We are thrilled to officially announce the launch of Season 2 of Conquer The Climb! Established at the end of 2024, Conquer The Climb is a South African-based innovative esports initiative designed to empower less-experienced players through mentorship and a structured, no-stakes competitive environment. By adopting the metaphor of climbing a mountain, we emphasise the hardship and determination necessary for improvement. Our core mission remains focused on fostering skill development, knowledge sharing, and community growth within the Southern African region
Season 2 marks a significant expansion of the project. We are broadening our horizons by incorporating Marvel Rivals as a new title alongside the existing Overwatch tournament. This aims to increase our impact and reach across the regional esports community.
Season 1 Retrospective: Successes and Learning
The inaugural season successfully established Conquer The Climb as a valuable community initiative. Participants gave positive feedback on the overall organisation and production quality, and appreciated having a much-needed competitive platform for lower-tier teams to compete and improve.
However, our feedback and analysis highlighted one critical area for significant improvement: the mentorship programme. Feedback overwhelmingly identified the mentorship experience as the primary challenge.
Key issues mentioned in participant feedback included:
- Lack of Clear Expectations: A need for established, upfront expectations regarding the weekly time commitment required from both teams and mentors.
- Inconsistent Guidance: A recommendation that mentors be provided with a checklist of core concepts to teach, ensuring a baseline level of instruction.
- Insufficient Oversight: A call to localise all official mentor/team interactions onto the project platform (e.g., Discord) to allow for better administrative oversight.
- No Accountability Loop: The absence of a formal process for checking up on communication and progress between mentors and teams was identified as a key failing.
- Reactive Administration: A desire for tournament administrators to take more decisive and reactive measures when conflicts or issues arose.
- Need for Mentor Training: A proposal for a coaching workshop to better equip mentors for their voluntary role.
Climbing Higher: Strategic Changes for Season 2
We are building upon Season 1’s successes and to ensure a more consistent, accountable, and supportive experience for everyone involved. As such, we are implementing a robust strategic framework for Season 2.
The Revamped Mentorship Programme
This action plan directly addresses the feedback received, creating a more structured system:
- Training: We are introducing Mentor Onboarding & Training Workshop. This action requires all selected mentors to attend a coaching workshop before the Mentor Assignment Show. This workshop will cover coaching best practices, conflict resolution, and the project’s educational goals.
- Formalised Expectations & Curriculum: We are updating the Mentor Code of Conduct to include a minimum expected weekly time commitment. Furthermore, all mentors will receive a “Mentor’s Checklist”. This will outline a baseline of strategic concepts and skills to be covered during the Icebreaker and Tournament phases.
- Enhanced Oversight & Accountability: We are mandating all official mentor-team communication (including VOD review feedback and scheduling) to occur in designated channels on the Conquer The Climb Discord server. This allows us to monitor interactions within team spaces. We are also implementing a formal weekly check-in process where a designated administrator will briefly connect with Team Captains and Mentors to monitor engagement and proactively identify potential issues.
- Proactive Conflict Resolution: We will be establishing a clear, fast-tracked protocol for reporting and resolving mentor-team disputes, which will empower the Administration to investigate and intervene decisively.
Season 2 Approaches
Season 2 is set to begin its registration phase in early 2026, with the Mentor Workshop currently scheduled for 21 February 2026, followed by the Mentor Assignment Show on 22 February 2026. Mentor applications are currently open until 11 January 2026.
We are committed to building upon the strong foundations of Season 1. Join us as we journey up the mountain of learning, growth, and community-building, setting ourselves up for a lasting positive impact on the broader esports scene.