never been terminated. Our recent correspondence with SASCOC confirms this position.

There is a dispute with SASCOC as to documentation which they say they are unhappy with. MSSA will meet with SASCOC in due course to clarify this matter.

We request members to disregard any statements which imply that MSSA has been expelled from SASCOC as being false."

IeSF Press Release re 2014 World Championships Baku

Press Release

– IeSF Board has made decision to make their event “Open for All” –

Date: 03 July 2014

On 2^nd of July, 2014, the IeSF’s policy about gender division, which separates the female division and the male division, has been brought into question. The IeSF has listened to the gaming community and has carefully considered their opinions. Upon hearing these concerns, the IeSF convoked an emergency session of the IeSF Board to respond.

As a result, IeSF shall have two event categories: “Open for All” events and events that are reserved for women. The events which were initially set aside as the male division will now be open to all genders, and the events which were initially set as the female division will remain as they were.

The IeSF Board addressed its reason for maintaining events for women, citing the importance of providing female gamers with ample opportunities to compete in e-Sports—currently a male-dominated industry. Female gamers make up half of the world’s gaming population, but only a small percentage of e-Sports competitors are women. The IeSF’s female-only competitions aim to bring more diversity to competitive play by improving the representation of women at these events. Without efforts to improve representation, e-Sports can’t achieve true gender equality.

In order to apply the new policy with consistency, IeSF has added an “Open for All” Tekken Tag Tournament 2 tournament, which was initially set aside for female-only competition. Therefore, the amended plan for the 6^th e-Sports World Championship BAKU 2014 is:

■ Open for All

DOTA 2

- Participating teams may consist of 5 male players, 5 female players, or mixed team.

StarCraft^® II: Heart of the Swarm^®

- Players of all genders can participate in the event.

Ultra Street Fighter 4

- Players of all genders can participate in the event.

Hearthstone^™: Heroes of Warcraft^™

- Players of all genders can participate in the event.

TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2

- Players of all genders can participate in the event.

■ Female Competition

StarCraft^® II: Heart of the Swarm^®

- Female event is conducted separately, in parallel with “Open for All” event.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

- Female event is conducted separately, in parallel with “Open for All” event.