BOO! Protea CounterStrike: GO Team faces an uphill struggle.

The draw at IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan.

2016 saw South Africa  enter a CounterStrike: GO team to IeSF's 8th World Championships - Jakarta.

Such  team had a tough time  at IeSF's 8th World Championships, and South Africa returned with many hard learned lessons.
The lessons learnt were all brought home and helped to select  the 2017 team.

With IeSF's 9th World Championships about to begin, and the South African BOO! Protea CounterStrike: GO Team shall again be faced by strong opposition.

The team is in Group C, and faces Korea, Romania, Malaysia, and Philippines.

Nevertheless, MSSA has faith in the team, and faith in the members of such team, which consists of the following players:

Title	Name	Club	Nick	Residence
CounterStrike: GO	Ryan Van Schalkwyk	IntenSity E-Sports	REvS	Johannesburg
	James Hulett	VexxedPhoenix	scheeR	Pretoria
	Leander Van Schalkwyk	VexxedPhoenix	chappie	Johannesburg
	Esmari Swart	IntenSity E-Sports	EsProxy	Vanderbijl Park
	Rojuan Kuba	ZagAlliance	FrostzR	Cape Town

The full draw is as follows:

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Australia	Finland	Korea	China
Thailand	Russia	Romania	Sweden
Israel	Azerbijan	South Africa	Taiwan
Switzerland	Georgia	Malaysia	Indonesia
		Philippines

It's an African derby!

The draw for Tekken 7  at IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan.

The last time that Tekken was played at IeSF's World Championships was at the 6th World Championships - Baku.

At Baku, South Africa performed well with Morizane Boyes finishing in 9th place.

Te following players shall be competing in the same group as Alasdair Donaldson from MSSA's BOO! Team Esports South Africa:

• TEAM AZERBAIJAN - Chingiz Kargin
• TEAM NAMIBIA - Mazila Mazila
• TEAM MACAU - Ka Io Fong
• TEAM LEGION ISRAEL - Michael Karkazshvili
• TEAM VIETNAM - Tu Ash Nguyeni

It is thought by many observers that the LENOVO sponsored Michael Karkazshvili of Israel is Alasdair's biggest threat in the group stage.

However, Namibia's Mazila Mazila is unknown and may well prove to be the biggest  surprise.

Nevertheless, MSSA is confident that Alasdair will give it his all and perform to the best of ability and take on Mazila Mazila in a derby type event.

Port Elizabethan Gregory Wessels selected to be the BOO! Protea Esports flag-bearer

Gregory Wessels - SA's flag-bearer.

There is little doubt that to be 'the' flag-bearer at an official international sporting event is indeed an honour.

MSSA's flag-bearer is an outstanding person who bears South Africa's beloved flag honouring it above all others.

Thus the selection by the International eSports Federation (IeSF) of Port Elizabethan Gregory Wessels to bear South Africa's flag at the Opening Ceremony of the 9th World Championships has very much honoured Gregory. As South Africa's flag-bearer, Gregory joins a veritable group of who's who in international eSports.

Dignatories that shall attend the opening ceremony include members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA), and of the International e-Sports Federation.

Photographs of Gregory Wessels may be found on: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1077367312297193.1073741834.140301479337119&type=3

IeSF Finalizes the Entry for 9th Esports World Championship Busan 2017

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has announced the “Final Entry” for the 9^th Esports World Championship. 

Of course South Africa's national federation, Mind Sports South Africa, will be represented with its Protea Esports Team as sponsored by BOO! Surprising Media Solutions. A total of 36 countries, consisting of 328 athletes will travel to Busan, to compete in 3 official events. The events are League of Legends(LOL), Counter Strike : Global Offensive (CS:GO), and Tekken 7.

The 9^th Esports World Championship Busan 2017, which will be held on 8^th to 12^th  November 2017. 

All athletes and delegations will be present at the tournament venue on the 8^th for the group drawing session, and the actual tournament begins on the 9^th November 2017. 

With 147 of the teams coming from Europe, and 134 from Asia, there is no doubt that the few African teams have got their work cut out for them as  they take on the juggernauts. Details of participating athletes in each event can be found on the official website of IeSF (www.ie-sf.org).

IeSF's Esports World Championship is the only international esports competition based on nationality. 

The host city is chosen each year through the official “Host City Bidding Process” where the bid documents is distributed and open to all cities willing to host the event. As the official signatory of WADA, IeSF has been practicing doping tests in all its events, while also promoting and acknowledge clean sports.

The previous Esport World Championship hosted in Jakarta, Indonesia, was more competitive than ever before. Each title was won by a different nation. 

In 2016, Austria won Hearthstone, Finland won CS:GO, and South Korea won LOL. 

With more nations participating in 2017 at IeSF's 9^th Esports World Championships in Busan, the level of competition is expected to be even higher.

More information about this World Championship can be found in the last article of IeSF:

http://www.ie-sf.org/news/iesf-finalized-the-official-titles-of-9th-esports-wc/

IeSF's 9th World Championships - Participants

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has delivered esports teams to each and every IeSF World Championship since 2009.

2017 is no different, and MSSA's BOO! Protea Esports Team will depart on 6 November 2017 for the rather chilly shores  of South Korea.

The International e-Sports Federation was only founded in 2008 by eight member countries, IeSF has grown from year-to-year.

IeSF's annual world championships has also grown from year-to year.

The 2017 edition will see no fewer than 35 countries participating. Those 35 countries will deliver no fewer than 310 participants.

IeSF's world championship is the only world championship for official national teams. As such growth may be slower, but such growth is more sustainable and, in my opinion, more accurate.

It is not a case that just anybody can just 'put' a team together and go to compete. There is a process. The process involves creating a national federation, getting the federation recognised, and then affiliating to IeSF.

Such efforts lead towards long-term development at all levels, and more than anything, helps protect the athlete.

Sports and Esports Officials to conduct open dialogue at GEES 2017

The 2nd Global Esports Executive Summit 2017 (GEES) will invite officials from the traditional sports to openly discuss and exchange ideas with esports officials at one location. This is a follow-up to the main vision of the GEES, which is to reach consensus for esports development and to involve international sports society for discussion on how esports can generate synergies with traditional sports.

There has been various opinion and debates regarding esports as a sports. 

Nonetheless, the momentum to recognize esports as an official sports continues to increase, there are currently 27 national federations as recognised by NOC (National Olympic Committee) / NSA (National Sport Authority). 

The OCA (Olympic Council of Asia) has recognized esports as an official sport since 2013 and will also start its integration of esports into the programs of Asian Games starting from 2018. The Paris Olympic Bid Committee has also indicated interest and intentions to engage with esports during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has invited the following sports representatives to at attend GEES 2017.

Philippe Gueisbuhler, GAISF Head of Administration will participate on behalf of President Patrick Baumann as an observer of GEES 2017. 

Matt Pound, ITTF Head of Communications will participate in the panel of “Esports and Sports Synergies Value Creation”. Charmaine Crooks, NGU Consultants CEO will take part in discussion of “How to increase participation of underrepresented groups”.

Vlad Marinescu, RSportz President, will give an explanation on the general process of how a specific sports can receive global recognition as an official sports. 

Moreover, Moritz Maurer will present on “How betting has been handled in Sports” while also participating in the panel discussion of “Can esports betting be an added value to the esports ecosystem”

For more information on GEES 2017, please read the previous news article http://www.ie-sf.org/news/registration-opens-for-global-esports-executive-summit-gees-2017/ Or visit the official website: http://iesf.rsportz.com/

IeSF's Annual General Meeting

A time-line showing IeSF's achievements.

The International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) was established back in 2008, and Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) affiliated at IeSF's first Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) in 2009 which was held in Taebaek in South Korea.

Like clockwork, IeSF has held its annual esports world championships and its annual general meetings. IeSF has gone from only eight members to now having 51 members (all categories).

It is at such OGM's that the membership debate the larger vision that IeSF has for esports as well as holding the elected officials accountable for their actions.

In line with MSSA's concepts of good governance, MSSA has made some interesting proposals. The most important being enlarging the Board so that  more member  nations may be represented on such Board.

Thus IeSF's 2017 Ordinary General Meeting is to be held at:

1. Venue: 3^rd Floor Conference Room, Crown Harbor Hotel, Busan, Korea

2. Date & Time: 10^th day of November, 2017 (09H30 ~ 12H00)

Only delegates appointed by members may attend.

The best MGO.

Learners representing their school with pride.

In South African esports there is a lot of talk about Milti-Gaming Organisations (MGO's).

But what is an MGO?

Currently, the definition for an MGO on Wikipedia is stated as such:

"Multi-Gaming-Organisations (MGO's) are in many ways like clans or clubs except they are focused on the business aspect of eSports and are made up of many competitive teams. While the teams within MGO's are often managed in the same way a normal clan is managed, the organisation's top level management would include marketing, business and public relations personnel. In short, an MGO functions like a business while, in general, clans / clubs do not."

So what we  can gather from the above definition is that an MGO can take the form of various legal entities.

Such entities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Private companies (owned by one or more shareholders), 
• Clans owned by sole-traders,
• Clans owned by partnerships,
• Associations,
• University clubs,
• School clubs.

Without doubt, in my opinion, the MGO's which are Associations, University clubs, and School clubs are the types of organisations that best look after the interests of the player as the administrators govern through passion, and not from a profit-making point of view.

However, the  best, and biggest, MGO's are without doubt the  schools themselves.

Not only do  the school clubs have a reach that dwarfs that of any private MGO, school clubs are able to develop gamers on every single level, in every single game, and also have the facilities on hand to do so. 

Schools like Northcliff High School have produced gamers in every genre of esports from computer gaming through to gaming on mobiles. Such types of schools have also produced players that have made it into the Protea Team. Gamers like Robert Botha and Ian Pillay represented South Africa  with pride and excelled representing Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) at various International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) events.

The  growth of gaming thus seems secure while it it is in the hands of the schools. Schools are a stable base which can develop a healthy foundation to the long-term growth.

In other words, schools are the best MGO's there are.

It takes everyone's effort.

The International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has advised all members on their good governance records based on their annual returns, membership, and good standing.

In 2016, under Simphiwe Maphumulo's presidency, Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) soared to fifth place. Such ranking inspired MSSA's Board to reach even higher.

Thus in the first year of Morizane Boyes' presidency, MSSA has pushed itself even further. Under Morizane's astute leadership, the forces of administrators, officials, and athletes combined to create a winning team. The success of MSSA is not dependent on any one individual, it is dependent on the contribution of all. 

Yet even with the commitment, loyalty, dedication of people like Adele Janse van Rensburg, James Evans, Alwyn van Wyk, Ryan Boyes, Brandon Fester, and so many, many others, MSSA has reached a height not dreamed of. It is unfortunate that one cannot list all the names of all those who contributed to such success.

MSSA now climbed to the position of being ranked 1st for its administration.

Never before has South Africa been ranked first, and now that MSSA is so ranked, the challenge is to keep such ranking.

Jason Batzofin (IeSF's Athletes' Commission) meets with AeSF's Players' Representative.

Frederico Alexandre Dos Santos Rosario (AeSF's Players' Representatives) and Jason Batzofin (IeSF's Athletes' Commission)  

The Asian Electronic Sports Federation's (AeSF) Annual General Meeting held at Hilton Al Ain on 15 September 2017 saw AeSF induct its Player's Representative.

Under the watchful eye of  His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, the General Meeting unanimously elected Frederico Alexandre Dos Santos Rosario (of Macau) as its Players' Representative.

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has a policy of 'Protect the Player', through which IeSF is working to improve the basic conditions of esports athletes

As soon as he was elected to the position Jason Batzofin (Chairman of IeSFs' Athletes' Commission) welcomed Frederico to his newly elected position.

Readers should note that AeSF is without doubt the largest member based continental confederation for esports in the world. In fact, its size of membership is only dwarfed by IeSF itself. Affiliated to International e-Sports Federation, AeSF enjoys the spotlight of being the premier Continental Confederation for esports.

There is no doubt that AeSF shall become a major 'mover and skaker' in the world of esports as esports as a fully accredited sporting code continues to grow and develop.

Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan returned as President of Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AeSF)

 His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, (left) with Alex Lim of IeSF.

The Hilton Al Ain in UAE was a spectacular host the Asian Electronic Sports Federation's (AeSF) General Assembly Meeting on 15 September 2017.

The dazzling hotel was  only matched by the passion of the esports administrators present.

Presided over by His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, the meeting consisted of representatives of 16 National Federations, being; Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Iran, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. There were also five IeSF Board Members present from South Korea, England, Russia, South Africa, and Sweden.

With almost one voice the proposed changes to the Statutes were accepted to create a leaner, more efficient, AeSF.

The elections too were very positive, and His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan was returned as President of AeSF to the satisfaction of all who were present. Members of the Board were elected from 12 of the member nations present to create a diverse and democratic institution ready to meet the challenges that lie before it.

The ever efficient Loghman Shavarany (Iran) was returned as General Secretary.

Readers should note that AeSF is without doubt the largest member based continental confederation for esports in the world. In fact, its size of membership is only dwarfed by IeSF itself. Affiliated to International e-Sports Federation, AeSF enjoys the spotlight of being the premier Continental Confederation for esports.

There is no doubt that AeSF shall become a major 'mover and shaker' in the world of esports as esports as a fully accredited sporting code continues to grow and develop.

Meet the speakers at Global Esports Executive Summit (GEES) 2017

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has confirmed the six agendas to be discussed at the Global Esports Executive Summit (GEES) 2017. 

Following the GEES 2016 which was held in Shanghai, the GEES 2017 will be held in Busan, at the International Passenger Terminal Convention Center on November 13th - 15th.

The agenda of GEES 2017 is as follows:

• Esports to Olympics
• Future Direction of Esports
• Esports Relations with Public Sector
• Esports Betting
• Making One Esports World
• Esports Academic Society

GEES 2017 will be added with new programs such as ‘B2B Promotion Zone’ and ‘New Esports Showcase’. B2B zone is an exhibition booth for GEES 2017 partners to increase their brand exposure, and the showcase is an opportunity to give potential developers to showcase their new esports discipline.

The Summit is to be held directly after the end of the 9th esports World Championship, and is expected to be hosted on a larger scale than before with more than 200 officials from both side of sports and esports. For a more detailed introduction to the event, please refer to the official website http://iesf.rsportz.com/ where registration is also possible.

For information on the announcement of GEES 2017, please refer to the article link below:

http://www.ie-sf.org/news/global-esports-executive-summit-2017-to-be-held-in-busan-korea/

IeSF agree on partnership with University of New Haven.

With the continued accreditation of esports as a sport,  IeSF and UNH have agreed on a partnership to increase the development of the esports foundation.

The purpose of this agreement is to build friendship and foster a relationship that will promote intellectual exchanges and growth of academic resources in the field of esports between students, faculty members and administrators of UNH and IeSF. In order to facilitate a beneficial program for this partnership and establish a larger network involving broader esports education, both parties will seek to promote an academic and educational collaboration.

In detail, IeSF will provide global research samples from its member nations, UNH conduct faculty-driven and student-driven research. And IeSF will support UNH’s esports business class and both parties will cooperating on publishing academic text and guidebooks of esports including academic research results. Both organization will be introducing an internship program to offer more opportunities for people interested in esports.

“This year will be an important year for esports academic world”. said Alex Lim, Secretary General of IeSF.” 

The 2017 Global EsportsExecutive Summit (GEES) this year in November, will be the place where the first esports academic society will be inaugurated. Based on the MOU with UNH, IeSF will expand the connection with other universities to continue and focus educating esports human resources. This is only a start and IeSF would like to reach out to all researchers and universities interested in esports to join the creation of esports theoretical and scientific background to create a sustainable esports ecosystem.

IeSF agree on partnership with ITTF

International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) have signed an MOU agreement to develop and promote table tennis esports.

The International Table Tennis Federation is responsible for the global sport of table tennis and has 226 affiliated National Associations and was governed in 1926. Table Tennis is an Olympic Sport, introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics Games. Table Tennis is also a Paralympic Sport, introduced at the 1960 Rome Paralympic Games.

Both federations have been in conversation since beginning of April this year, exploring the possibilities how the organizations can share their resources to extend their boundaries. The federations met in Singapore this May and have discussed the terms and direction both bodies should go towards.

The Federations will support each other by using its resources to look for an appropriate gamified table tennis contents and also to integrate and reflect more realistic factors of table tennis to develop a content both fit to table tennis and esports standards. The overall goal will be to have a table tennis esports World Championships.

As one of the visions of IeSF, it has been engaging with mega sports events and have started its collaboration with International Federations (IFs) to support the digital movement of the sports society. IeSF is continuing its efforts for esports to be recognized by GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federations), former known as SportAccord, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to promote esports as a true sport beyond language, race, and cultural barriers.

IeSF readies itself for its 2017 AGM

The strength of the International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) rests in its membership.

Being a non-profit member based organisation, no-one owns IeSF. Instead the entire organisation exists to serve its member national federations and to deliver long-term programmes that will be of benefit to both national federations and athletes alike.

In accordance with the IeSF Statutes Article 12 Clause 3-2, Article 13 Clause 3-2, Article 21 Clause 3 and Clause 7, IeSF has requested members to submit motions to be posted on the upcoming Annual General Meeting.

The 2017 Annual General Meeting shall be held during the 9^th World Championships which are to be held in Busan, South Korea. 

Once the motions have been received and reviewed by IeSF's Board, such motions shall be distributed to all Members with the Board’s comment at least 30 days in advance of such General Meeting.

MSSA's member clubs are welcome to participate in this international process by submitting their thoughts, issues, and ideas to MSSA on or before “18^th of September 2017”.

Registration opens for Global Esports Executive Summit (GEES) 2017

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has confirmed the six agendas to be discussed at the Global Esports Executive Summit (GEES) 2017. 

Following the GEES 2016 which was held in Shanghai, the GEES 2017 will be held in Busan, at the International Passenger Terminal Convention Center on November 13th - 15th.

The agenda of GEES 2017 is as follows:

• Esports to Olympics
• Future Direction of Esports
• Esports Relations with Public Sector
• Esports Betting
• Making One Esports World
• Esports Academic Society

GEES 2017 will be added with new programs such as ‘B2B Promotion Zone’ and ‘New Esports Showcase’. B2B zone is an exhibition booth for GEES 2017 partners to increase their brand exposure, and the showcase is an opportunity to give potential developers to showcase their new esports discipline.

The Summit is to be held directly after the end of the 9th esports World Championship, and is expected to be hosted on a larger scale than before with more than 200 officials from both side of sports and esports. For a more detailed introduction to the event, please refer to the official website http://iesf.rsportz.com/ where registration is also possible.

For information on the announcement of GEES 2017, please refer to the article link below:

http://www.ie-sf.org/news/global-esports-executive-summit-2017-to-be-held-in-busan-korea/

486 Participants have registered for 1st Entry of 9th Esports World Championship

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) hereby announces that total 486 participants from 39 countries have registered for 1^st Entry of the 9th Esports World Championship 2017. 183 participants from 14 countries of Asia, 213 participants from 16 countries of Europe, 16 participants from 3 country of America, 31 participants from 2 countries of Oceania, and 53 participants from 4 countries of Africa have registered for the 1st Entry.

30 countries registered for League of Legends (LoL) and Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), and 29 countries registered for TEKKEN7.

The 2^nd Entry, which confirms final entry of each nation, will be opened from 12^th of July until 18^th of September. During 2^nd Entry, each National Federation conducts National Qualifier and finalizes the participation of national team delegations. According to the performance of each National Federation and quality of national qualifying rounds, IeSF will be supporting athlete travels.

9^th Esports World Championship 2017 will be held from 8^th to 12^th of November this year, in Busan Authority Port, Busan, Korea. More details about this World Championship can be found in the previous article in the link below.

http://www.ie-sf.org/news/the-9th-esports-world-championship-is-going-to--busan-korea-for-2017/

Protecting the player.

Alex Lim, of IeSF, hammering home the message.

With more and more money being poured into eSports in terms of money for winners of competitions and salaries for professional gamers, there is a growing need to protect the player more than ever.

While it is also true that much of the prize-money offered at tournaments is paid directly to the clubs, and their owners, little -if any - ever reaches the hands of the players who actually won such monies.

I have stated in a previous article that gamers who play for clubs as professionals and earn prize-money for clubs must be treated as employees and are entitled to be treated as such under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Treating gamers as a commodity by which clubs can earn income will become more-and-more of an issue.

Thus IeSF (International e-Sports Federation) thus, bearing in mind the issues surrounding gamers, thus brought an Athletes' Commission into being.

Five players were head-hunted to be part of this auspicious start, and in Shanghai, China, the five players accepted their positions.

The famous five are:

Koen Hubert, Young Ho Lee, Mr Jun (President of IeSF),
Jason Batzofin, and Leonardo Ribas

• Young Ho Lee (South Korea)
• Leonardo Ribas (Brazil)
• Koen Hubert (Netherlands)
• Madelaine Leander (Sweden)
• Jason Batzofin (South Africa)

However, IeSF has moved forward on this issue.

IeSF's Board has produced a set of Regulations that determine the long-term sustainability of the Commission.

The current members of the commission shall hold office  until 2019, at which time they shall retire and a new commission shall be elected - not by the National Federations, but by the players attending the World Championships.

Thus gamers have control of a body that will deliver a person to sit on the Board itself to ensure that the concerns of  gamers are brought directly to the attention of IeSF's Board. It is through such open chain of command that gamers may be fully represented.

The Commission is to represent the gamers and to help protect all gamers. IeSF believes that it is the first step in ensuring that nobody takes advantage of a gamer.

"She who is Powerful"

Morizane Boyes - President of MSSA.

Morizane Boyes first entered competitive gaming in 2013, and since then has not only been competitive, but has excelled in everything that she has done.

In 2013, Morizane earned her Mpumulanga Provincial Colours, and at the S A National Championships too earned herself National Federation Colours. That not being enough, at MSSA’s Annual General Meeting in December 2013, Morizane was elected in for the role of Womens’ Desk. Morizane immediately made her task to introduce more females to gaming.

Such were her efforts that Morizane won the Volunteer of the Year at SPAR's GSport Awards.

In the next year (2014), Morizane earned a re-award of her Provincial Colours at the Gauteng Provincial Championships, and qualified for National Team trials for both StarCraft II and Tekken Tag Tournament being the only female in the history of MSSA to qualify for two different titles.

But StarCraft II and Tekken are not the only games played by Morizane. As Morizane says, “When I’m not “adulting” I am an avid gamer, I play almost everything”. This is indeed true, and apart from games like StarCraft II and Tekken, Morizane too plays CounterStrike and Rust.

Morizane was thus selected to represent South Africa as a member of the Protea eSports Team for IeSF’s 6thWorld Championships – Baku where Morizane represented the country above and beyond the call of duty.

Morizane too became the first female in the world to referee an international test match, and in 2015 refereed test matches in which South Africa played against Austria, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Tunisia.

With the birth of her son in 2016, Morizane stepped back from active competitive gaming, but still, through Sekhmetic strength, carried on with her duties.

In 2016, Morizane refereed the test match between South Africa and Ghana as well as organised the Mpumulanga Schools Championships, the Mpumulanga Championships, and the 30th S A National Championships. Even if Morizane was not directly involved in organising an event, Morizane was seen to be involved ‘backstage’.

Even while Morizane was competing herself, Morizane never shirked on her Management Board duties. During her period of office,female participation at MSSA events increased by a stunning 663%.

On the results shown under her tenure, Morizane was heard to remark, “I really am excited to see a larger group of girls joining the gaming scene. I believe that there is still a long way to go and I have some amazing women on the MSSA board who are going to help me make a difference for our girl gamers. We are hoping that we will be able to show the country how many talented ladies we have out there. Unfortunately some girls do still see this as a male dominated sport and we are hoping to change that mind set by starting female only tournaments where these ladies can build the confidence and the skill level to be able to take our guys.

Thus at MSSA’s 2016 Annual General Meeting, the Council Meeting with one voice elected Morizane as President as every member believes that Morizane is able to construct a sustainable gaming community.

Thus, even though MSSA is governed by committee, Morizane has firm and positive visions for gaming in South Africa.

Even though MSSA is tied in to its relationships with the International Wargames Federation, International e-Sports federation, and World draughts Federation, Morizanes vision for the MSSA is to have South African gaming to get stronger and move to larger stages all over the world!

Morizane stated, “I honestly believe we have the potential to place our stamp in larger tournaments and be taken seriously. I want to see bigger teams getting involved and I believe that it’s something we can achieve. I want to see e-Sports grow positively and I’m willing to work with the gaming community to achieve that”.

MSSA has always chosen the best possible Registered Players to represent South Africa, and many will remember the top South Africans like Robert Botha, Nathan Anderson, Anthony Hodgson, and Mohamed Wasim Lorgat (to name but a few)who have represented South Africa as members of the Protea Team. However, there are some clubs that are still not affiliated, and it is Morizane’s desire to see all organised clubs to be members of MSSA.

As Morizane stated on this issue, “As long as I’ve been a part of the MSSA, MSSA has never turned down any club that wanted to compete! I have heard from gamers in larger clubs that they fear that if they join the MSSA that they will not be able to take part in any other leagues. This is not the case we want gamers to improve their skills and playing as often as possible is the only way that can be achieved. I would love to be given the opportunity to converse with the gamers who have concerns, so that we can start creating a better gaming community”.

With a very energetic group of people who are on the MSSA Management Board, Morizane is looking forward to making all gaming bigger and better through creating a space where all gamers feel comfortable.

We all wish Morizane all the best with her three year term of office that runs until December 2019.

Invitation to tender.

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has decided to update its website after taking into account advice from its members related to its current website problems.

The Board of IeSF has thus decided to build a new official website.

The key issues with the current website are:

• high costs, 
• unreliable service, 
• dated software, and
• dated design.

It is hoped that the new website will provide its member national federations, fans, e-sports players and partners a more efficient and better platform whereat information may be accessed.

Thus, should any members of MSSA, who are proper service providers, wish to Tender, please request the forms from mindsportssa@iafrica.com