The trail that MSSA blazed...

MSSA's 2013 Protea Team in action in an online DotA 2 test match against Romania.

Recently I have heard a number of organisations laud themselves, sometimes quite vociferously, for getting esports to where it is today.

While everybody's effort has helped, in my opinion, none can surpass what Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has done for esports.

Those with purely a financial interest have largely come and gone, while others such as rAge seem to have real  staying power with an event that has created South Africa's only real answer to those types of events that are held overseas.

Yet, in terms of staying power, none have surpassed MSSA.

MSSA held its first esports event in 1998, and continued on from there.

In fact many of the people who claim to be 'community leaders' competed in many a MSSA event. Practically every person who now runs a private event or private company that owns a team has come through MSSA an been  awarded either provincial or national federation colours. There are even some who earned Protea Colours  and represented South Africa in an official capacity with pride and honour.

'Plugging away' for years allowed MSSA to get esports recognised as a sport in 2005, and with great delight, MSSA was  able to  award its team that went to the World Cyber Games (WCG) in 2005 with Protea Colours.

Since then, the award of Protea Colours to the National Team (if  it has met all the criteria) has been a regular occurrence.

MSSA has not stopped there. MSSA has broadened its footprint in South Africa and is continually pushing both gender and demographic representation in not only in its national teams, but in gaming as a whole.

MSSA too has encouraged a number of schools to accept esports as a sporting code - much to the delight of many a gamer.

Thus MSSA's contribution to gaming is indeed vast, and remains the foundation upon which all others operating in South Africa rest.