MSSA's Elected Office-Bearers for 2019.

Amanda Pakade, MSSA President, handing out medals at MSSA's 35th SA National Championships.

As usual Mind Sport South Africa's Annual General Meeting (AGM) saw elections being held for the various available positions.

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.

MSSA has  had a great track-record to date, and being the largest membership based organisation for esports in South Africa, the future looks exceedingly bright.

The new committee under the presidency of Amanda Pakade is looking at not only consolidating its gains to date, but also further increasing its footprint.

Gender equity and demographic representivity are also major concerns that shall be continued to be addressed in a positive and dynamic manner.

Attention shall continue to be directed towards enforcing proper structures for the regulation of coaching and umpiring.

The current elected office-bearers are:

#	Position	Name	Mobile number:	E-mail address
1	President	Amanda Pakade	079 688 6983	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
2	Acting Vice-President	Johan van Breda	082 469 8207	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
3	Executive Officer - Development	Leonard Loftus	084 204 8775	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
4	Executive Officer - Events	Anabela Joubert	082 906 1119	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
5	Executive Officer - Umpires	Jason Batzofin	0044 78 7937 5926	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
6	General Secretary	Colin Webster	078 069 3089	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
7	Board Gaming Representative	Joseph Matlhong	083 509 7538	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
8	Card Gaming Representative	Paula Loftus	076 339 3780	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
9	Esports Representative	Marisa van der Westhuizen	071 606 6577	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
10	Wargames Representative	Terence Allwright	078 045 7134	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
11	Womens’ Representative	Blair Hamberger	083 326 8982	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
12	Disabled Gamers’ Representative	Twane Tollemache	081 898 9954	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
13	Players’ Representative	Amoné Bekker	066 221 2695	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com
14	Legal	Carl Holiday	082 331 1929	mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com

Also read:

• New Athletes' Representative demonstrates great joie de vivre.
• And the 2018 Management Board Awards are awarded to...
• Saudah Bhaimia is awarded the Sportsmanship Award.
• All the winners of MSSA's 2018 S A National Championships

Building for the future.

People who have served MSSA as umpires in the past: Glenn Andrew, Nick Holden, and Clint O'Shea.

MSSA as an association of members is best described as a vehicle where all  the participants have a voice in where it is headed.

Thus no member is ever left behind. However, it must be noted that while not every member's voice will be acted upon, ever voice will be heard, and dissenting voices are often taken into account to make policies better.

It is therefore important to note that the office-bearers are thus only there to enact the wishes of the members.

In fact any Registered Player is able to stand for any position.

As such MSSA has a longevity that no private company would ever have as MSSA is driven by people with passion and love of the game rather than just mercantile interests and a desire to make monetary profit.

Thus the following positions are available for any Registered Player who wishes to stand:

Province

Eastern Cape Provincial Director

Free State Provincial Director

Gauteng Provincial Director

Limpopo Provincial Director

Northern Cape Provincial Director

North West Provincial Director

Western Cape Provincial Director

Please note that only Registered Players may stand for the position in the province in which they live.

Closing dates for nominations is 15 January 2017.

Flourishing into the future...

Gamers in competition.

With MSSA's election having been concluded on 4 December 2016, there are a number of new faces on the committee.

While many gamers do not really care about who is on the committee, all gamers should be aware that it is these volunteers that make things happen.

Yes, they are all volunteers. The MSSA office-bearers are not rewarded financially, and do it out of a sense of dedication and passion to see others do well.

That is the strength of Mind Sport South Africa.

The fact that there are so many people willing to work for free, and to put others before themselves, shows  that not only is volunteerism in South Africa alive and well, but that MSSA will grow and flourish in the years to come.

Some volunteers are only around for a short time, while others are around for a little longer.

All are valued!

How do MSSA's elections work?

Getting ready to vote!

By now every member and registered player will be aware that MSSA shall be holding its elections on 4 December 2016.

But many members and registered players seem to be blissfully unaware of the process.

The process is:

• Member clubs nominate Registered Players, 
• Member clubs vote for those that they want at the AGM, and
• Those who have received the most votes are elected into office.

It must be noted that clubs have the following voting strengths:

• School clubs - one (1) vote for every ten (10) fully paid-up player, and
• Other clubs - one (1) vote for every five (5) fully paid-up player

Where a candidate is unopposed, such candidate automatically assumes office.

Where there are two or more candidates standing for the same office (position), then a vote is held, and the person with the most votes gets the office (position).

However, it must be noted that a Registered Player may only be elected into one office. Even if a Registered Player has stood for many positions, in order to increase his/her chance of being elected, as soon as the Registered Player is elected into a position, all other nominations are vitiated and struck off the agenda.

Such rule ensures that no-one person has more than their fair share of the say.

It should be noted that all the positions on MSSA's Management Board are of a voluntary nature. Al positions are held because the office-bearers are enthusiastic and passionate about MSSA and the games for which it is the custodian