{"id":227294,"date":"2020-01-16T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/227294\/fishers-hill-resident-elected-as-president-of-iesf\/"},"modified":"2020-01-16T09:37:11","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T07:37:11","slug":"fishers-hill-resident-elected-as-president-of-iesf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/sports-news\/2020\/01\/16\/fishers-hill-resident-elected-as-president-of-iesf\/","title":{"rendered":"Fishers\u2019 Hill resident elected as president of IESF"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>He has seen what esports can do for people and how they can open many doors and advance people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n<p>These are some of the reasons Fishers\u2019 Hill resident, Colin Webster, recently elected president of the International Esports Federation (IESF), loves the sport.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>Webster, who held the position of president of IESF, on an interim basis after the previous president resigned in 2018, was officially elected to the position in December, last year, and will be the president for the next three years.<\/p>\n<p>Esports can be described as the playing of games on electronic devices (PCs, consoles, PSPs etc).<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>Mind Sports South Africa runs a school league where they offer prize money to the schools, and bursaries to the children who compete.<\/p>\n<p>Webster has been involved in esports for many years, and ran his first tournament in 1998.<\/p>\n<p>He has been involved with Mind Sports SA for a long time and in 2013 became an IESF board member.<\/p>\n<p>Webster is pleased at being elected to the position of president of IESF.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"7020017027 - Melissa Hart GCN Colin Webster ESports\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0n4RRcnESUg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a voluntary position and it involves going to a lot of conferences and presentations across the world, and furthering the aim of esports,\u201d said Webster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year I spent about 532 hours flying, but it is part of the job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though it is voluntary, I feel you need to treat it as a full-time occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Webster added that he has an excellent IESF board to help him this year, and their main aim is to get esports accredited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and to gain membership of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations (GAISF).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need esports to be given the full stature of being sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the sporting world already sees esports as a fully-fledged sport,\u201dsaid Webster.<\/p>\n<p>From the 60 member federations of IESF, 31 are recognised by their own national Olympic committees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis makes it vitally important to get recognition from the IOC, and we are pushing very hard,\u201d said Webster.<\/p>\n<p>IESF holds world championships on an annual basis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDue to the complexity of esports, game titles change often and we need to hold championships yearly,\u201d said Webster.<\/p>\n<p>This year the IESF World Championships will be held in Eilat, in Israel, in late November or early December.<\/p>\n<p>Every year IESF also hosts the Global Esports Summit, and this is based on showing the complexities of esports and the challenges faced by athletes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone knows that esports are here and they will grow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want the sport to become more competitive,\u201dsaid Webster.<\/p>\n<p>Webster added that esports is not just sitting in front of your computer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is like any other sport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAthletes practice, receive gaming coaching and wellness coaching, and have to eat healthily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that esports can create upward paths for people in that you can build a number of careers from it, for example as a competitor, coach, referee, game publisher or game tester.<\/p>\n<p>There are also a number of auxiliary careers associated with the sport in media and support staff.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">ALSO READ:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/227183\/hazeldene-angler-nets-a-club-record-personal-best\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hazeldene angler nets a club record, personal best<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/227483\/simmer-ready-to-tackle-new-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Simmer ready to tackle new season<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIESF is here to create opportunities for athletes and to protect them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have seen what the sport has done for people, including my own son David, who is a software engineer and now lives in the Netherlands,\u201d said Webster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChildren can achieve bursaries through the sport and this will advance their lives and they need to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.<\/p>\n<p>Webster feels that esports represent the way the world has changed, and people now have a wider choice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is not only about accrediting esports as a sport but accrediting people\u2019s choices, as they are entitled to choose to play esports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople must be able to be who they are,\u201d said Webster.<\/p>\n<p>Webster added that the children involved in esports also get to see the rest of the world if they are chosen as part of teams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an education in itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing in a team gives you a good yardstick to judge yourself and your country, and better both,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Hav<\/strong><strong>e a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor)<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-admin\/germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za\">germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za,<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Leigh Hodgson (News Editor)<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"mailto:leighh@caxton.co.za\">leighh@caxton.co.za\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>or Ashley Kiley (Journalist)\u00a0<strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"mailto:ashleyk@caxton.co.za\">ashleyk@caxton.co.za.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Also follow us on:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/germistoncitynews\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210323\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/Facebook.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GCNnews?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210324\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/Twitter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/germistoncitynews\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210325\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/Instagram.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCblgxW6BRXTLGLQvpcumLqA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210326\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/youtube.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/newsletter-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210327 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/Newsletter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix\" style=\"text-align: center\"><\/div>\n<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-below-post-content\">\n<div class='tenancy_slot tenancy_slot_1 jannah_ad' style='display: none;' data-query-id='ebd5a9cde29f5168796fdb79a835ccdc'><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colin Webster has his task cut out for him as president of IESF.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":227295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Melissa Hart","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,3],"tags":[30127,1461,979,969,30125,30124,2734,30126,1119],"class_list":["post-227294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-sports","category-sports-news","tag-esports","tag-fishers-hill","tag-germiston","tag-germiston-city-news","tag-iesf","tag-international-esports-federation-iesf","tag-melissa-hart","tag-president-of-iesf","tag-sport-2"],"amp_enabled":true,"category_labels":{"Category":"Sport","SubCategory":"Local sport"},"tag_labels":["esports","fishers' hill","germiston","germiston city news","IESF","International Esports Federation (IESF)","melissa hart","president of IESF","sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}