Age restrictions applied to games and esports titles should be taken very seriously

Every athlete at IESF's World Championships complies with age restrictions. Seen here, Jason Batzofin, Players' Commission Chairperson, taking the Players' Oath at a previous IESF World Championships.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) maintains that it is essential for all esports athletes to comply with the age restrictions as set by the Films and Publications Board (fpb). While many gamers  may feel that the age restrictions set are unrealistic or unnecessary, all should note that the age restrictions set, are set for a reason.

It is important that esports athletes look after both their physical and mental health. It is the mental health of gamers that age restrictions are there to protect.

Age restrictions are not new, and the reasons for placing age restrictions on films and games have not.

Because children learn quickly and often imitate what they see and hear around them, parents need to shelter their children from certain types of movies, music, games and book content which is deemed to be inappropriate.

Since parents are not able to monitor all such content, age restrictions exist to provide good parents with the tools to make an informed decision.

Age restrictions therefore exist to prevent children from viewing potentially harmful content.

It is true that parents do have the freedom to choose what their kids do and don’t watch, and many are aware of the influence of inappropriate content and the lasting effects of such. However, event organisers, schools, clubs, MGO's, and team owners have no such luxury as it is illegal to allow a child to participate in a game or esports title for which the child is under-aged.

Age restrictions should be taken very seriously and adhered to at all times.

International Esports Federation (IESF) too complies with age restrictions set, and due to the nature of IESF, uses, as its default, the highest age restriction so that no member national federation is compromised.

Thus for IESF's 11th World Championships to be held in Seoul from 11 to 15 December 2019, the following age restrictions apply:

Title	Age restriction
DotA 2	16
PES 2020	12
Tekken 7	16

Also read: 

• Age restrictions in esports are important.
• North-West University becomes the headline sponsor for MSSA's Online School League.
• 2020 Calendar of Events
• Why schools and universities should invest in esports.
• How does a school join up for MSSA's 9th Online Inter-School Provincial Championships?

What is a 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

Without doubt, in my opinion, the MGO's that take the legal form of being an Association is the type of organisation that best look after the interests of the player as the administrators govern through passion, and not from a profit-making point of view. Any profits made here have to be invested in the club and/or development programmes. It also should be noted that these organisations are not owned by anyone, but, are instead governed by all  the voting members.

Sole-traders, Partnerships, and Private Companies that are all profit making ventures in which the sole-traders, partners and drectors intend to make a profit  out of trading. The trading may take the form of selling apparel, equipment, or earning prize-money through their teams in tournaments that offer prize-money. It should be noted these types of organisations are governed exclusively by the owners.Also read:

• Professional esports athletes must register for tax.
• Sponsorships of athletes.
• Prize Money 
• What is a MGO?

Club points earned at MSSA’s SA National championships.

Charlize Seremak helped power HTS Sasolburg into first place.

There are few clubs that are affiliated to Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) that only have a single team.

Most of the clubs that are affiliated to MSSA have more than one team, and many clubs have teams in more than one period, and a growing number of clubs now too have teams in more than one discipline.

Thus MSSA’s 2017SA National Championships was a successful affair in that 16 clubs participated from 6 provinces.

It was the school clubs, with their huge participation, that dominate the top 5 positions for the club points with HTS Sasolburg taking the honours.

Truly it is the school clubs that are the true MGO’s (Multi Gaming Organisations) of South African gaming. Not only do the school clubs have direct access to vast pools of gamers, the schools too have access to resources (venues, fibre), the ability to enforce acceptable codes of conduct, and a supporter base that runs into thousands for each and every school.

The esprit de corps that exists at many of South Africa’s schools will also further help to develop the competitive attitudes needed in order for South Africa to take a dominant role in board gaming, esports, and wargames in international gaming.

The full club points earned at MSSA’s SA National championships are as follows:

Pos	Club	Points
1	HTS Sasolburg	256
2	JCS Academy	134
3	Hoërskool Generaal Hertzog	103
4	Fakkel School	82
5	THS Tom Naude	62
6	VexxedPhoenix	48
7	Amplified Rebellion	39
8	North West University	38
9	HTS Witbank	38
10	Masters of Mind Sports	32
11	Generation X	15
12	Old Edwardian Wargames Club	10
13	Valhalla	9
14	Affies Sasolburg	3
15	Knights Mind Sports Club	3
16	Hoërskool Parys	3

Closing date for clubs to bid to host events.

A MSSA provincial championship in full swing.

All clubs that are fully-paid-up and affiliated to Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) have the opportunity to host official provincial and national championships.

The closing date for such bids is 1 November 2017, and must be directed to mindsportssa@iafrica.com.

The ability for clubs to host is part of MSSA's policy of developing and strengthening member clubs.

By hosting events, member clubs are able to gain much needed publicity and ensure that their members are afforded the opportunity of participating in MSSA provincial and national LAN championships.

Any club within a province may bid to host a provincial LAN championship, whereas any club may bid to host a national LAN championships.

The proposed calendar of events for 2018 may be found at: https://esportscommentator.blogspot.co.za/2017/08/proposed-calendar-of-events-for-2018.html

The rules for the hosting of National and Provincial events is covered by the regulations.

The rules are:

10.12 HOSTING OF MSSA CHAMPIONSHIPS

            10.12.1 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

a. Members within such province may offer to host, through a bid, any such championship.

b. The decision to which club the hosting of such event is awarded shall be made by the Management Board.

c. The host club shall sign an SLA.

d. The Management Board may decide to host such championship itself. Should such decision be made and bids have been received, the Management Board shall advise all members of the reasons therefore.

e. Every effort shall be made by the host to hold such championship in a venue that is easily accessible to both Players and members of the public.

f. Should a member wish to host such a championship in a municipality that is not defined as a city, then the following rules apply:

g. The member may host such championship if there are at least three (3) clubs in such municipality, or

h. The member may host such championship if at least three (3) clubs submit their entries together with such bid.

10.12.2 PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

a. Members within such province may offer to host, through a bid, any such championship.

b. The decision to which club the hosting of such event is awarded shall be made by the Management Board.

c. The host club shall sign an SLA.

d. The Management Board may decide to host such championship itself. Should such decision be made and bids have been received, the Management Board shall advise all members of the reasons therefore.

e. Every effort shall be made by the host to hold such championship in a venue that is easily accessible to both Players and members of the public.

f. Should a member wish to host such a championship in a municipality that is not defined as a city, then the following rules apply:

g. The member may host such championship if there are at least three (3) clubs in such municipality, or

h. The member may host such championship if at least three (3) clubs submit their entries together with such bid.