Showing posts with label board. Show all posts
Showing posts with label board. Show all posts

Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Nominations are needed for 2025 AGM.

Colin Webster (President of Mind Sports South Africa) openly encourages younger Registered Players to stand for positions)

Mind Sports South Africa
's elections are fast approaching. MSSA is the only South African national federation that allows an athlete to be elected onto its Board as well as allowing a fast, and direct, path for administrators while cutting out 'dead-men's shoes'.

All elections are done on a staggered basis. The system of doing the elections on a staggered basis allows MSSA to have a greater degree of stability as the entire Management Board is not able to be elected at any one time which preserves MSSA's continuity and knowledge base.

An interesting aspect of the 2025 Annual General Meeting is that there are 5 positions that are available for election on the Executive and Management Board. Where positions are vacant, the newly elected Board will co-opt Registered Players to the position. A co-opted Registered Player only serves out one year in the position in which he/she is co-opted and resigns prior to the General Meeting.

As everyone already knows, the MSSA is a democratic organisation, where only decisions of the committee that are enforced, and never the will of any one individual.

All athletes are reminded that only affiliated clubs may nominate players who are registered and fully-paid-up for positions on any of the committee.
  • A member club nominates the Registered Player on the prescribed form, and
  • The Nomination Form has been submitted to MSSA on or before 21 November 2025, and
  • The Registered Player is fully-paid-up for the 2025/2026 year as at the date of nomination, and
  • The club nominating the Registered Player has paid its affiliation fees for the 2025/2026 season on or before 21 November 2026.
However it should be noted that only persons who meet the following criteria may be elected on to the Management Board:
  1. Have served a full term on the Management Board, or
  2. Have served a full term as Provincial Director, or
  3. Have served two full terms as Regional Director, or
  4. Have served two full terms on a Board of Control, or
  5. Have earned at least ten (10) Protea caps, or
  6. Have served three years on the club committee of which they are currently a member.
  7. Be resident in South Africa for at least 186 days of the Calendar Year. Should such terms of residency not be met, such Elected Member shall be automatically removed and such position be declared vacant, and
  8. Only persons who have completed a full term on the Management Board may stand for the position of President.
The positions up for election are (3 year terms):
  1. Two Executive Officers
  2. Women's Desk
  3. Board Gaming Representative
  4. Legal Advisor
  5. National School's Director (This position must be held by an Educator)
The following Provincial Directorships are also available (2 year terms):
  1. Eastern Cape
  2. Gauteng
  3. KwaZulu Natal
  4. Limpopo
  5. Mpumalanga
  6. Northern Cape
  7. North West
  8. Western Cape
All the following 56 Regional Directorships are also available for election (1 year term).

There is no doubt that the committee has worked well over the past number of years, and it will indeed be interesting to again see democracy at work.

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Saturday, 15 November 2025

Nominations required by midnight,19 November 2025 for MSSA's Management Board Awards.

Jessica Greef (ZAG Gaming) was named as the 2025 Mind Sports Person of the Year as well as Esports Player of the Year.

Mind Sports South Africa's Management Board Awards are the longest running awards for gaming in South Africa. The awards take into account all the various disciplines being, board gaming, card gaming, esports, and wargaming.

It could even be argued that such awards are the longest running awards for rewarding such athletes in the world having started in 2009. Whereas the long running awards (like BAFTA) acknowledge the games themselves, MSSA's Management Board Awards acknowledge the contribution made by the very gamers/athletes themselves. 

MSSA's Management Board Awards were initiated in 2009 to reward excellence not specifically provided for in MSSA's Constitution.

When reading through the names of those previously honored, the reader is quickly reminded of MSSA's rich history. The names are not just names, these are the men and women who have made an incredible contribution to the various mind sports in South Africa and even beyond South Africa's borders.

The awards are now more representative of MSSA's membership, of the work being done, and of society as a whole.

It should be noted by the reader that the categories for Writer of the Year, Social Media Person of the Year, and Sponsor of the Year are open categories and apply to anyone that has given their 'all' to the development of boardgames, card games, esports, and wargames as a sport.

The awards now take into account the following categories:
  • Mind Sports Person of the Year
  • Board Gamer of the Year
  • Esports Player of the Year
  • Wargamer of the Year
  • Team of the Year
  • Volunteer of the Year
  • Umpire of the Year
  • Coach of the Year
  • Educator of the Year
  • Writer of the Year
  • Social Media Person of the Year
  • Sponsor of the Year
MSSA's Management Board requests all members to make submissions by midnight 17 November 2025.

The names of previous winners may be seen on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_Sports_South_Africa#Management_Board_Awards

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