Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts

Tuesday, 22 July 2025

National Winter Games - 14 July 2025

A jubilant Western Cape Team.

The National Winter Games ended on 14 July 2025 in Durban at 7pm. The Western Cape stormed the Bastille of KZN with impressive performances across all the codes of netball, rugby, and football.

Camaraderie could be seen as the various codes supported each other and the boys and girls also supported each other's matches. The scholars came from across the Western Cape with a strong rural presence.

Western Cape Sport and Recreation are all proud of our teams as they showed sportsmanship, excellent discipline and strong technical and tactical awareness. The entire Western Cape Sport and Recreation fraternity can be proud of these teams. They showcased our talent and ensured that the name of the Western Cape will remain high in sport in South Africa. The provinces were all highly competitive and Western Cape Sport and Recreation was so happy to see this because it means that national standards have also been elevated.

The Winter Games were an excellent example of what can be achieved when the country works together with a common goal to develop sporting talent across the country. 

Western Cape Sport and Recreation won the Province for the best administration and ended number one as the best performing Province having won three golds in Boys and Girls rugby and Deaf Netball. Dr Lyndon Boauh was very proud of both the organizing team and the teams on the field. Thank you to all the athletes, managers, coaches, officials, parents and athletes!

Additional reading:

Other news: 

Other African News:

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, 6 May 2020

From club to national federation to international federation

South Africa's Sport and Recreation Act defines a National Federation.
Although I will be writing in general terms, the basics apply to practically every national federation.

It all starts with the individual!

All you need is one individual who wants to play with other individuals. Eventually through a sense of community, the individuals playing together form a society to reflect their common interest in the game, and as such a club is born!

Then the newly formed club looks for other clubs to play against. Should they not find any, the club either stagnates and eventually dies, or it boldly, and unabashedly, promotes the growth of other clubs.

Once the clubs have created a framework for competition, the clubs generally come together to form the federation.
As such, the club always precedes the federation.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) (https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa) is no different. Some of the member clubs date back as far as the 1970's (Wits Wargames Club which was founded in 1979) whereas MSSA was only founded in 1985. 

This is true for swimming as well where clubs in what was known as the Transvaal were founded as early as 1884, but Swimming South Africa (SSA) was only founded in 1899. FINA, the international federation, was then founded in 1908.

Even in football, a British club like Cambridge was founded in 1846, the Football Association (English) was only founded in 1863 whereas the international federation (FIFA) was only constituted in 1904.

However, what is important to note is that at no time does government become involved in the creation of these national sport bodies.

In fact government involvement is decidedly frowned upon and discouraged by the international controlling bodies.

So, just like any other sport, esports has done its time in developing the national federation with the first clubs being formed in the 1970's, the national federation being formed in 1985, and International Esports Federation (IESF) being formally constituted in 2008.

Few gamers will understand the amount of work that it has taken a small group of dedicated people to get esports to this level, and many of those who have poured their hearts and efforts into this project may very well be forgotten over time. However, the legacy of having a non-profit structure that is dedicated to the promotion of the games and a structure that is dedicated to serving the gamer will endure for many decades to come!

Also read:

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, 6 October 2018

Dmitry Smith (ReSF) addresses 300 representatives in "Sport and Future" Conference.

Dmitry Smith (second from the right) advancing esports in Russia.
Dmitry Smith, President of the Russian eSports Federation, took part in the conference “Sport and Future”, organized by HSE (Higher School of Economics), the International Center for Sports Studies and the FIFA Master Alumni Association with the support of the Football Union of Russia.

The main topics of the conference “Sport and Future” were the current trends in the development of the world sports industry. The event was attended by such eminent speakers as FIFA President Gianni Infantino, CIES President Pierre Cornu, Google Vice President Fabio Coelho, Milan Internazionale Vice President Javier Zanetti and many others.

Dmitry Smith spoke at the “Esports Influence” panel discussion. Also, on the panel were Ralph Reichert, CEO of the Electronic Sports League (ESL) and Christian Volk, head of digital marketing at FIFA. In his speech, Dmitry spoke about the peculiarities of the development of esports in Russia and separately about the partnership with the Football Union of Russia.

Esports are increasingly associated with “big sports” and we are very excited about this trend. A lot of work has been done not only in making esports popular, but also in organizing quality competitions, training referees, and carrying out relevant scientific and applied research. Separately, I would like to note the productive interaction with the Football Union of Russia. Thanks to our joint work, Russia became the first country to recognize electronic football as a sports discipline of football. And competitions in electronic football – official championships and cups of Russia are held at the highest level with using the football infrastructure and famous experts and players from the “big football”, said Dmitry Smith in his speech.

More than 300 representatives of international sports organizations, world leading sports experts, heads of international and national federations, leagues and sports clubs took part in the Conference.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, 19 March 2018

Israel's Leading Soccer Clubs Join the Israeli Esports Association

By joshjdss - Chelsea Vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45453536

Tel Aviv, Israel – Two of the most prominent soccer clubs in Israel enter e-Sports: Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa both recruited FIFA players with the intention to compete in national & international tournaments. Both clubs joined the Israeli e-Sports Association.
Maccabi Haifa was the first club to recruit 18-years-old FIFA player Or Izack, who won the Israeli national e-Sports championship in the FIFA category last year.
Maccabi Tel Aviv had the most recent recruitment with twin players Or and Dor Eligula, who are prominent in FIFA tournaments in Israel in both singles and doubles competitions.
Both clubs announced their intention to participate in the upcoming Israeli National eSports Championships later this year, and joined the Israeli e-Sports Association, which was founded in 2010 with the goal to promote and manage e-Sports in the country.
While FIFA is very popular among casual and console gamers in Israel, it's national e-Sports scene isn't quite as big as other e-Sports titles such as League of Legends and Counter-Strike. For example, League of Legends' national championships prize pool last year was approximately $15,000, while the FIFA nationals had only $600. Viewership numbers are also significantly lower than other e-Sports titles: the CS:GO championship had a record breaking viewership number of 45,000 unique viewers of the final games, while the FIFA finals had drawn a little more than 200.
Even so, it is easy to understand why soccer clubs chose FIFA as their entry point to e-Sports: it's relatable and well known within their fans. Following this move by Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv, it is expected that more clubs will invest in e-Sports, and potentially recruit players for additional e-Sports titles.

Other articles about football clubs entering esports are:

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Sunday, 19 November 2017

Do you know where you are going to?

Vlad Marinescu, president of Rsportz, speaking at the 2017 edition of GEES on the development of esports.
While many gamers tend to think that esports, as being a new sporting code, needs to have new structures and that the structures of existing sporting codes do not apply to esports, few gamers are aware that the development of esports is practically mirroring the development of all other sporting codes.

The only real difference is that with esports, like the titles therein, it is all happening at a much faster rate.

 In many of the established sports, out of the development of 'professional' teams, there was a slow and steady movement to institute controlling bodies in order to establish generally accepted rules and regulations. It was through such rues and regulations  that the sports became better governed and were able to attract larger sponsorships.

One only has to look at the development of American Football. 

 American football had short-lived professional leagues around the turn of the twentieth century. 

 The leagues in the 1920's were underfinanced, and the teams often went out of business.

 It was only after World war II that professional teams gained considerable popularity. 

 With such popularity, American football then had to deal with such problems as franchise relocations, nationwide expansion, conflicts with interlopers, limiting player salaries, and racial integration. 

 This is where esports finds itself, both here and abroad, at the cusp of developing into one of the  world's greatest sports.

 Thus everybody involved in esports at the current moment  of time is a pioneer in esports and are responsible for helping  build a structure that will carry esports, as a fully accredited sport, into the future.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA), being South Africa's largest member based esports organisation, is at the spearhead of such development and welcomes participation from all members.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Friday, 8 September 2017

FIFA '17 esports rankings - Khahliso Malape rises to the top - again.

Khaliso Malape (of Fakkel School) at his recent test match game against Namibia.
Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has just released its official rankings for the FIFA '17 esports title.

The rankings have been determined on the results from all the Online, Regional, Provincial, and National Championships held to date in 2017.

Thus it was at MSSA's Sedibeng Championships hosted by NWU - Vaal, that Khahliso took the title to add to his many other regional and Provincial titles that he has earned in 2017. Just in 2017, Khaliso has won gold medals for Free State (in both FIFA '17 and Pro Evolution Soccer), Mpumulanga (Pro Evolution Soccer), and Sedibeng (FIFA '17).
Khahliso Malape has thus positioned himself as the man to beat in the football esports titles.

However, Khahliso should not rest on his laurels.

The Sedibeng Championships unearthed some new talent.  Previously unranked players, Vhugala Malaudzi and Thabo Maqubela, showed their skills and have moved up to be ranked 4th  and 5th in the country.

Both Vhugala Malaudzi and Thabo Maqubela have shown that they have what it takes.

The current rankings are:


PosName of PlayeryearClubPoints
1Khahliso Malape17Fakkel School410.6
2Mpho Ntsala17Fakkel School262.3
3Vhugala Malaudzi17NWU - Vaal257.7
4Thabo Maqubela17NWU - Vaal240.1
5Xola Magwaza *17Knights Mind Sports Club239.3
6Gordon McCormack17JCS Academy231.9
7Tshepo Seema17NWU - Vaal223.8
8Yorke Soni17Northcliff High School197.8
9Ayanda Magwaza *17Knights Mind Sports Club196.5
10Kyle Turnbull17BNKR194
11Joshua Williams17Northcliff High School184.2
12Mikhyle Naidoo17Northcliff High School177.6
13Mongaliso Magwaza *17Knights Mind Sports Club174.2
14Jade Appels17Curro Klerksdorp163.9
15Langa Madonsela *17Knights Mind Sports Club158.9
16Katlego Sediti17NWU - Vaal152.6
17Allen Magagula17HTS Witbank149.5
18Armand Oosthuizen17JCS Academy143.9
19Tumelo Sesinyi17Curro Klerksdorp138.8
20Zomani Magagula17HTS Witbank136.8
21Cale Barry17Uplands College136.6
22Ebrahiem Fredericks17JCS Academy134.8
23Bongikosi Lukhele17Ampified Rebellion133.8
24Kgosi Tshosa17Curro Klerksdorp129.4
25Eesa Fredericks17JCS Academy129
26Mark Morobane17Curro Klerksdorp127.5
27Andrew Reeve15Fairmont High School120
28Reghan Anthony15Curro Klerksdorp120
29Oratile Tiro15Crown the King120
30Karabo Sindane15Crown the King120
31Gomo Ndlozi15HTS Witbank120
32Arnold Maifala15Curro Klerksdorp120
33Xolisa Monakali17Knights Mind Sports Club120
34Bonga Zwane15HTS Witbank120
35Langa Madonsela16Knights Mind Sports Club120
36Sam Mphasha15HTS Witbank120
37Richard Ferreira16Fakkel School120
38Jolene Bico16BNKR120
39Tshire Monchonyane15All Stars120
40Justin Anthony15All Stars120
41Rudi Taute15All Stars120
42Refiloe Masitenyane15Crown the King120
43Setlabacha Pudi15HTS Witbank120
44France Han15All Stars120
45Matthew Brooks15Curro Klerksdorp120
46Leonard Loftus16Masters of Mind Sports120
47Matthew Hoyle16Maritzburg College120
48Tinashe Togara15Curro Klerksdorp120
49Gregory Haripersad16Maritzburg College120
50Joshua Greasley15Northcliff High School120
51Joost Loftus16BNKR120
52Tshepo Mamatela17Fakkel School119.5
53Kristian Volek17Northcliff High School117.5
54Sibusiso Nabilevo16Fakkel School117
55Stefan Nortje17JCS Academy116.8
56Korben Roos16HTS Witbank115.1
57Jan Hendrik Van Aswegen16BNKR113.1
58Jacobus Direko16Fakkel School110.4
59Mayibongwe Ntabe16BNKR110.3
60Godfrey Eybers15Knights Mind Sports Club110
61Rowan Batzofin15WITS109
62Peter Mansfield15Curro Klerksdorp108
63Tumelo Sesinyi15Curro Klerksdorp107.4
64Kamohelo Tladi16Fakkel School107.3
65Teboho Hlasa16Fakkel School107.1
66Cameron Gold16Maritzburg College106.4
67Tshedz Masheleni16Masters of Mind Sports106
68Mike Mahole15Crown the King105.7
69Jabu Matlong17NWU - Vaal104
70Reginald Mofokeng16Fakkel School100
71Tumi Mohosho16Fakkel School100
72Bongwe Mpugwa17Curro Klerksdorp100
73Thokozane Matimane17Fakkel School100
74Neo Mokoena16Fakkel School99.3
75Kgosi Tshosa15Curro Klerksdorp97.8
76Mulchathutshelo Masheleni16Masters of Mind Sports97.7
77Leone Loftus16Masters of Mind Sports97.5
78Kgosi Bogosi15Crown the King97.1
79Logan Brooke-Smith15Knights Mind Sports Club96
80Riufaro Kembo17Curro Klerksdorp95
81Dillon Grey17Fakkel School95
82Franco Janse van Rensburg17Masters of Mind Sports95
83Pauliso Makhube17Fakkel School95
84Naled Sekoti15Curro Klerksdorp94.6
85Joel Van Wyk16Merchiston94.5
86Bongwe Mpugwa15Curro Klerksdorp90.4
87Brandon Ypenburg15Northcliff High School90
88Thapelo Phalamohlaka15HTS Witbank90
89Johan Taute15All Stars90
90Jason Botha16Maritzburg College90
91Gift Mtlhong17JCS Academy90
92Ayanda Kumalo17Fakkel School85.5
93Logan Ortner16Northcliff High School85
94Robyn Gertzen17Teutonic Knights Mind Sports Club85
95Alessandro Sacca17Curro Klerksdorp85
96Dana Coleman15HTS Witbank81
97Doreen Els17Teutonic Knights Mind Sports Club80
98Lesedi Motale17Curro Klerksdorp80

Other rankings are:
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)