Calling all those wishing to serve as Selectors to volunteer...

Under Amanda Pakade's presidency, enormous changes have been effected to further streamline MSSA.

With the selection of any team there are always those who claim that they could have done a better job at selecting the team.

It does not matter which sport it is, it could be rugby, football, netball, hockey, and so forth, but there are always members of the community who are quite vociferous about their opinions.

Sometimes, however, such critics are right.

There is always someone out there that does know better. There is always someone who can make a great contribution.

Thus Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA), being truly aware of the talent that exists in South Africa, has opened the Selection Committee to interested persons who do not have to be Registered Players.

There is now, no reason, to be a side-line selector.

MSSA needs four individuals to be its selectors for 2021. At least two have to be Registered Players, while the other two do not have to be Registered Players.

However, the people elected as Selectors shall sign the Undertaking and keep all discussions confidential.

All Selector's shall be suitably qualified for the role, which shall include, but not be limited to: 

• previous experience as a selector, 
• previous international experience as a player or involvement with competitive gaming, 

The emphasis shall always be placed on knowledge of the level of competition required at international level.

Mind Sports South Africa thus requests all interested persons to send in their applications, together with a CV., to mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com by 15 February 2021.

Also read:

• MSSA elections allow change and growth.
• MSSA remains a dynamic institution.
• Preventing dominance by any one club.
• Advantages of affiliation
• Calendar of  Events: 2021
• Affiliation: Schools
• Affiliation: Private clubs
• Esports titles selected: MSSA's High School Championships.
• Esports titles selected: MSSA's Student Championships
• Esports titles selected: MSSA's Premier Championships.
• Notices: MSSA's new Players' Representative - Jessie Joubert (ZAG Academy
• Notices: Lenel Human makes history.
• Notices: Sahil Ebrahim of PES Society elected as MSSA's Western Cape Provincial Director.
• Notices: Derby events
• Notices: Derby events -the way forward.
• Notices: Publishing your club news.
• Notices: Transfer season
• Notices: Learners may play for both private and school clubs.
• Notices: Calling all those wishing to serve as Selectors to volunteer
• Test Match results: South African Protea DotA 2 team rises triumphant.
• Test Match results: DOTA2: South Africa vs Azerbaijan
• New National Team Selection Criteria
• Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.

Calling all those wishing to serve as Selectors to volunteer...

Under Amanda Pakade's presidency, enormous changes have been effected to further streamline MSSA.

With the selection of any team there are always those who claim that they could have done a better job at selecting the team.

It does not matter which sport it is, it could be rugby, football, netball, hockey, and so forth, but there are always members of the community who are quite vociferous about their opinions.

Sometimes, however, such critics are right.

There is always someone out there that does know better. There is always someone who can make a great contribution.

Thus Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA), being truly aware of the talent that exists in South Africa, has opened the Selection Committee to interested persons who do not have to be Registered Players.

There is now, no reason, to be a side-line selector.

MSSA needs four individuals to be its selectors for 2020. At least two have to be Registered Players, while the other two do not have to be Registered Players.

However, the people elected as Selectors shall sign the Undertaking and keep all discussions confidential.

All Selector's shall be suitably qualified for the role, which shall include, but not be limited to: 

• previous experience as a selector, 
• previous international experience as a player or involvement with competitive gaming, 

The emphasis shall always be placed on knowledge of the level of competition required at international level.

Mind Sports South Africa thus requests all interested persons to send in their applications, together with a CV., to mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com by 15 February 2020.

Also read:

• Changes to the Selection Committee.
• The new national team selection criteria.
• 2020 Calendar of Events
• MSSA's umpiring course - 25 January 2020.
• 28th OLD EDWARDIAN SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS - 1 & 2 February 2020
• 10th Online School Championships - 8 February 2020.
• The road to Eilat

Changes to the Selection Committee.

Under Amanda Pakade's presidency, enormous changes have been effected to further streamline MSSA.

On 1 December 2018, Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) extensively overhauled its Selection Committee.

The reason for such overhaul was to take into account MSSA's greater international commitments, its desire to ensure that the best possible Registered Players are selected for teams, and to remove the Selection Committee from political interference.

Under the new rules, the chairperson of such committee shall be the Executive Officer assigned to oversee the National Team Managers and assign duties to such. Currently there is not an Executive Officer for this position, and MSSA has already advertised the position on 16 December 2018.

The new committee shall consist of four (4) Selectors who shall normally be elected at the National Convention, however, since the National Convention has already been held on 1 December 2018, the Management Board is entitled to co-opt four such members.
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The period of office of any selector shall not exceed two years, but may be renewed upon election or co-option. However, it should be noted that members co-opted in 2019 are only eligible to hold the position until the 2019 National Convention.

One thing that did not change is that the Team Manager sits with the Selection Committee when choosing the team. The Team Manager shall be consulted by the Selection Committee when selecting the team.

It has now become a rule that when selecting a team, the selectors shall also give an indication of how they expect that team to perform. It is expected that the selectors shall be honest when giving this indication and not give unjustifiably high targets. The aim shall always been on future improvement.

The Management Board shall then review the Selection Committee's performance within 30 days after every World Championships, and have the authority to recommend to the Executive Committee to remove,and replace, any/all of the Selectors should the teams not have performed according to the expectations the selectors stated beforehand. The Executive Committee is made up of elected office-bearers and a delegate from each and every club affiliated to MSSA. Thus any personal politics is greatly reduced, and the Selectors are able to make their decisions without worrying about interference by anyone else.

Selectors shall have the authority to remove players from any team under their jurisdiction, who, in their opinion, do not train sufficiently, perform well, or are disruptive to the team subject to the right of the affected player(s) to make representations to the selectors, with the right to appeal to the Management Board, before they are removed.

And now for something extremely important... Up to half of the Selectors need not be affiliated to a member club. This rule allows greater good-governance and allows any member of the greater South African community to stand for the position. Of course, the people elected as Selectors shall sign the Undertaking and keep all discussions confidential.

All Selector's shall be suitably qualified for the role, which shall include, but not be limited to: 

• previous experience as a selector, 
• previous international experience as a player or involvement with competitive gaming, 

The emphasis shall always be placed on knowledge of the level of competition required at international level.

No person already holding office in MSSA may be elected or co-opted as a Selector, and any Selector who is elected to any office in MSSA must immediately resign as a Selector, and the Management Board shall as soon as possible co-opt a Selector to complete such Selector's term.

During a tournament (if this includes travel out of the country this means from the moment of departure) the Team Manager shall act in place of the Selection Committee, except when it involves selecting a replacement player.

The Team Manager shall report to the Selection Committee within a month after every tournament or competition, and the Selection Committee shall submit a report to the Management Board, which shall include the Team Manager’s report.

Thus the above changes are designed to create a more dynamic Selection Committee that will further ensure South Africa's success at international level.

Also read:

• Hearken to the call.
• Changes to the Selection Committee.
• So you wanna be a Selector?
• The new national team selection criteria.

Proposed changes to the selection of MSSA's Protea Teams.

MSSA's Protea League of Legends Esports Team that attended IESF's 10th World Championships - Kaohsuing City.

Selection of a Protea Team is always a thorny issue.

What with some athletes feeling omitted, outsiders believing that thay could do a better job, and many other factors, there is always  some level of controversy surrounding the selection of the national team - no matter what the sport code.

However, over the years, Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has refined its selection criteria, and will continue to do so, in order to create the best selection process.

The current thought is that it is not good enough to just select teams at the National Team Trials, as suchh NTT is held over too short a period for a proper evaluation of the candidate athletes.

Thus, in the proposed changes, National Team Trials as a separate event will be abolished, and selection will take place by examing the results of teams over 3 MSSA championships. Such championships may be Regional, Provincial, and/or National  Championships.

This method will also give the Selectors time to interview all the candidates in a more relaxed manner in order to ensure that all athletes are afforded every opportunity.

There is no doubt that the revised rules apropos selection shall increase the pool from which MSSA's Selectors have to choose and will give even more athletes the opportunity to be selected.

However, it must be remembered that any athlete not conforming to the code of conduct, will not be selected.

The proposed rules are as follows:

12.1 NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION

1. The National Squad Selection Date for every year shall be announced on MSSA’s annual calendar of events after every Annual General Meeting and shall be at least 30 days before the event.
2. Selection shall only be held in periods/genres that are currently being played at a MSSA Provincial or National Championships, if such period is played in at least 30% of the Provinces.
3. To be eligible for selection a player shall;
   i. If being of the age of majority and have received Protea and/or, National Federation, and/or Provincial Colours in the previous year, shall have successfully completed an Umpires’ Course (if such course was held in the province in which such player resides after the date of being awarded such colours), and
   ii. Have been awarded Protea and/or National Federation Colours in the previous year, or
   iii. Have participated in at least 3 MSSA events where such player shall have in at least 2 of these 3 events;

   I.   Have won a Regional Championship in such period/genre, or

   II.  Have finished in the top 20% or top three places, whichever is greater, at any          official Provincial Championships for such period/genre, or

   III. Have finished in the top 20% or top three places, whichever is greater, at the            SA School National Championships for such period/genre.

   IV. Be fully-paid-up members of an affiliated Member, and

   V.  Be ranked in the top ten of the Ladder for such period/genre.

   
   
4. Only players who have participated in MSSA’s SA National Championships and who meet the above criteria as stated in Schedule 12.1.3 (above) shall be considered for selection, unless any of the following apply:
   i. A player is on maternity leave, or
   ii. A player is on paternity leave, or
   iii. A player is on compassionate leave, or
   vi. A player is unable to obtain leave from his/her employer, or
   v. A player has valid financial reasons for not attending (being on holiday and thus not being able to afford to attend, does not count as a valid financial reason), or
   vi. The player is a minor and has not received parental permission to attend, or
   vii. Be in their first year of registration.
5. Should a player meet the requirements of any of the criteria as stated in Schedule 12.1.3 (as above), such player may still be considered for selection if such player has won, or is part of a team that has won, all of his/her games at a Provincial Championship that has been held in a physical venue.
6. Players making themselves eligible for selection, shall submit copies of their valid Passports with theirentry to the SA National Championships.
7. Should entry fees be required, such entry fees shall be paid by the date of entry.
8. Players, who are minors, making themselves eligible for selection, shall submit copies of their valid Passports and any other documentation as required with their entry to the SA National Championships.

Also read: 

• For a team to be selected, the game must be played at SA National Championships.

• SA's Ladder titles are up for grabs at SA National Championships.

• SA National Championships: Extension of entry date - 27 November 2018.