Playing Structures

PLAYING STRUCTURES

Hexball Playing Structures

Hexball South Africa offers a revolutionary new way for players to achieve their full potential and the accompanying recognition.

Hexball in South Africa is played in five different tiers. Each tier has its own qualification or eligibility criteria:

  1. Tier 1 – LOCAL is played at club level, and the only criteria is for a player to be registered with HSA for the season (R50 payable with your first event’s entry). 
  2. Tier 2 – LOCAL LEGENDS is also played at club level, but to be eligible a player must have played a minimum of six LOCAL events in the past six months.
  3. Tier 3 – OPENS is played at provincial level and hosted by the club that hosted the most LOCAL LEGENDS events in the preceding six months. To be eligible, a player must have played at least three LOCAL LEGENDS events in the past six months.
  4. Tier 4 – INVITATIONALS is played at provincial level and hosted by the club that hosted the most OPENS and LOCAL LEGENDS events in the preceding nine months. To be eligible, a player must have played at least one OPEN in the past nine months.
  5. Tier 5 – NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS is played at national level and hosted by the province that hosted the most INVITATIONALS and OPENS and LOCAL LEGENDS events in the past twelve months. Only the top ranked players from each province are invited. All active provinces (and associate members) are included and wildcards are awarded to provinces with a higher number of top-ranked players, depending on the number of teams allowed in the event.

IMPORTANT: A player can enter ANY event countrywide, regardless of the event tier or their club affiliation. They only need to meet the eligibility criteria for the event.

The infographic above shows what a typical season could look like.

Different clubs in different provinces will host the first tier of LOCAL events. After they have hosted a certain minimum number of these, the club becomes eligible to host LOCAL LEGENDS events, which are more prestigious and typically attract a wider base of players from surrounding clubs because of the higher number of ranking points available.

Once there have been enough LOCAL LEGENDS events in a province, that province becomes eligible to host an OPEN. Again, these events have higher stakes in prize fund and ranking points, and attract much better and more serious players from surrounding provinces.

The next tier of INVITATIONAL level events is achieved once a province has hosted enough OPENS. These events might be limited-entry, have even higher rankings points and prize fund up for grabs, and is the final hurdle for players to get to the highest tier available, the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

The HEXBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS is a limited-entry event held in nine different divisions, namely Boys, Girls, Mixed Juniors, Mens, Womens, Mixed Seniors, Veterans Mens, Veterans Women and Veterans Mixed. Only a limited number of teams are allowed in each division.

It is entirely possible for a smaller province to host only LOCAL and LOCAL LEGENDS events but never meet the criteria to host an OPEN. Their players can still qualify for the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS because they are allowed to play in any event countrywide as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.