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| Sydney Wood (right), from the Western Cape, was the first female esports athlete to play in the history of the BRICS Esports Championships. |
With a number of international events likely to happen in 2026 it is always better to enter MSSA events earlier rather than later in order to qualify for MSSA's National Team Trials.
It is in MSSA's National Team Trials that teams will be selected for Protea teams that will officially represent South Africa in international events.
Remember that you cannot officially represent South Africa in an international event unless selected by MSSA.
MSSA's Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships to be held on 24 January 2026 offers all esports athletes the first chance in 2026 to to qualify for National Team Trials.
Thus the hunt is on for the 2026 National Protea Esports Teams.
To have a chance to qualify for selection, players must be members of an affiliated club and qualify for National Team Trials at a MSSA event.
In order to participate, players must be registered for the 2025/2026 season.
The championship shall be held on 28 February 2026.
Game titles to be played are:
As per the MSSA's rules, being:
- If less than six teams, the championship shall be a Round Robin Championship
- If 6 to 10 teams enter the championship there shall be four rounds as played to the Swiss System
- If 11 or more teams enter the championship there shall be five rounds as played to the Swiss System
Eligibility:
- Any team consisting of players who are Registered Players affiliated to a MSSA member club may enter.
Entries:
- Entry is R100.00 per Registered Player.
- Only fully-paid-up Registered Players may participate in this event.
- Entries must be submitted by midnight 27 February 2026
- To enter, the club must complete the Google Drive document.
- The entry form may be found on Google Drive. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xggSHejr_fG4X5pAiGZVp6OmqQtdjA_1FeWtsGZr2Jo/edit?gid=0#gid=0
- Clubs are to download the entry form, completed the downloaded form, and e-mail it to Mind Sports South Africa.
- Photographs of players must accompany the entry.
- Only entries submitted via email and on Excel shall be accepted.
Medals shall be handed over to winners at the next MSSA LAN that they attend.
MALE:
- PREMIER: Medals shall be awarded to the first three teams.
- UNDER 24: Medals shall be awarded to the first three teams that have not won a Premier medal and which are comprised entirely of students currently registered at any officially recognized University.
- SCHOLARS: Medals shall be awarded to the first three teams of learners currently registered at any officially recognized school, provided they have not received any Premier medals.
FEMALE:
- PREMIER: Medals shall be awarded to the first three teams.
- UNDER 24: Medals shall be awarded to the first three teams that have not won a Premier medal and which are comprised entirely of students currently registered at any officially recognized University.
- SCHOLARS: Medals shall be awarded to the first three teams of learners currently registered at any officially recognized school, provided they have not received any Premier medals.
Colours:
- Protea Colours: Only Players that are selected to represent South Africa in International Championships may earn National Colours if the Protea Colours Board's criteria are met.
- 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.
General:
- The championship shall be played on: 28 February 2026.
- The first round will start at 10H00. Players shall be given 60 minutes to complete each round.
- Players playing 3 v 3 Rocket League shall be given 1.5 hours to complete the round.
- The championship is accredited as being of the same status as a provincial championship.
- The championship shall be used for the awarding of provincial colours;
- The championship shall be used for the awarding of medals for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in Premier, Under 24, and School categories;
- The championship shall be used for the ability to qualify for National Team Squad.
- All medals shall be awarded to the recipients at a MSSA LAN championships.
Umpires:
- Umpires may only be contacted over Discord on the day of competition. Any communication not on the Discord channel shall not be entered into.
Ladder:
- All games shall count towards the National Ladder.
Shout casting:
- MSSA shall decide who may shout-cast the games.
- Anybody wishing to be appointed as a Shout-Caster must apply in writing to mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
Additional reading:
- 2026 Calendar of events
- AEC24 - Champions of all of Africa - Protea Female Counter Strike 2 Esports Team wins AEC24
- AEC24 - Forged in battle - a Counter Strike story...
- AEC24 - Thato Maredi outperforms Bafana Bafana!
- ACES - Avenging Bafana
- ACES - Thato advances to the knock-out stages!
- Affiliation: Private Clubs
- Affiliation - Procedure to be followed by school clubs affiliating for the 2026 season.
- Clubs - Newly-affiliated Backgammon clubs are ready to get things rolling…
- Events - 7th Western Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 28 February 2026.
- Events - 15th Online Inter-school Provincial Championships - 14 February 2026
- Events - City of Cape Town Regional Junior Backgammon event - Sunday, 22 February 2026
- Events - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 24 January 2026.
- GEF - Clash Royale esports athletes may win a trip to Mumbai....
- GEF - Even Titans fall!
- GEF - Protea DotA 2 Esports team heads towards GEG25 in Mumbai.
- GEF - Protea DotA 2 Team to represent South Africa in GEG25 qualifiers - Saturday, 7 February 2026
- GEF - Zaid Williams to represent South Africa in Clash Royale - Saturday, 7 February 2026
- General - Relationship between Mind Sports South Africa and independent esports operators
- National Team Trials - Who qualifies for MSSA National Team Trials?
- Rankings - Clubs - The 2025 Top 5 ranked schools for esports ahead of 15th Online Inter-school Provincial Championships to be held on 14 February 2026
- Results - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 24 January 2026.
- Sportsmanship Award - Sportsmanship Award - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships
- Streaming - Streaming of MSSA's Northern Cape Online Championships for the MLBB esports title.
Athlete's rights:
- 2026 Calendar of events
- AEC24 - Champions of all of Africa - Protea Female Counter Strike 2 Esports Team wins AEC24
- AEC24 - Forged in battle - a Counter Strike story...
- AEC24 - Thato Maredi outperforms Bafana Bafana!
- ACES - Avenging Bafana
- ACES - Thato advances to the knock-out stages!
- Affiliation: Private Clubs
- Affiliation - Procedure to be followed by school clubs affiliating for the 2026 season.
- Clubs - Newly-affiliated Backgammon clubs are ready to get things rolling…
- Events - 7th Western Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 28 February 2026.
- Events - 15th Online Inter-school Provincial Championships - 14 February 2026
- Events - City of Cape Town Regional Junior Backgammon event - Sunday, 22 February 2026
- Events - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 24 January 2026.
- GEF - Clash Royale esports athletes may win a trip to Mumbai....
- GEF - Even Titans fall!
- GEF - Protea DotA 2 Esports team heads towards GEG25 in Mumbai.
- GEF - Protea DotA 2 Team to represent South Africa in GEG25 qualifiers - Saturday, 7 February 2026
- GEF - Zaid Williams to represent South Africa in Clash Royale - Saturday, 7 February 2026
- General - Relationship between Mind Sports South Africa and independent esports operators
- National Team Trials - Who qualifies for MSSA National Team Trials?
- Rankings - Clubs - The 2025 Top 5 ranked schools for esports ahead of 15th Online Inter-school Provincial Championships to be held on 14 February 2026
- Results - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 24 January 2026.
- Sportsmanship Award - Sportsmanship Award - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships
- Streaming - Streaming of MSSA's Northern Cape Online Championships for the MLBB esports title.

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