Fishers’ Hill resident elected as president of IESF

He has seen what esports can do for people and how they can open many doors and advance people’s lives.

These are some of the reasons Fishers’ Hill resident, Colin Webster, recently elected president of the International Esports Federation (IESF), loves the sport.

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.

Esports can be described as the playing of games on electronic devices (PCs, consoles, PSPs etc).

Mind Sports South Africa runs a school league where they offer prize money to the schools, and bursaries to the children who compete.

Webster has been involved in esports for many years, and ran his first tournament in 1998.

He has been involved with Mind Sports SA for a long time and in 2013 became an IESF board member.

Webster is pleased at being elected to the position of president of IESF.

“This is a voluntary position and it involves going to a lot of conferences and presentations across the world, and furthering the aim of esports,” said Webster.

“Last year I spent about 532 hours flying, but it is part of the job.

“Even though it is voluntary, I feel you need to treat it as a full-time occupation.”

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).

“We need esports to be given the full stature of being sport.

“A lot of the sporting world already sees esports as a fully-fledged sport,”said Webster.

From the 60 member federations of IESF, 31 are recognised by their own national Olympic committees.

“This makes it vitally important to get recognition from the IOC, and we are pushing very hard,” said Webster.

IESF holds world championships on an annual basis.

“Due to the complexity of esports, game titles change often and we need to hold championships yearly,” said Webster.

This year the IESF World Championships will be held in Eilat, in Israel, in late November or early December.

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.

“Everyone knows that esports are here and they will grow.

“I want the sport to become more competitive,”said Webster.

Webster added that esports is not just sitting in front of your computer.

“It is like any other sport,” he said.

“Athletes practice, receive gaming coaching and wellness coaching, and have to eat healthily.”

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.

There are also a number of auxiliary careers associated with the sport in media and support staff.

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“IESF is here to create opportunities for athletes and to protect them.

“I 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,” said Webster.

“Children can achieve bursaries through the sport and this will advance their lives and they need to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

Webster feels that esports represent the way the world has changed, and people now have a wider choice.

“It is not only about accrediting esports as a sport but accrediting people’s choices, as they are entitled to choose to play esports.

“People must be able to be who they are,” said Webster.

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.

“This is an education in itself.

“Being in a team gives you a good yardstick to judge yourself and your country, and better both,”he said.

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