Video coverage of the MSSA

The MSSA was seen in various video's in 2014, for example:

The IeSF's trailer:

Azerbaijan's TV 

Russian TV 

The MSSA team in Baku

Interview with Jerax - Dota 2 player

Interview with Herudra - Hearthstone player at IeSF

Interview with Las3ed - Hearstone winner at IeSF

Interview with Tobiwan - Dota 2 Shoutcaster at IeSF

Interview with Mila - Runner up for Tekken Tag Tournament at IeSF

South Africa (MSSA) now ranked 13th by IeSF

The MSSA had a highly successful trip to the IeSF's 2014 World Championships - Baku.

As a result of Team eSports South Africa's performance, South Africa is currently ranked 13th in the World as per the attached.

Although this is a drop of three places compared to the 2013 rankings, this is largely due to the increased levels of competition at the event.

This means that Team eSports South Africa is one of the highest ranked teams in South Africa when compared to all of the other sports.

However, the team did South Africa proud both on and off the field of play.

MSSA's 2015 Calendar of Events

Please see below the Calendar of Events as approved by the MSSA's Annual General Meeting.

The calendar shows some interesting changes which are done to accommodate the universities as well as its dynamic school programme.

The Inter-school on-line league has been moved from the end of the year to be in the first term so as not to interfere with exams.

The 2015 Calendar is:

Date	Event	Discipline	Venue
7 & 8 MARCH	19th NORTH WEST Championships	All	Crown the King, Mafikeng
28 & 29 MARCH	32nd GAUTENG Championships	All	TBD
1 APRIL to 31 MAY	Inter-school online league (dates to be set)	eSports (PC)	On-line
11 & 12 APRIL	Provincial School Championships	Board and Figure games	TBD
18 APRIL	Dota 2 Online Championships	eSports (PC)	On-line
9 & 10 MAY	16th EASTERN CAPE Championships	All	TBD
23 & 24 MAY	14th MPUMALANGA Championships	All	HTS Witbank, Beyers Road, Witbank
23 MAY	FINANCIAL AGM	Meeting	HTS Witbank, Beyers Road, Witbank
27 & 28 JUNE	13th FREE STATE Championships	All	TBD
4 & 5 JULY	22nd KWAZULU NATAL Championships	All	TBD
25 & 26 JULY	SA School Championships	Board and Figure games	TBD
15 AUGUST	5th On-line Championships	StarCraft II, League of Legends, Hearthstone	On-line
22 & 23 AUGUST	20th WESTERN CAPE Championships	All	TBD
TBA	Indigenous Games	Morabaraba	To be determined by SRSA
17 & 18 OCTOBER	6th LIMPOPO Championships	All	TBD
5 & 6 DECEMBER	29th S A NATIONAL Championships	All	HTS Witbank, Beyers Road, Witbank
5 DECEMBER	33rd NATIONAL CONVENTION	Meeting	HTS Witbank, Beyers Road, Witbank
TBA	SRSA's S A Schools Championships	Morabaraba	To be determined by SRSA

Notes:

1. International events still need to be included.
2. Inter-Provincial events need to be included
3. Inter-regional events need to be included
4. Regional Championships need to be included.

GAVIN MANNION/COLIN WEBSTER

Also see: Gavin Mannion admits to having lied!

For the actual judgment, please see: http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPPHC/2014/639.pdf

South African MSSA 2014 Management Board Awards:

The MSSA announced its annual Management Board Awards at its Annual General Meeting held on 7 December 2014.

The awards are in recognition to the gamers, media and sponsors that have shown exceptional levels of commitment, dedication, loyalty and excellence in the calendar year ending 15 November 2014.

Thus for many there will be no surprise when they see who the winners are.

However, it should be noted that there are more females than ever before in the final awards.

Morizane Boyes becomes the first female to win the position of Mind Sports Person of the year.

Morizane has shown exceptional skills in all aspects of her involvement in the the MSSA. Everything she has done has been with a passion, and everything she has done, she has done well - so well, that Morizane moved from being an administrator to being a player on the national MWEB Protea team and a respected competitor at the 2014 IeSF World Championships.

The full list of the recipients for 2014 are:

Mind Sports Person of the Year:	Morizane Boyes	All Stars
Board Gamer of the Year:	Lubabalo Kondlo	Dr Niederhoffer Memorial CC
Computer Gamer of the Year:	Barry West	Tuks Mind Sports Club
Wargamer of the Year:	Elishia Retief	Old Edwardian Wargames Club
Volunteer of the Year:	Louis Brown	All Stars
Mind Sports Writer of the Year:	Kyle Wolmarans	MWEB GAMEZONE
Best Sponsor of the Year:	MWEB

MWEB 2014 South African National LAN Championships - 6 & 7 December 2014

Registrations are open for MSSA's MWEB 2014 South African National LAN Championships.

The MSSA's MWEB 2014 South African National LAN Championships marks the start of the process of selecting the 2015 Protea eSports team that will attend the 7th IeSF World Championships.

It was mentioned at the IeSF's AGM that the IeSF intends to increase the number of titles at the World Championships.

Already the MSSA's level of participation has gone from only two players in 2009 to nine in 2014.

The MSSA remains absolutely committed to sending teams to all future IeSF World Championships.

Not only will the MSSA send teams to the World Championships, but the MSSA will also continue with participating in the ever popular International On-line Test Matches.

Registrations will close on the 4 December 2014. Players who wish  to compete in any of MSSA's Championships are advised to complete their annual registration forms so that they may registered as Registered Players as soon as possible. Please note that the MSSA's financial year starts on 1 November, so all players need to re-register if they intend to participate in the S A National Championships.

Late entries will be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

All gamers are reminded that the MSSA's MWEB 2014 South African National LAN Championships are an open championship.In other words any registered player is entitled to enter the championship – no matter where they live, or their category of membership. If you have any queries, please contact the MSSA.

Championship Details:

Hosting Club: Tuks Mind sports Club, Pretoria.

• Venue: Springbok Hall, University of Pretoria.
• Date: 6 & 7 December 2014
• Entry Fees: R60.00 per Registered Player per Period
• Computers: Bring your own. Please ensure that all game updates are done prior to arrival.
• Schedule: The LAN Schedule for all 2014 is:
  

SATURDAY:
Time	StarCraft II	Call of Duty: Ghosts	League of Legends (LoL)	Hearthstone
09H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts
09H45	Round 2 Starts	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues
10H30	Round 3 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts
11H15	Round 4 Starts	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues
12H00	Round 5 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts
12H45		Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues	Round 3Continues
13H00	LUNCH
Time	TEKKEN TTII	Call of Duty: Ghosts	LoL (continued)	Hearthstone (continued)
14H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts
14H45	Round 2 Starts	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues
15H30	Round 3 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts
16H15	Round 4 Starts	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues
17H00	Round 5 Starts
18H00	Awards Ceremony
19H00	Doors Close
SUNDAY:
Time	Dota	CounterStrike	OSU	FIFA '14
09H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts
09H45	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 2 Starts
10H30	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 3 Starts
11H15	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 4 Starts
12H00	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 5 Starts
12H45	Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues
13H00	LUNCH
Time	Dota (continued)	CounterStrike  (continued)	OSU
14H00	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts
14H45	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues
15H30	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts
16H15	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues
17H00
18H00	Awards Ceremony
19H00	Doors Close

Rules and Regulations: All Rules and Regulations pertaining to eSports are available from the MSSA. Players are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the LAN League Bylaws and all Period Specific Rules. If any Player wishes to provide advice regarding the drafting of the Period Specific Rules they are encouraged to contact the eSBoC who will take all comments into account.

The following Medals may be awarded at the MSSA's MWEB 2014 South African National LAN Championships:

• PREMIER: Medals shall be awarded to the first three players who are registered players.
• SCHOLARS: Medals shall be awarded to the first three high school scholars, provided they have not received any Premier medals.
• UNIVERSITY:Medals shall be awarded to the first three players who are currently registered at any officially recognised University, provided the players have not received any Premier Medals.
• WOMEN: Women will be awarded medals as per the same basis as above, that is in all three categories.
  

Colours and National Team Trials:

• National Colours: All Players that win all of their Matches at a National Championship will earn National Colours.
  
• Provincial Colours: All Players that win all of their Matches at a Provincial Championship will earn Provincial Colours. All Players who score within the top 50% in a specific Period at a Provincial Championship, and who also score within the top 50% at a National Championship in the same period and in the same year, will earn Provincial Colours.
  
• National Team Trials: All Players that score within the top 20% or top three places, whichever is greater, in a specific Period at a Provincial or National Championship will earn an invitation to National Team Trials. National Team Trials shall be held in the event that a National Team must be selected to represent South Africa when competing in such Period in an International Championship.

Please note that the MSSA does not carry stock of shirts that are awarded. Registered Players who are awarded colours will thus be awarded at an event that they attend after being so awarded.

The next provincial; event is: The North West Championships that shall be held on 7 & 8 March 2015.

Issued by:

-- 
Colin Webster
General Secretary
Mind Sports South Africa
P O Box 19275
FISHER'S HILL
1408
Tel: 011 828 4994
Fax: 086 672 1911
Cell: 073 593 9451
e-mail: mindsportssa@iafrica.com
URL: http://www.mindsportsa.co.za
Twitter: @mindsportssa
Skype: colin.webster4

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, Sony® PSP?s, personal computers or similar), and Historical figure games (also known as wargames). 

What did South Africa learn from the 2014 season?

South Africa has had a busy year in regards to international competition in 2014.

Of course Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has been busy trying to prepare teams, but Energy eSports and Bravado also made forays into international competition.

Bravado's first foray was with the MSI's low key 'Beat IT' competition. The competition is of course merely a marketing event and did not include the top teams in the world. Even so, Bravado was unable to make any real headway with the competition and bowed out gracefully.

Their second attempt was with DreamHack Winter in November 2014. The event showed just how different the standards between the South Africans and the Europeans are. Just like in 2008, when Bravado (thanks to the MSSA) had the opportunity of playing against SK Gaming, Fnatic demolished the club team from South Africa.

Energy eSports fared no better at the privately owned ESWC in October 2014.

The MSSA too had its successes and failures. The MWEB Protea Dota 2 team played online test matches

Nathan 'Static' Anderson too showed his mettle at such World Championships.

The rest of the team had mixed results with the best results for a South African in such World Championships going to Barry West who competed in the Hearthstone event.

against Egypt and Finland, and were trounced by both. However, valuable lessons were learnt and the team showed just how much they had improved at the 2014 IeSF World championships – Baku.

So what has the 2014 eSports year taught South Africans?

Undoubtably 2014 has showed the weakness in South African eSports.

The main areas that perpetuate these weaknesses are:

• That South Africans do not get enough international exposure. As a result South African gaming has become a small pond. This too means that South Africans are not really aware of the types of competition overseas as well of what the different competitions really mean.
• South Africans tend to compare international compettions to what happens in wevents like the DGL. Get it, South Africa is a small pond, and the rest of the world does not give a small iota as to what happens here! Also the systems used are tried and tested and are used for a reason, and that is to get the best possible result in the time allocated.
• Not enough players play in LANs. Sure the games are all available to be played online, but if you do not play at least five lan championships a year, you are just not going to be in the right frame of mind to play at an international level.
• The teams are too dispersed. Because teams have players from every corner of the country, teams find it difficult to play in more than one or two lans a year. It is almost impossible to get teams together to practice on a continual and ongoing basis. Look at the top teams in the world. Many of such teams stay in the same town and city and they often practice often from the same venue.
• The playing pool is far to small. Too few clubs/teams are doing anything to grow the size of the eSports 'community'. When looking at any group of gamers in South Africa, one could easily believe that South Africa is a country of two worlds and not a unified country. The white population in South Africa is estimated to be only 3 million out of a total population of 55 million. Why then is there not a greater drive to unite all South Africans and ensure that there is greater representivity?

There is no doubt that the MSSA is trying to correct the many wrongs. The MSSA is doing everything it possibly can to encourage more females to compete in eSports as well as, through its dynamic school league, encourage the growth of the game at school level, and by continually increasing its involvement in international competition.

I have a lot of faith in the school league. It is here where teams can practice and play online from the same venue, where every learner has the ability to enter and participate, and from where the new champions will emerge.

The MSSA had 17 schools participate in its online championships in 2014. The rules are based largely on the IeSF's rules for online test matches, and there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that it bodes well for the long-term development and sustainability of eSports in South Africa.

IeSF 2014 World Championships - Baku: Tekken Tag Tournament 2 athletes (female division)

The female division of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 seems as though it will be a real hum-dinger!

Not only are numbers up in this division, but it seems as though so is the standard of play.

Even though the 2013 World Champion, Yi Sub Yang, from south Korea, is not present, all the other 'big names' are.

The battle for for first prize is thus going to be hotly contested, and no quarter shall be given.

The MSSA's MWEB Protea Team consists of Morizane Boyes (nee van Niekerk) who will be defending South Africa's honour against all odds!

It's going to be great!

COUNTRY	NAME	TEAM	NICKNAME	BIRTH
Australia	Phrances, Carandang	Team Australia	Zephyr	1989
Azerbaijan	Fidan, Sultanova	Team Azerbaijan	Miss Auditore	2014
Finland	Tuula, Rantala	Team Finland	edgemis	1990
India	CHANDNI, BATHLA	Team India	CHANDNI	1989
Mongolia	Tuvshinbileg, Chinges	Anti-N	Anti-N	1995
Romania	Elena, Surdu	TeamRO	Ellie	1988
Russia	Sofia, Degay	Team Russia	GreenLeo	1991
Serbia	Milica, Tešović	Team Serbia	Gea	1991
South Africa	Morizane, van Niekerk	MSSA	Mozi	1987
Switzerland	Sabrina, Allemann	Tekken Fieber	Koizumi Ayumu	1991

All information provided by the IeSF. http://ie-sf.com/