Monthly Seer Volume 1 Issue 8

The

The off

May/June 2011 magazine of the Interna

Texas Classic & Empire Classic Hanging up the Broom

tional Quidditch Association

ď„­

Injury Prevention 101 Learn to Chase with Confidence

Monthly Seer May/June 2011 Volume 1 • Issue 8

EDITOR IN CHIEF Alicia Radford COVER PHOTO Kristen Howarth CONTRIBUTORS Laurie Beckoff, Alex Benepe, Elle Carnley, Christopher Chan, Zara Fishkin, Andrea Hill, Harrison Homel, Kristen Howarth, Max Kaplan, Jamie Kiernan, Katie Mercurio, Kathryn Mudgway, Kati Polaski, Alicia Radford, Abbie Rickard, Andrea Shea, Katie Stack, Ethan Sturm, Luke Zak ART DIRECTOR Alicia Radford LAYOUT DESIGN Alicia Radford Andrea Hill ADVERTISING Alicia Radford To advertise in the Monthly Seer, contact alicia.radford@internationalquidditch.org

The Monthly Seer is published electronically by the International Quidditch Association. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the IQA. The International Quidditch Association is a magical nonprofit that governs the sport of Quidditch and inspires young people to lead physically active and socially engaged lives. www.internationalquidditch.org

Contents 1 3 5

Letter from the editor Bringing the joy of Quidditch to Brooklyn kids Recent Games

The Road to the Cup 7 15

Don't mess with Texas: Southwest Cup Report Empire Classic Report

Team Spotlights 21 23 25 26

Arizona State University: journey to the Cup Quinner, anyone?

The Toms River Hydras: a multi-headed unit Quiz: Which position suits your personality?

Hanging up the broom 28 29 31

Navigating your team's leadership transition Life without Quidditch: How I'm coping in a world without quaffles Remembering that 'wow' moment

Lifestyles

33 Nederquidditch 35 High fashion in Quidditch

Players’ Corner 37 38 39 41 43 45

The summer regiment Coming soon to a university near you The Quidditch diaries Injury Prevention 101 Learn to chase with confidence Skills from other sports: introducing rugby

Letter from the editor Another summer is upon us, and for me, it's pretty different than any other summer. This is my first "adult" summer, and the first summer that I'm no longer affiliated with a school Quidditch team. I know a lot of you are in the same place. Many of you who just graduated from college founded or played on your Quidditch teams from the very beginning. You've watched them grow, struggle, succeed - and now you've got to pass on the broom and get used to calling yourself an [insert school here] Quidditch alumnus. Read the personal accounts of two players and founders who just graduated from powerhouse Quidditch schools starting on page 29.

It's no easy feat to start a Quidditch team. It takes determination, tact, and a love of whimsy. The fact that we now have over three hundred active teams all over the world - including in around twelve countries outside of North America - is a testament to the collective whimsy of an entire generation. We could have quietly joined other sports leagues (or not, for the many players who never played organized sports before). But did we? No. We blazed our own trail. And the students behind us are carrying on the legacy.

We still get over 50 new people requesting to start Quidditch teams every month. I hope, after this summer, that more of those are from post-college-aged players who aren't done playing yet.

To everyone reading this who is still in school, enjoy the time you've got left. Make sure to read articles like "Navigating your team's leadership transition" (page 28) by Alex Benepe for some sage advice on what to do when the end of your senior year is looming.

I'm proud to present our special summer issue of the Seer, and I thank you all for waiting so patiently for it to get here.

Sincerely, Alicia

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N EW S

News Bringing the joy of Quidditch to Brooklyn kids

By Alex Benepe “Are you Harry Potter?”

This was the most frequent question I received all day, but it’s not annoying when it comes from a kindergartner who believes with absolute certainty that I just might be. When I told them I wasn’t, they barely skipped a beat and went straight to asking, “do you know Harry Potter?”

I was at the Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School in Brooklyn, NY, with executive members of the Harry Potter Alliance, the NYU Quidditch team, and more than 300 students between kindergarten and third grade. We were celebrating the Accio Books campaign that the HP Alliance has been working on all month by playing a Quidditch game with the students. The campaign’s goal is to raise books and funding to build a library for the school, which is only in its first year of existence.

My first impression was great surprise at how many of these students were intimately aware of the Harry Potter universe. I was under the impression that HP readership was declining, but over a third of these very young students said that they had read the books and almost all of them had seen the films or played video games related to it. I guess the “Quidditch World Cup” game isn’t completely useless then.

From the first moment that the NYU Quidditch began shooting drills around the basement gymnasium where the group gathered, the entire audience of children began screaming with joy and excitement, which reached a fever pitch when we demonstrated a snitch chase with the now-freelance, former-Emersonian Snitch,

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Ethan Giventer. He tauntingly wiggled his rear at the Seeker, prompting peals of laughter to pour forth across the room, and then ran down the line of children offering high fives and almost getting engulfed as they attempted to climb him and grab on to him.

Once all of the children arrived, escorted by their stalwart teachers, and after I led them in a rousing round of the “Spongebob Squarepants” theme song, which, all modesty aside, brought down the house, we explained the rules, warmed up the team, and got in position. We were finally ready to go. The NYU squad was split in to two teams – purple versus white.

If the volume during the warm-ups was any indicator, it surpassed all possible description once the games began, putting even the crowd at the 2010 World Cup championships to shame.

The excited cheering was maintained constantly during the game, peaking at each goal and then rising to an even greater level when the Snitch was released (we used a delayed release to compensate for the indoor setting of the game). The game ended in a tie at 90-90, but it was unclear if the students totally comprehended this or cared.

They were having too good a time watching and wanted to get in on the action themselves.

For the first game, 14 third graders (with signed permission slips) were selected to play and were split up onto two teams, each coached by NYU players. Jake Carmichael of NYU later said of the experience, “I almost died of cute.” Team Harry squared off against Team Purple (who, despite wearing yellow pinnies, were endeared to the NYU team and took their color). Snitch Ethan was released

NE W S

right away and the game began. The entire room went wonderfully insane with cheers as the players rushed back and forth. Neither of the Keepers seemed to be guarding their hoops and one of the Beaters was off on the side shooting her Bludger in a basketball hoop repeatedly by herself, but other than that the students had a remarkably keen grasp of a complicated game.

Game two went much the same way, with the students happily cheering on their classmates, even while somehow four Seekers began chasing the Snitch. It became quickly apparent that no one really cared who one or lost – goals and Snitch catches were simply an excuse to yell louder and smile wider.

When the game ended, it was time for reading, and the students filed out of the gym and headed up to classrooms, where HP Alliance CEO Andrew Slack read them excerpts from Harry’s first Quidditch game in Sorcerer’s Stone. The kids were obviously rapt after having just played or watched the game. The NYU players split up and read to students in several different classrooms.

I should add here that despite having spoken with him many times over the years and having successfully negotiated a fiscal sponsorship with his organization, this is the first time that I met Andrew Slack in person and I was extremely impressed with his professionalism, leadership, and awesome voices when it came to reading HP to the kids. His colleagues from the HPA were there as well and helped to organize and document the event.

As we packed up our car and prepared to leave, we chatted with Academic Co-Leader at the school, Karen Jones, who was thrilled with the event. We promised to come back next year, and I also had a discussion with the PE teacher about building equipment. “Those kids are going to want more Quidditch after a day like that,” she said.

I am honored to have arranged this event for Accio Books, the HP Alliance’s premier event dedicated to collecting books and raising money to build a library at the New Beginnings School.

Learn more at http://thehpalliance.org/action/campaigns/ deathly-hallows/horcrux-5/ n

Below: Sarah Landis from the NYU Quidditch team explains the rules of the game || Provided

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R ECENT GAME S

Recent Games APRIL 16, 2011

Ball State/Purdue Invitational

By Luke Zak Although the last few months have been the high season for intercollegiate Quidditch competitions all over North America, the official Midwest Regional Tournament still isn’t until this October.

So what did their athletes decide to do? Ball State and Purdue, the same universities that will be co-hosting regionals later this year, chose to throw a precursory invitational, bringing in teams from five Midwestern states. In addition to the two host universities, Illinois State, Loyola, Michigan State, St. Mary’s, and Webster were all in attendance.

This tournament was a giant step for Midwest Quidditch. “Since we are planning already for the Midwest Cup, it really helped with this event because it required essentially the same things, just on a smaller scale,” explained the tournament director, Hannah Lindgren.

But hosting an invitational of this caliber is an accomplishment in and of itself. Before this tournament, the largest competition Lindgren had directed was a match between Purdue and Ball State last fall and in comparison, this event was much more massive.

“Having seven teams instead of only two made a huge difference in the preparation of the brackets and planning.” Lindgren qualified the changes further, stating, “The biggest difference was needing to have two fields running simultaneously.”

In addition to the logistic details to work out, Mother Nature also had a rogue Bludger up her sleeve in the form of a torrential downpour. But true to the heart of the sport, every single team waited out the storm. Lindgren was both impressed and relieved.

“The highlight of the tournament for me was seeing everyone rally after the rain stopped. Within fifteen minutes it turned from a dark and dreary day to everyone stripping off layers of clothes and getting sunburnt!”

After twenty muddy round-robin battles for domination, it looked as if one of the hosting schools, Ball State, would take home

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the championship title. Up until the final match they were still undefeated, winning all six of their games, but closely followed by Illinois State in second and Loyola in third place.

The championship match was then a face-off between ISU and BSU. Before long, Ball State had scored twice and the game was on its way to ending much like the earlier round-robin between the two universities, in which Ball State skunked Illinois 110 to 0. Then their big break came, ten minutes in, and the Illinois seeker caught the Snitch! ISU snatched first place with a final score of 30-20.

Taking the win gracefully, Illinois State University Quidditch president Shayla Johnson turned the praise right back onto her competitors. “The other teams were all so great! Each matchup held its own difficulties and I think the tournament was a huge success.”

Johnson was quite impressed by Ball State’s talent in particular, stating, “My team has a lot to learn from them, since we’ve never seen such smooth plays and passing.”

It was a good thing that ISU athlete Isaac Mitchel caught onto this different method of play, especially considering the pitch conditions.

“As a Chaser, I totally changed my playing tactics. Rushing in for a goal seemed to end in giant piles of muddy Quidditch players. I stuck to passing more, shooting from a distance, and avoiding contact as much as possible.” Having never before played in the mud like that, Mitchel elaborated. “I was lucky to be wearing cleats, which helped me tremendously in staying upright while trying to run. The muddy field added and unexpected factor to the game. It definitely lightened the mood.”

Even without the mud, the atmosphere probably would have been friendly anyway. The vice-president of ISU Quidditch, Luke Brictson, said, “My favorite part of the tournament was the good sportsmanship shown by all the teams involved. I can’t even count the number of times I saw a player on our team fall down in the mud only to be helped up by a player on the other team with a smile on

R E C E NT GA ME S

their face.”

In most sports, it is almost always the case that the more intense the competition, the angrier and more violent both the fans and athletes become. It makes me proud that Quidditch stands to be the exception. Brictson describes a snatch, saying, “Even the seekers fighting against each other over a crucial Snitch catch would congratulate each other after the catch.”

Fair matches, each team having the opportunity to referee, incomparable sportsmanship, and a well-coordinated game plan all made the Ball State and Purdue Spring Invitational turn out to be

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an immensely successful event. What is more, the triumph of this invitational only gave us a glimpse into what the future holds for Midwest Quidditch.

“I think it’s really a testament to the strength of all the teams who came that they were willing to wait out the rain to play some Quidditch!” Hannah Lindgren commented, reflecting on the success of the tournament and the remarkable teams. “All of them were terrific. We’re so glad everyone enjoyed themselves and we hope to see everyone again in October for the Midwest Cup!” n

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IQA & World Cup T-Shirts: Just because you can’t fly doesn’t mean you can’t look fly. Get yours.

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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Don't mess with Texas.

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T E XAS C L AS S IC

Texas Quidditch, that is. On April 9th, four teams from the South gathered in Lubbock, Texas for a chance to be named the best in the Southwest. The farthest traveling team was Hendrix College from Conway, Arkansas, a small group of dedicated players that drove throughout the night to make it to the tournament. Other contending teams included Texas A&M University, the University of Texas, and Texas Tech University. The event was hosted

by Texas Tech University, a newly founded team that will surely turn heads at the 2011 Quidditch World Cup. The Monthly Seer • April 2011 The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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By Kristen Howarth and Alicia Radford

G

usting winds on a clear, 90-degree day sent huge dust clouds across the pitch on an out-of-the-way field at Texas Tech University, located in out-of-the-way Lubbock, Texas. One particularly powerful blast knocked over the first place trophy, which broke. The tournament directors scrambled to try and fix it, but play battled on, with substitutes leaving the field covered in a layer of dust mixed with sweat. It was so windy that two people held the balls in the middle of the field at the start of each game, so they wouldn't blow unfairly close to one side.

Several dozen spectators, most of them Tech students or members of the other teams, looked with not a little longing at Tech's swimming pool two hundred yards away - more like a water park, with several slides, a lazy river, and Lady Gaga blasting from speakers so loudly that when the wind blew the right direction, it drowned out the noise from the pitch.

Quidditch in Texas is all business. The tournament had no announcers. Throughout the day the Harry Potter soundtrack blasted throughout the field and surrounding campus, but other than that the only sounds heard were the smack of bludgers and quaffles which are all fully-inflated in Texas - and teammates cheering each other and jeering their opponents.

Gameplay in Texas is fierce, aggressive, and efficient. Fullyinflated quaffles mean players can make more accurate shots from farther away. The tradeoff is that they're harder to catch one-handed, something Texas teams make up for by running extensive catching drills at practice. It shows.

HIGHLIGHTS The University of Texas and Texas Tech University faced double overtime in the most heated Quidditch match of the century. The University of Texas snagged a win of 30 – 0 several heart-stopping, nearly-snitch-catches later.

Tournament organizer and Snitch Conner Davis ran through the field on stilts, wowing the audience and delaying caputre longer than usual - most games in the tournament ended with off-field snitch catches.

Hendrix College came prepared in never before seen protective gear, including bicycle helments.

Undefeated Fightin’ Texas Aggie victory. WHOOP! A&M dominated throughout the tournament, taking the trophy (figuratively, anyway) through a combination of precise tackles, accurate scoring and stamina - they had a twenty-person bench. The Aggies proved again at the Southwest Cup why they currently have the highest adjusted points differential in the entire league after the 2010 World Cup.

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THE TEAMS Texas A&M University The fightin’ Texas Aggies proudly fought their way to the top and remained undefeated champions by the end of the tournament.

Texas A&M is home of the first Quidditch team in Texas at the university level. Texas A&M reached finals at the 2010 World Cup and is regarded as “the team to look out for” at the 2011 Cup. Gig’ ‘em Aggies!

University of Texas The Texas Longhorns brought two solid teams that both demonstrated exceptional skill and sportsmanship. It was an honor to have two teams from the University of Texas compete at the tournament. The varsity team finished in 2nd place while the nonvarsity team placed 4th. The varsity team admirably fought through a double overtime and was noted for its extraordinary speed.

Hendrix College Hendrix College traveled all the way to Texas from Conway, Arkansas. Although severely out numbered, the team brought the most to the pitch and reminded us what Quidditch is all about. All who attended the event praised the team’s dedication and spirit, and we look forward to future competitions with this admirable team.

Texas Tech University Texas Tech did an outstanding job hosting the event and we would like to thank them for the time and effort they dedicated to making the tournament possible. Tech finished in 3rd place, which is somewhat surprising considering the team’s intimidating black uniforms and surly stature. Since formation, Tech has nearly doubled in membership and level of ability. It must be true what they say- Everything’s bigger in Texas. Watch out teams of the 2011 World Cup!

OUSTANDING PLAYER Nicole Galle Texas A&M Chaser Nicole Galle dominated the pitch as she let neither player nor bludger stop her. As one fan phrased it, “She just killed it.”

T E XAS C L AS S IC RE PO RT

A&M battles to keep possession against Texas Tech || Kristen Howarth The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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SCORES

FINAL RESULTS

Game 1 - UT v HENDRIX (150-10) Game 2 - UT (non-varsity) v A&M (10-70) Game 3 - TEXAS TECH v HENDRIX (60-40) Game 4 - UT v A&M (10-50) Game 5 - TEXAS TECH v UT (non-varsity) (80-30) Game 6 - HENDRIX v A&M (10-140) Game 7 - TEXAS TECH v UT (Double Overtime 0-30) Game 8 - HENDRIX v UT (non-varsity) (30-40) Game 9 - TEXAS TECH v A&M (10-70) Game 10 - UT v UT (non-varsity) (20-30)

1st A&M (6-0) 2nd UT (4-3) 3rd TEXAS TECH (3-3) 4th UT (non-varsity) (2-4) 5th HENDRIX (0-4) See y’all in Randall’s Island! n

Championship Rounds: 1st v 4th, A&M v UT (non-varsity) (A&M) 2nd v 3rd, UT v TEXAS TECH (UT) 3rd and 4th place, UT (non-varsity) v TEXAS TECH (TEXAS TECH) 1st and 2nd place, A&M v UT (A&M)

Snitch Connor Davis blasts through the field on stilts || Kristen Howarth 11

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T E XAS C L AS S IC

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The tropy. Top right: Tech vs.

Hendrix. Bottom right: the Snitch jumps over trash cans. || Kristen Howarth 13

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T E XAS C L AS S IC RE PO RT

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By Ethan Sturm

E

arly on at the Northeast Regionals on the campus of Hoftsra University, it seemed like up-and-coming young squads would be the story of the day. Lenox Memorial High School went 2-1 to qualify for the knockout rounds, while the combined team of Ursuline High School and the Toms River Hydras—which included six high school students and an 11 year old seeker—did the same.

But as the dust settled late in the day, it was the tournament’s most prolific programs that remained standing. In the final game, 2009 World Cup finalist Boston University routed 2010 World Cup semifinalist Pittsburgh 13020, taking down the largest tournament so far in 2011 and reestablishing themselves as one of the world’s best teams in the process.

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E M P I R E C L AS S I C RE PO RT 14 teams made the trek to Long Island on a sunny, spring Sunday morning for the first ever Northeast Regional. While some teams—like Stony Brook and Boston University—made the trip with squads that numbered in the twenties, others— like Pittsburgh—brought only the bare minimum. Ursuline and Toms River had even less than that, leading to the merging of the two sides and leaving 13 teams to fight for the six elimination round spots.

After IQA Commissioner Alex Benepe’s tardiness caused a brief delay, the games went off without a hitch. Hofstra senior Steve DiCarlo, who served as tournament director, kept games moving on schedule, with simultaneous starts on both fields and quick turnover between games. Thanks to his direction and the help of his staff, the round robin finished ahead of schedule.

“Besides the late start, I think things went smoothly,” Ursuline High School senior captain Amanda Ungco said. “I liked how the games on the two fields were started at the same time for the most part; it kept the whole schedule running smoothly.”

NYU picked up the first victory of the tournament on Field 1, taking down UMass 70-20. Meanwhile, on Field 2, the Jetpack Ninja Dinosaurs, complete with strapped on jetpacks, used a snitch catch to erase a 10 point deficit and come away with a 90-70 victory over the University of Maryland.

But the marquee matchup of the morning session was one between two well-known sides, Boston University and Pittsburgh.

Though the game served as foreshadowing for what was in store down the line, the matchup itself ended up disappointingly short, with an off-field snitch catch in the opening minutes of play giving the New England side a 40-0 victory.

“We were definitely really disappointed after we lost that game,” Pittsburgh captain John Battaglia said. “There are seven players playing on each team, and we don’t want only one player to matter and for it to be over in a few seconds.”

After traveling nearly nine hours to the tournament, Pitt suddenly found itself on the ropes. Another loss would likely end their title hopes. But the shorthanded team

responded, beating Stony Brook 70-20 and Maryland 100-10.

“I was pretty confident in our ability,” Battaglia said. “I definitely had a lot of faith in the team and we knew we could play with any team. There was a little more pressure afterwards, but we knew we could follow through and we did.”

Lenox Memorial, an all high school, started making waves early on with consecutive wins over RIT (70-10) and NYU (90-30). Not to be outdone, the merged team of Toms River and Ursuline recovered from any ugly loss to a strong Rochester side to sneak away with close wins over UMass Amherst and RIT, both of which were decided by snitch catches. Though Lenox fell short in their final game of the round robin against UMass, they and Toms River/

fast-break style offense to win three games in quick succession, including a local rivalry match with RIT. They closed out the round robin section of the tournament with a 60-10 win over the hosts, finishing a long afternoon of hard fought quidditch for all 13 teams.

The style of play differed greatly from that seen at the World Cup, with teams trading in mindless physicality for strategic plays. Injuries were at a minimum, and games had a much smoother flow.

“Teams were definitely playing more strategically,” Ungco said. “It seemed like there was a lot more thinking going on, on the pitch rather than just taking a ball and sprinting with it.”

As Benepe and the tournament officials calculated the final standings, a giant dodgeball game broke out on Field 1. With nearly fifty players to a side, each round was taking nearly 30 minutes, but was great fun for all involved, especially those experienced beaters.

Behind the scenes, teams were having their scores from the round robin calculated based on a scoring metric that factored in the strength of the opponents they faced.

Benepe explains the process in an official e-mail: “With randomized matches, some teams would end up playing three veteran squads, while others would play three brand new teams.

No team would want to advance to the finals knowing that they had three easy matches, while a team of equal or superior skill was held back from finals by losing in three hard matches. Therefore the rankings after prelim were based on adjusted points differential (the average victory margin of each team plus or minus the average of their three opponent's average victory margins).

This is the most objective measure of ability that could have been used given the circumstances.”

Though the system brought some confusion initially, it eventually was accepted in a positive manner.

“We liked the scoring metric the IQA started using,” Battaglia said. “I think the system works out and ranks the teams pretty well based on how they played.

With the teams anxiously gathered together, Benepe announced the results one

“Teams were definitely playing more strategically,” Ungco said.

“It seemed like there was a lot more thinking going on, on the pitch rather than just taking a ball and sprinting with it.”

Ursuline did enough to earn spots in the knockout rounds, surprising many of the people there.

“We were all just there for the same reason, to play quidditch and have fun,” Ungco said. “It just happened to work out that our teams’ chemistry was a perfect match. The first game was rough because we were just starting to get familiar with each other’s playing styles; we have very different approaches to playing the game but in the end it all worked out.”

Boston University had no intention of slowing down after taking down Pittsburgh, routing Stony Brook and Swarthmore to finish 3-0 with a total point score of 31010 over the three games and easily slot themselves in as the number one seed.

Rochester was the only other undefeated side, using a stalwart defense and a speedy

The Monthly Seer • May / June 2011

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by one, with the top six teams moving on: 1) Boston University (3-0) 78.82 2) University of Rochester (3-0) 53.65 3) Pittsburgh University (2-1) 45.50 4) Lenox High School (2-1) 13.65 5) Stony Brook University (1-2) 5.5 6) Toms River/Ursuline HS (2-1) -0.09 7) New York University (1-2) -4.4 8) Rochester Inst. of Technology (0-3) -6.28 9) University of Maryland (1-2) -11.08 10) Hofstra University (2-2) -22.22 11) Umass Amherst (1-2) -25.11 12) Jetpack Ninja Dinosaurs (2-1) -26.66 13) Swarthmore College (0-3) -33.36 Lenox and Boston University opened up the knockout rounds in a David versus Goliath matchup, pitting the veteran college squad against the upstart high school side.

The little guys held their own, scoring twice on BU, double what the college had allowed for the entirety of the tournament so far. But up 60-20, the All-Reds hauled in the snitch, vaulting themselves into the finals.

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The other two first round matchups were rematches from the round robin. Pitt was even more dominant against Stony Brook the second time around, pounding them for a 130-10 victory. The merged side kept things closer against Rochester, but an early snitch catch put them through 70-10.

In the semifinals, Pitt and Rochester settled in for a dogfight, as two of the tournaments most prolific offenses met up with a spot in the championship on the line.

Sure enough, the game ended up being the highest scoring of the entire tournament.

The snitch returned to the field with Pittsburgh holding a large enough advantage to prevent Rochester from going for a catch.

As Rochester attempted to hold Pitt’s seeker at bay, the points piled up on both sides until finally a Pittsburgh snitch catch sent them through, 160-80.

After nearly seven hours of quidditch, only Pittsburgh and BU remained. Pitt was coming off of back to back games and had no subs, while Boston had had nearly an hour of rest and plenty of depth. Stamina was bound

May / June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

to play a factor, and BU was sure to game plan for it.

“They definitely took advantage [of our small team],” Battaglia said. “I remember when we were trying to slow the pace we heard them on the sidelines screaming ‘don’t let them slow down the pace.’ They didn’t let us slow down and they played a great zone defense and really shut down our ability to score.”

On the field, Pitt just did not have enough left in the tank to keep up. BU pulled ahead, and by the time the snitch was caught, the game had long since been decided. BU had finally earned its first major tournament victory after coming up short in the World Cup and New England Cup. BU joins Miami and Arizona State (note: couldn’t find southwest winner) as a 2011 regional champion, putting them in a strong position headed into the 2011 World Cup on Randall’s Island. But for all involved, the Northeast Regional was a valuable experience, both for improving as a team and for having an incredibly, fun day.

E M P I R E C L AS S I C RE PO RT

Players to Watch

The World Cup is just six months away, so it’s about time to start scouting the opposition. Couldn’t make it to the Cup? Not a problem; the Seer has you covered with some of the best players of the 2011 Northeast Regional:

Adam Ginsberg (Rochester): Chaser

Play-by-play for Rochester’s matches at the cup typically followed a similar pattern: dull dribble until Ginsberg took over possession, than exciting yelling culminating in another Ginsberg goal.

But the announcer’s man crush on Ginsberg was well founded, as he proved to be one of the most dynamic players at the tournament. While he was capable of scoring in a variety of ways, it was his shot from distance that excited the crowd and gave the opposition nightmares. Ginsberg rarely missed from as much as 15 yards out, forcing teams to try to front him as much as possible. Unfortunately for them, he was just as apt at slashing towards the goals or passing to an open teammate. There was

no doubt that Ginsberg was at the heart of Rochester’s semi-final run.

Oh, and did we mention he spent his between games juggling?

Amanda Ungco (Ursuline): Chaser

Any time Ungco takes the pitch, she is the smallest player out there. But despite that, she plays the sport’s most physical position and plays it well. Never one to shy away from a tackle, she goes to the ground with the best of them.

“Yes I'm smaller than your average quidditch player, but that doesn’t mean I'm afraid to get out there in the game,” Ungco said. “I can take a hit just as well as anyone else. I try to make up for my small stature by being more aggressive and strong.”

She also has a strong sense of positioning on the offensive end, and can often be found filling an open hole in the defense where she is an easy target for teammates. Every player on the merged team needed to show up to pull off a pair of wins and qualify them for the knockout rounds, and Ungco was as good as any.

Ungco will continue on to Northeastern University in the fall, and it would be no surprise if she brings quidditch to the final

major school in Boston lacking an official IQA side.

Andrew Bulman (Pittsburgh): Keeper

Bulman may have entered the day with flu-like symptoms, but he left the day as a regional finalists and one of the tournament’s most impressive players.

Teams tried a variety of defensive tactics on him, but for large stretches he would look unstoppable, despite needing to go end to end as the keeper on every play and despite the fact that he could never sub out due to a shortage of players for Pitt.

“He’s just a great player,” Battaglia said.

“He scores a lot, he’s incredibly quick, he’s got great pitch vision, he’s just an all around athletic guy. He played through not feeling too well and he ended up being one of our highest scoring players.”

John Blackler (BU): Seeker Blackler made some really incredible Snitch catches, even with a nauseating knee wound. He's a very talented Seeker and BU says they've been “so lucky to count him as a member of our team.” n

Opposite: Lenox Memorial HS vs. NYU. Below: Boston University || Aaron Kalischer-Coggins and Steve Palombo.

The Monthly Seer • May / June 2011

18

THE ROAD TO T HE CU P

Below: BU vs. Hofstra University || Valerie Pelerin Clockwise from right: Stony Brook keeper with the quaffle || Provided Lenox Memorial High School huddle || Aaron Kalischer-Coggins Bottom right: Snitch Ethan Giventer runs through the pitch || Provided

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May / June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

E M P I RE C L AS S IC

The Monthly Seer • May / June 2011

20

Team Spotlights Arizona State University The journey to the Cup

By Harrison Homel

The ASU Quidditch team gets ready to play. || P ­ hoto

A

by

lexis Bristor, captain of the Arizona State University Quidditch team, is not the type of girl who takes things halfway.

It is for this and countless other reasons that we’ve chosen ASU as the next team to follow in our continuing segment “Road to the Cup.” We’ll cover their journey from start to finish, looking at different aspects of the team and tracking their trials and tribulations as they attempt to fly themselves across the country this fall.

ASU’s story began two years ago, when an abandoned Facebook page was all that was left of a failed attempt to build a team some years ago. Bristor, an incoming freshman

21

Katie Mercurio

ASU plays the Northern Arizona University Narwhals. || P ­ hoto

in 2009, decided to fix this. While on her took her mandatory campus tour, as she listened to the guide’s oftrepeated facts and recommendations, one message hit her like a bludger and stuck like the bruise: get involved.

Bristor first heard about the possibility of a Quidditch team at ASU in her dorm early that semester, and decided to investigate. She found the Facebook page in question, and contacted the admin about helping revive the team.

“He basically said, please do take over and then never spoke to me again,” she recalled.

After some research, she discovered that the deadline to become a club was 5 p.m. that day.

May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

by

Jesse Hannah

Luckily for the ASU campus, Bristor, as established, is not one to partially commit. After a rather tiring afternoon, she became president of an official club on campus, with a faculty advisor and three members (her suitemates plus a friend who had been in the room at the time) in tow.

The story becomes a familiar one from there: the ASU Sun Devil Quidditch team started on Facebook, had its first meeting with a few people, and a group slowly developed by word of mouth. The goal hoops were hula hoops duct taped to chairs and the games lacked brooms, but the magic began to take root in that harsh desert sand regardless.

T E AM S POT L IGHT S

ASU Quidditch poses as the 2011 International Quidditch Association Western Cup Champions. || P ­ hoto

Willie Jackson, 20, can attest to that organic development: as he walked home from a study session one evening, he caught sight of a Quidditch game and stopped, as one does, to watch.

Jackson, an athlete in high school and an avid Harry Potter fan, didn’t take much convincing.

“It was about 30 seconds before Alexis asked me if I wanted to join and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.

Players from all backgrounds and interests came to play Quidditch, from aerospace engineer Jackson to Duston Mazzella, 20, a photography major with no previous sporting experience.

Mazzella had the honor of being that third person in Alexis’ suite that fateful

by

Dustin Mazzella

day. Initially simply intrigued by the idea, he has been beating for the team ever since.

As more players joined the fun, the trappings of legitimacy followed: they secured funding to build real hoops, and eventually to buy brooms as well.

Scrimmages and practices ensued, and by spring, the brand new Sun Devils had found their feet and were ready to launch. They won their first tournament, the Southwestern Cup in Southern California, and did the same at every tournament and match that followed, quickly becoming feared on every sun-baked pitch in the West.

Bristor’s full tilt approach is clearly paying off: she captains a dominant

team with a career record of 18-0.

Somewhere, there’s a campus tour guide who should be walking backwards with an extra spring in her step.

A year later, fresh off victory at the Western Regional Cup, the team has a New York state of mind. With fundraising and training regimens in place and a dedicated team to carry them out, ASU is well on its way to achieving its goal. With aspirations and excitement flying high, the Sun Devils are eager to give the East a run for its money.

“I want to be measured up against the best in the world,” Mazzella said, “I want to make noise.”

When they do, dear reader, you’ll hear it. n

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

22

TE A M SPOTLIGH T S

Quinner, anyone?

Vassar team takes light-hearted approach to Quidditch

By Andrea Hill

The Vassar College Butterbeer Broooers team prides itself on being inclusive and favouring fun over competitiveness. || P ­ hotos Provided

T

here’s much more to the Vassar College Butterbeer Broooers Quidditch team than what the competition sees on the pitch.

The team practices twice a week and after every practice they have Quidditch dinner – Quinner – in the dining hall. On Thursday evenings,

23

team members gather for bedtime readings of the Harry Potter books.

Harry Potter movie marathons are a common event.

May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

“It makes the team much tighter and you make more friends,” said Daniel Bossert, one of last years co-captains.

“Overtime we’ve become closer and better team mates, better friends and that’s translated to on-field success.”

The Vassar team was founded in 2007 by a student with friends at Middlebury College where Muggle

T E AM S P OT L IGHT S

Quidditch was born. In November of that year, the team competed against Middlebury in the first intercollegiate match, losing 150-0 against the toprated Middlebury team.

Since then, the team has grown and made a name for itself within Quidditch circles. The Brooers placed fourth of 46 teams in the 2010 World Cup, hosted the first intercontinental Quidditch match against the Vaasa Centaurs of Finland and has successfully hosted two Butterbeer Classic tournaments.

But the team doesn’t let its success go to its head.

Molly St. Clair, another of last year’s co-captains, said the team would rather be inclusive than worry about winning.

“We believe in giving everyone

a chance to play,” St. Clair said. “We believe Quidditch should be fun.”

It is a sentiment shared by cocaptain Sandy Wood.

“We are a really strong, solid team and we’ve been able to play really well and be really competitive, but we don’t let that get in the way of our character and of remembering that we’re playing Quidditch,” Wood said. “When we’re at the World Cup we’re there because we love the sport.”

Wood discovered her own love of the sport during her first week as a freshman. At first, she wasn’t sure if she should go out for the Broooers because she had never been sporty or athletic. But she had always loved the idea of being on a team and decided to give it a shot.

That choice proved to be one of her best university decisions.

“There’s a lot of goodwill and friendliness and openness and silliness,” she said. “Everyone has a really good sense of humour and it’s really fun.”

Last year’s Vassar team had 20 members overseen by four elected captains. New captains are selected each year to give as many people as possible an opportunity to lead the team. These captains oversee practices, communicate with the International Quidditch Association and work to secure funding from the college.

All are challenges next year’s captains are excited to take on next fall as they lead the Broooers to another year of fun both on and off the pitch. n

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

24

TE AM SPOTLIGH T S

The young Toms River Hydras team competes in the fourth annual Quidditch World Cup. || P ­ rovided

The Toms River Hydras: a multi-headed unit

W

hen the Toms River Hydras arrived at the fourth annual Quidditch World Cup this past fall in New York, the team was afraid its collegiate competition would have trouble respecting the high school group.

The community team consisting of mostly high school students: 30 players ranging in age from 16 to 20, from three local high schools and one nearby community college.

All were wary of playing their first real matches versus older and more experienced teams.

When the team registered for the tournament, it was not expecting the physicality involved in intercollegiate Quidditch games. The Hydras quickly adapted to the higher intensity play, however, and ended the experience with a relatively large collection of scrapes and bruises that they wore with pride.

“We really came together as a team,” said team Captain Ryan McGilloway.

“We have the best chemistry of any team that we have played so far and we work

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By Katie Stack

together seamlessly.”

In fact, this team chemistry is the very reason the group calls itself the Hydras.

The players wanted a name a bit more menacing than “Toms River Quidditch League,” so they explored their mythical beast options.

“We chose the Hydra specifically because it has many heads and works as one unit- we felt that described our team perfectly,” McGilloway said.

Hydra Ethan Sturm agreed that the tight-knit aspect of the group definitely had something to do with the team’s success.

Sturm attends Tufts, but his loyalties lie not with the 2010 runner-up Tufflepuffs but rather with his lifelong friends from his hometown, Toms River.

“I think our biggest secret weapon is our girls,” Sturm said. “They are the best group I have seen of any team.”

The players’ faith in their team’s chemistry and skill proved well-founded as the Hydras found themselves earning the respect of the other athletes through

May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

scrappy play and unwavering energy. As an unknown underdog, the team was been pleasantly surprised when it was originally welcomed enthusiastically by the intercollegiate league. The entirely self-funded team has accomplished a lot since McGilloway gathered a few of his friends in 2009 to try out their favorite fictional swport.

This summer (the Hydras’ schedule is opposite that of most teams because they are community-based opposed to schoolbased) the team hopes to improve its game with regular practices.

When the Hydras return to New York in the fall for the fifth annual World Cup, the team will no longer consist of mostly high-school students, but rather will boast a college-age majority.

The Hydras are excited for a future in which the rest of the IQA will finally view them as equals; as for now, the team still feels as if it has something to prove and it is not afraid fight hard to demonstrate once again that it is top-10 material. n

QU IZ

uiz

By Zara Fishkin

Every position on the uidditch pitch seems to attract a different type of person.

Take this quiz to see what position you are according to your personality!

1. Your ideal birthday party is one that a) has bumper cars b) involves you beating the crap out of a piñata c) culminates in you being the target of a water balloon fight d) is a pool party with Marco Polo. You are polo and you get out of the pool. e) has pin the tail on the donkey. f) everyone wears funny hats for.

5. If you were a historical(ish) figure, you would be, a) Babe Ruth b) the Headless Horseman c) Stonewall Jackson d) Judas e) the original it f) Marty McFly from Back to the Future III

2. If it weren’t for Quidditch, you would,

6. The first thing you would say in an press interview...

a) play rugby b) play dodgeball with wrenches c) play pinball competitively d)play Ashton Kutcher on Pranked e) run cross country f) invent Quidditch

a) I’m so glad we’re doing this. Communication is key b) How are you? Ha! Beat you to the first question. c) I’m not so accustomed to giving interviews. I don’t concede much. d) Thank you for letting me Skype in from this tree. e) Holdon…letme…catchmybreath…. f) I’m sorry, but we’ll have to keep this quick; there’s a line.

3. On Saturday nights, you

7. If you were an animal, you would be a(n)

a) are looking to score b) play wingman c) guard the fire alarm at your frat d) play hard to get e) chase tail f) answer fan mail

a) monkey in the middle b) gorilla c) sea anemone d) ivory-billed woodpecker e) cheetah f) emperor penguin

4. If you were a super hero, your super power would be

8. The most important aspect of Quidditch is

a) insta-clone b) sock ‘em bopper fists c) octo-arms d) flight e) super speed f) time-turner abilities

a) the Chaser b) the Beater c) the Keeper d) the Snitch e) the Seeker f) Me

Mostly A’s- Chaser Mostly B’s- Beater Mostly C’s- Keeper Mostly D’s- Snitch Mostly E’s- Seeker Mostly F’s- Commissioner

Answers:

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

26

HA NGING U P TH E B R O O M

Hanging up the broom

As another school year ends, many of the founders from top uidditch teams around the United States are graduating and preparing for life after uidditch.

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May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

T R AN S I T I O N I N G L E A DE RS HIP

Navigating your team’s leadership transition

T

By Alex Benepe

his spring, for the first time ever, the largest concentration of Quidditch players - and particularly captains - will graduate. Quidditch exploded in 2007 and 2008, and these teams were largely started by freshman. Now all of those freshmen are seniors and will be leaving, and what happens next to their teams will be a critical juncture for the long-term well-being of the IQA. One of the most important aspects of a team’s sustainability is the degree to which a team trains and recruits new leadership. It doesn’t matter how awesome you were at getting your team started if it collapses when you graduate.

While this will be the first big leadership transition for many teams, I’d like to explore some of the ideas and concepts behind transitioning leadership by looking at my alma mater, Middlebury, as a case-study, since they are the longest team in existence and also still going very strong, as evidenced by their win at the 2010 World Cup in New York.

Here are some steps I took during and after my time at Middlebury to ensure that the team remained in good hands: I inherited the club from Quidditch founder Xander Manshel in 2006, my sophomore year, and spent that year organizing the intramural league rather than playing. During this time I kept an eye out for potential leaders and very committed players.

In 2007, I increased league attendance by getting over 300 freshmen to sign up on our club email list at the club fair, and I formed an executive board of ten of the top best organizers and players. This group formed a core that helped organize events and raise money, and were the backbone of the World Cup events hosted at Middlebury for the next three years.

In 2008, I expanded the board to a larger committee of over thirty dedicated players. Our road trip that spring helped bond the group very tightly, and they all pitched in to help organize tournaments and teams throughout the fall.

In 2009, with my graduation approaching, I called for nominations for team commissioners, asking the team to nominate two rising seniors and one rising junior, and made clear who my nominations were for, essentially creating an appointment but

asking for votes to support it. I made sure that there was at least one non-senior so that he/she would have two years of leadership experience by the time he/she was a senior. In the fall of 2009, this triumvirate model was very successful and the three were able to run a very smooth World Cup event. I remained geographically close to the team (moving to Burlington, VT for one year), started them on the event-organizing with lists of what I had done in the previous year, and made sure to introduce all of the captains to any school administration contacts I had.

In 2010, the Middlebury team voted in two new captains, both rising juniors, thereby creating a Senior-Junior-Junior triumverit. In 2011, this triumvirate will probably shift back to a Senior-Senior-Junior. The beauty of this system means that there is always at least one “leader-in-training” and that there are no lapses in proper leadership.

In summation, here are the four key points to remember: SCOUT & EMPOWER - Look out for leadership talent or club dedication early on and appoint a board. With power comes responsibility, and those who you empower on your board will then act responsibly for your team TRAIN - Foster and train your leaders by involving them in every step of the leadership process and introducing them to important people and processes in your school and club administration.

DIVERSIFY - Always make sure that your club has at least three leaders (and ideally an executive board) and be sure that your leaders are not all in the same class, this way your leadership has continuity.

TRANSITION - Avoid politics and power-struggles by publically developing future leaders and emphasize your nominations so that the voting process does not become embattled. n

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

28

HA NGING U P TH E B R O O M

Life after uidditch: How I’m coping in a world without quaffles

By Abbie Rickard

L

ast Sunday afternoon, like I have so many Sunday afternoons before, I walked down to the Boston Common. If you walk around here after the last bit of slush has melted from the sidewalks of Tremont Street and the wind has stopped blowing pedestrians into one another, you will start to see twentysomethings lying on blankets reading and sunbathing, organized groups in matching t-shirts meeting at the gazebo for rallies, and fathers teaching their children how to play baseball. But for as long as I’ve been going to the Common on Sunday afternoons, no matter what the weather, there has always been Quidditch.

Emerson College Quidditch, or ECQ, was founded in April 2008, my freshman year. We convinced our RA to let us play a game as a hall event, allowing us to get free equipment through Res Life, and allowing RA Nick to fill his quota of RA-sponsored events for the year. We made our own t-shirts in Emerson purple with three hoops and “EMERSON QUIDDITCH” in yellow ink, to make it official.

On a cloudy Sunday approximately three years ago, we met on the Common, built our first hoops out of hula hoops, cardboard boxes, and water bottles, and played our first games of Quidditch.

I didn’t love Emerson when I arrived the previous fall. I was extremely intimidated by all the kids I met who seemed to know exactly what they wanted to do with their lives, when I had a hard time seeing past the weekend. I tried focusing on my classes and making new friends, but after months of trying I still felt out of place. I started applying to other schools, hoping I could find somewhere else to call home. But toward the end of my freshman year, something changed.

It’s possible I had a bad case of homesickness that I was finally getting over. It’s possible I regained some confidence in myself after seeing my first semester grades. It’s possible that I met some of the best people I’ll ever know, people I will be friends with for the rest of my life, on the fourth floor of the Little Building residence hall.

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May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

Rickard before a match || Provided

All of these things are true. But the distinctive turning point was the afternoon I spent running around a public park with a laughably undersized broomstick between my legs and a piece of fabric tied around my neck. After that day I knew I’d found something really special, something I’d hate to leave behind.

When we returned to school in the fall, my friend Jared decided to open up Quidditch to the entire Emerson community by attaining club sport status within the athletic department. Before we knew it we were one-hundred-plus members strong, quickly becoming one of the most popular organizations on campus, since, as it turns out, an arts school is the perfect venue for a sport that was invented in

L I F E AF T E R QU IDDIT C H

a fantasy novel. We’d start to see people we’d never met wearing our patented ECQ t-shirts around campus. Little did I know that approximately three years to the day of that first match I’d be looking back on a genuine Quidditch career, filled with team rivalries, three World Cup appearances, and a Griffith Cup championship (ECQ’s intramural league cup, aptly named after our RA Nick Griffith).

I graduated from Emerson in December 2010, officially ending my tenure with ECQ. Though I wish it didn’t have to be that way, it made sense. So much of my time in college was defined by my participation in Quidditch, from how I spent my weekends, to how I managed my time, to who my friends were. It only made sense that my separation from the university would coincide with my separation from the organization. My friends and co-founders who had been there since the beginning were also moving on, whether they were also graduating or moving across the country to Emerson’s Los Angeles campus. It felt like the time had finally come for us to pass on what we had created to a younger generation of players.

Seeing something I helped create go on to have a life of its own is both deeply rewarding and heartbreaking. My friend Mike (known by many in ECQ as “Coach Mike”) equated it to having a child: you commit all of your time to it, you get really annoyed with it sometimes, but deep down you know you love it with all of your heart. “And when it’s not around anymore,” he added, “you have to find a new hobby, like golf, or curling.” I’m not exactly ready to trade in my Quidditch broom for a curling broom, but I definitely understand the sentiment. I’m having a hard time breaking all ties to ECQ, still living in Boston and communicating with friends who still play. Just last weekend I helped ref two intramural matches, which I was thrilled to do, but it is very apparent to me that it’s just not the same. My friend Joe was the founder of the Boylston Berserkers, and I one of his first players—I bled Berserker blood red for two and a half years, and to not know who these kids are wearing my uniform is just odd. Even stranger than that, I’m sure most of the players don’t even know who Jared is, the very person who made ECQ possible.

Now that I’ve taken those first big steps into the real world, sometimes I feel like college is this little bubble, its own little universe safely preserved within its own rules and boundaries. It’s sheltered and manageable, a place where something like a Quidditch league can thrive because of the limited reality of college life, where you’re stuck somewhere between childhood and adult responsibilities and just want to hold on to something you loved when you were young for a while longer, where you haven’t retained quite enough dignity to not want to be seen running around with a broomstick between your legs. I feel like I have my face pressed up against that bubble, smashing my cheeks against the surface trying to reach the inside. I can get pretty close by watching or reffing games or writing articles about it, but I know I don’t belong in there anymore.

I miss having something to do every Sunday afternoon with all of my best friends. I miss walking around with hula hoops slung around my shoulders and a bag of brooms strapped to my back, watching

my classmates stare and giggle. I miss painting my face red before games. I miss my heart pounding as I kneel on the ground grasping my broom, waiting for the “B” of “Brooms up!” I miss road trips with the best teammates anyone could ask for, cooking them six pounds of pasta for dinner, and then shaving their heads into mohawks. I miss forgetting about economic crises and report deadlines while I focus on more important things, like dodging bludgers and snatching snitches. There’s just nothing like it.

“I miss road trips with the best teammates anyone could ask for, cooking them six pounds of pasta for dinner, and then shaving their heads into mohawks.”

I’ve finally started to accept that Emerson Quidditch isn’t just “ours” anymore. And that’s not how we wanted it anyway. If it had fallen apart when the seven or so of us left, I think we all would have felt pretty crummy. Despite all of the memories I’ve made and the ones I still cling to (see the countless Quidditch t-shirts that comprise a third of my wardrobe and the ECQ calendar hanging in my cubicle at work…), the most comforting thing to me is that this September, some scared freshman will come to Emerson College and see a bunch of kids running around the Boston Common on broomsticks on a Sunday afternoon, and just maybe she won’t be so scared anymore. n

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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HA NGING U P TH E B R O O M

Remembering that “wow” moment

O

By Max Kaplan

ver the past few years, I've heard many stories of how my friends, colleagues, and fellow IQA members "discovered" muggle Quidditch. Whether a few months ago or three years ago, the stories are largely the same: you're introduced to Quidditch by the friend who knows you love Harry Potter; you either watch a YouTube video or, if you're lucky, get to watch your first match in person. In either case, there's a moment - somewhere between watching a Quaffle pass and the game-winning Snitch-grab - that you think to yourself, "Wow, this is real. And it works."

My moment went something like that, and for me (like so many others), it was one of those moments that you don't realize will change your life, but it eventually will. I was a wide-eyed freshman at my now-alma mater, Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, when a friend showed me a video clip of Middlebury College playing Quidditch prefaced with, "You know how we always say our school looks like Hogwarts?"

It was settled. Quidditch, a sport still in its infancy that had barely expanded outside New England, needed to come to Chestnut Hill College. Universities tend to either love Quidditch, laugh at it, or refuse to acknowledge it (another observation over the past few years). When I presented Chestnut Hill's Student Life staff with video clips and what I imagine was a laughable, poorly written proposal in spring of 2008, they too fell in love with the idea. While I still don't know why they did it, they entrusted me with a sizable budget to plan an intramural tournament to take place that fall.

Organizing your college's (and one of the country's) first-ever Quidditch tournaments is a daunting, terrifying, and logistically nightmarish task that I wish upon both everyone and no one. At a school of a mere 900 students, running down a crowded hallway on a household broomstick to gain fanfare is only slightly dehumanizing, but ultimately paid off: that daily promotion, paired with word-ofmouth, persuaded nearly 75 students to mount Halloween storebought broomsticks on an unseasonably hot day in October 2008 for our first-ever Quidditch on the Hill tournament.

It was a tremendous success. The college President attended with her dog; the athletics department moved practices so we could use its

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May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

Kaplan with his college President || Provided

soccer field; there was a decently large audience; and, what I believe to be the greatest success of them all, the players loved it. The game brought athletes and bookworms together on our campus in a way that only Quidditch can. It broke the Great Cafeteria Divide that exists between tables and friend groups on small college campuses.

A year later our team had placed third and fifth in two Quidditch World Cups (we were the only team to bring a mascot and we drove

L I F E AF T E R QU IDDIT C H

“The game brought athletes and bookworms together on our campus in a way that only uidditch can. It broke the Great Cafeteria Divide that exists between tables and friend groups on small college campuses.”

nine hours for the occasion) and had held an even bigger tournament of our own. Quidditch on the Hill was awarded Program of the Year by the college. It was late 2009 and Quidditch was booming, with teams mushrooming across the country and news stories pouring in. Alex Benepe, who'd provided no shortage of guidance and help to me as I built Chestnut Hill's Quidditch program, sent me an email that I'm incredibly grateful didn't get caught in my spam filter: he told me that he was turning the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association into a non-profit (now called the - you guessed it International Quidditch Association), and he wanted me to be on the board of directors.

While it may be too soon to say that "the rest is history," history is certainly in the making. Any spectator at the 2010 Quidditch World Cup in New York City will tell you the atmosphere was nothing short of magical; equally magical were the front-page newspaper stories, international TV spots, and our "trending" status on Twitter.

Perhaps the most magical moment of all was sitting in the front row of the World Cup's final match, a bloody, wildly entertaining brawl between Tufts University and champion Middlebury College.

Watching hundreds (perhaps a thousand) fans roar over smart plays, clever Snitches, hilarious commentary, and great sportsmanship was a spectacle years in the making. Thousands of hours of volunteer work over many months created the World Cup, but the nearly 800

|| Linda Johnson

athletes who flew, drove, biked, and apparated to New York City gave the event its spirit.

To create, nurture, and ensure the success of a university's Quidditch program is no small feat; it demands more than simply buying equipment and playing a game. The Quidditch players and captains that make up our league are fearless, strong-willed students who are often handed little from their institutions, yet manage to build strong communities that grow bigger each year. A shared goal, whether it be earning school recognition or winning the World Cup, creates a bond between teammates that I believe most college sports can't match. Our players have a stake in the growth, formation, and success of both their team and the greater league.

We're driven by that first "wow" moment when we realize that, in fact, nearly anything is possible (even Quidditch). The child-like splendor in that moment of discovery can take us anywhere: it took me, the laughingstock of my high school's football team, to a chair in ESPN studios as I was interviewed on national television; it took hundreds of athletes across the country to the World Cup. It may be true what Albus Dumbledore said: "Perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well." n

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

32

LI F ESTYLES

Lifestyles Nederquidditch

Dutch players line up for their first Quidditch game. || Provided

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May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

L I FE S T Y L E S

W W ❧ Once again students from Emerson College embarked upon a semester long journey to “Kasteel Well” in the Netherlands. This program sends 87 students from Emerson’s Boston campus to a campus inside a castle in the Netherlands.

However, this semester was different than any other semester in the past. Not only was it the “Kasteel” program’s 25th anniversary, but it was the first time Quidditch made its way over the castle moats.

ell, Netherlands - Dusk is settling on the small town of Well, and a small pack of Dutch boys have arrived at the athletic field with various gardening tools in their hands: hefty hoes and rakes with sharp metal ends that look better equipped for dismemberment than a friendly game of Quidditch.

“No,” Emerson World Cup Team’s Allison Gillette says almost immediately.

“Absolutely not. We found some branches and sticks you guys can play with instead.” The Dutch boys are visibly dejected as they surrender their “brooms” in favor of the twig pile off to the side of the field. Over by the makeshift goals (three evenly spaced white buckets), the Emerson College’s Castle Quidditch team is already warming up, passing the quaffle back and forth between players and dodging bludgers. Spectators line the edge of the barely-defined field, both American and Dutch. In mere moments, Emerson College will bring the glory of Quidditch to the Netherlands.

What little daylight is left fades away as Gillette explains the rules to the Dutch boys, and they seem to understand what she’s saying. Sort of. At the very least, they know to kneel on the ground with their brooms flat against the ground at the booming “brooms down, eyes down” command, and that’s good enough for now.

The snitch – new recruit Lauren Cortizo – is released, and she’s barely good and hidden before the game takes off, Dutch and Americans bolting forward in a blur until it would be hard to differentiate one from the other if not for the neon jerseys the Emerson Quidditch players wear.

It is quickly apparent that the Dutch boys did not, in fact, entirely understand the directions. But what they lack in comprehension, they make up for in sheer size and athletic skill. A bystander casually mentions that at least one of the Dutch players plays for a professional football team, and it shows when he tries to dribble the bludger forward between his feet. Head (and only) Referee Sam Chaimson spends more of the game reminding the Dutch boys to keep their feeble sticks between their legs than actually calling illegal tackles. The haphazardly thrown together Emerson team fairs rather well despite their lack of preparation and wealth of firsttime players, but they also had the advantage of English on their side.

By the end of the game, the sun has set and quite a crowd of both Well locals and Emerson students are gathered to watch the inevitable end. Still, though the score is heavily in favor of the Americans, the Dutch seem to have grasped the rudimentary concepts of the game as they played. And thus, the ultimate goal is achieved: not winning, but spreading the love of Quidditch to another culture in hopes that they might adore it as much as we do. Although one of the Dutch boys throws his flimsy, now battered and broken branch at the field’s fence and demands a game of football as a rematch, they can’t help but admit they had a lot of fun!

By Andrea Shea

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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LI F ESTYLES

High fashion in uidditch

O

By Abbie Rickard

f all the ways Quidditch is set apart from other athletic endeavors, the players’ apparel is certainly one of note.

The bright colors, the eccentric team names, the broom between the legs, and of course the capes are some of the ways Quidditch teams can express their creativity and team pride.

Of course, with most of these organizations being completely student-organized and student-run, they are often left to their own defenses to get uniforms, but this is where the athletes’ imaginations can really run wild. Just because your school’s mascot is a wildcat or an eagle doesn’t mean you can’t call yourselves the Butterbeer Brewers (who hail from Vassar) or the Tufflepuffs (from Tufts University), and what Quidditch players wear can be just as attention grabbing.

Many teams order tee shirts to be printed with their own logos or designs, while others order customized jerseys. One school uses old soccer jerseys that weren’t being used by the athletic department for their traveling team. More established teams tended to have very uniform, er, uniforms, sometimes with players’ names and numbers customized on jerseys and requiring matching socks and/ or shorts, while newer teams—not yet having the resources to order customized garb—simply had their players wear the same colored shirts and self-decorate.

Vassar players are encouraged to bring their own bright pink spandex to games. “We find that having the crazy spandex makes the whole team rather... spiffy and unique,” said a Vassar player, who also added: “When in competitions, we usually add numbers

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to our shirts with bright pink duct tape so as to allow everybody to customize as much as possible, allowing us to have a wide range of numbers that come from ‘panda’ to the Golden Ration, PHI (1.61803399....), to the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.” Another school uses colored bandanas to denote positions instead of athletic headbands as indicated in the rulebook, “to instill terror into our opponents.” A Michigan State player boasted of their forest green jersey, “It looks pretty legit, Alivan himself asked if he could get one.”

Besides the peculiar numbers, the vibrant spandex, and the hand-colored tee shirts, the most Quidditch-esque part of any team’s uniform has to be the illustrious cape. Taken semi-directly from the pages of Harry Potter (Rowling’s players wore “Quidditch robes”), the cape is considered by many to be as much of a part of the game as the broomsticks. My mom made us our first set of capes in 2008 out of long, shiny purple and gold fabric—a bit too long to play with, but they were fabulous nonetheless. Since then, Emerson commissioned some costume design students to create capes with harnesses that players could wear under their jerseys while they played. Other teams have capes that are attached to jerseys at the shoulders, some that have Velcro fastens, and some with straps that go under the arms and behind the back instead of around the neck. You’d be hardpressed to find capes in more recent games, however, with schools finding them more hindering and even dangerous to gameplay.

Many players claimed that they added little to nothing to the game, other than aesthetic value, and would rather their players not get hurt. One player summed it up nicely, saying they “just plain get in

LIFE S T Y L E S in the way.” Personally, I have sustained a few caperelated injuries on the pitch and find capes to be quite annoying, but there are others who would probably tell me to buck up and suit up.

One player emphasized their necessity to the game, saying, “Quidditch is about the theatrics and wizarding flair as well as the actual sport. Without the Harry Potter Wizarding aspect, we might as well be playing volleyball or soccer.” Another player said that their team does not require capes, but they are encouraged. “What we found,” they said, “was teams would wear them during pick-up games from time to time, but when it came to real league games people shed the capes for a competitive advantage of sorts.

They either get in the way or are used by opponents to drag you down. They do exhibit the true spirit of Quidditch, however.” A third player said their team uses capes for functionality, since the players’ names and numbers are on them. “And we think they look cool,” they added.

There seem to be strong opinions for both sides of the Great Cape Debate, and it’s hard to say if it will ever be settled. But whether or not Quidditch players wear flowing capes, customized uniforms, or tee shirts styled with sharpies, they will most certainly be wearing the most fly uniforms out there. (Sorry, I had to.)

Special thanks to all of the players who participated in my survey! n

Opposite: teams at the 2010 World Cup opening parade. Above right: uniforms. Above: Pittsburgh vs. Vassar || Jamie Kiernan

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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PL AYERS’ C ORNER

Players’ Corner The summer regiment

W

hen I was a freshman, wideeyed and fresh, coming into the University of Massachusetts, I hadn’t given much thought to what I’d be doing aside from schoolwork. At home, I was active in kempo karate, and I figured that that was enough to keep me active and to keep the “freshman fifteen” off me.

That all changed, of course, when I went to the Student Organization Activities fair. When I saw the brooms, the deflated volleyball, and the tube sock, I knew what it was and knew there was nothing else as right for me on that library plaza as the Quidditch Club. Since then, I’ve held positions of vice president and president, doing everything in my power to give back to the team that’s given me so much.

It transpired that at UMass, Seeker was the least desired position. All Seekers know why; not much to do for most of the game, intense sprinting, and end-all catch or failure. I, however, saw that the team needed someone to work at the position and make it a strong point of our team, so I dedicated myself to it.

I have had the pleasure and privilege of watching Quidditch evolve from a casual, low-key, lazy game into a vibrant, competitive, and unique sport. This summer, I plan to continue training hard so as to come back in the fall more than ready to rule the pitch. An unfortunate accident during a drill this season put me back with a sprained ankle, so I have some

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By Christopher Chan

Summer training will help seekers make faster snatches this fall. || P ­ hoto

ground to make up.

I will be training with a friend who is new to the sport. Coming from a hockey background, he has been looking for a new way to get active again. Together, we will work conditioning, endurance, and technique while we work summer jobs and live it up in Western Massachusetts.

Now, finals are just beginning here at

May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

by

Andrea Hill

UMass, which means there hasn’t been much time to train yet. Rest assured, however, that once this rush of papers, presentations, and exams passes by, the rush of sweat, sun, and mud will return in full force. Look forward to hearing what works; I hope Quidditch is on the brain for you as much as it is for me. n

P L AY E R S ’ C O RNE R

Coming soon to a university near you The Monthly Seer’s Laurie Beckoff speaks to some promising college freshmen who will make their debuts on the Quidditch pitch this fall.

With more high school Quidditch teams popping up around the country and the world, more students are entering college with previous Quidditch experience. What started as strictly a college sport has spread to younger students who just can’t wait for the opportunity to play. In addition to all the newcomers who will be trying out for college Quidditch teams in the fall, captains may find that they have some already knowledgeable, skilled, and accomplished players joining their ranks. Here are some rising stars to look out for next year.

Juliette Brashears

Luke Haskell

Chaser Out of Rogers Heritage High School Coming soon to University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Keeper/Chaser Out of Lenox High School Coming soon to University of Massachusetts Amherst

Goals: I hope to improve my endurance in college Quidditch and create shorter, more precise passes. I also want to become more intense - bloody knees, who cares? And of course, make it to the World Cup.

Goals: I plan to try out for the UMass team, play at next year’s World Cup and participate in as many college tournaments as I can attend. I hope to generally improve my skills, and have fun playing an awesome sport.

Watch out: Since the Heritage Quidditch team is so new, we’ve had to run on sheer faith so I definitely have dedication.

Having helped build this team from the ground, I’m a hard worker. Best of all though, I simply have a love for the sporteven though we’re the only high school team in the state and haven’t played any real games, I still love getting to practice.

Watch out: My experience has prepared me to be a good candidate for a college team because I have more knowledge of the game than most incoming freshmen players will.

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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PL AYERS’ C ORNER

The Quidditch diaries

By Laurie Beckoff You may have snuck a peek at your older sister’s or best friend’s diary. Maybe you are Ginny Weasley or Harry Potter and have looked into the diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle. (In the latter case, please find the nearest basilisk fang and stab the diary to avoid further complications). You probably went into the aforementioned journals to find secrets, love letters, doodles, overdramatic poetry, gossip, or, if you were in Tom Riddle’s diary, a really creepy soul of a dark wizard writing to you about some foreboding place called the Chamber of Secrets. But the diary of a Quidditch player is open for all to learn of the experiences of a high school student in the process of starting and maintaining a Quidditch team. A little less angst, a little more magic.

Dear Diary,

May 24, 2011

I just played Muggle Quidditch for the first time! Well, it wasn’t a full game, mostly drills with six people, one more than last week when we had no brooms, but it was intense nonetheless! It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to play Quidditch, but it was only in September of last year, when I attended an IQA volunteer meeting, that I realized that it could be a reality a reality of which I had to be a part. My friend Rebecca and I didn’t want to wait until college, but it seemed we’d have to. All the students in our school were already so involved with other clubs or teams on top of their mountainous homework load that they wouldn’t have time to join something else. Heck, we didn’t have the time! Even if we had enough players, our school wouldn’t allow it, or we wouldn’t be able to get a faculty advisor, or we wouldn’t have a place to play, or some other aspect of this cruel universe would try to hinder our plans.

We couldn’t resist a challenge. We sent a petition around, on which we were told needed 30 signatures. We received over 60. Next was the daunting Consultative Council, a monthly meeting for student government executives, the principal, assistant principals, and the coordinator of student activities. We made our proposal and thought we were done for. There were no objections to the sport itself, but they had the same worries we had.

“Who’s your advisor? It has to be someone with first aid training.”

“Where will you play? The college doesn’t like us using their fields.” (Our high school is on a college campus.)

“Is someone going to get an eye poked out with a broomstick?”

We attended three Consultative Councils in total, each time wanting to hit our heads against the table more. It just wasn’t going to work. But after a lot of help from a very kind assistant principal and the cooperation of an always enthusiastic health and physical education teacher, we had just about everything. Except a place to play.

“Can’t we just have unused grassy space on the college campus?”

“They won’t let us.”

“How about the gym? We can make it work indoors.”

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P L AY E R S ’ C O RNE R “The boy’s volleyball team is in there.”

“The auxiliary gym?”

“Fencing.”

We decided we might as well have some meetings to familiarize everyone with the sport so they’d be ready to go once we had space. If we had space.

We had about 20 kids from all grades at the first meeting. Most of the juniors were my friends who are also into Harry Potter and can’t escape me and my incessant talking about Quidditch. There were some eager freshmen and sophomores, some I’d seen around and knew to be Harry Potter fans, others who were new faces. Even a couple of seniors came. We managed to get a few track stars - an exciting development. Everyone was excited, but the numbers dwindled as we had a few more meetings and no playing.

Finally, the school’s volleyball team lost. It was unfortunate, but the gym was free. I didn’t have enough time to order broomsticks before our first day of play, but I wanted to get everyone on their feet and in game mode. I quickly bought some hula hoops over the weekend and prepared for a makeshift game. With the aid of the helpful assistant principal, I made a parental consent form that outlined the game.

I rushed down to the locker room to change, then got to work on how to mount the hoops. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at positioning them atop European handball goals and tying them together with elastic workout bands, we ended up hanging them from the larger soccer goals. We were ready to play! So I did a headcount. One, two, three, four, five, and number six didn’t have his form and would be a referee for the day. I had been convinced that more people would show up once we started playing.

Hoping that this was just due to AP exams, tutoring for the tests a lot of students had the next day and conflicts with teams that would soon be done for the season, we made do.

We practiced running down the pitch, passing the Quaffle (a crimson and gold volleyball—our school colors just happen to match Gryffindor) with one hand as though we were holding brooms with the other, and shooting against a Keeper. Then we did a mini-game with just two Chasers on each team and one Keeper. Two of the Chasers changed to Beaters for some practice knocking out the opposing team with Bludgers. And on to the Snitch!

I shoved a tennis ball into a sock and threw it to a wrestler who wished we were on grass so he could be more aggressive, but still managed to throw a few people to the ground. We switched off Seekers and Snitches a few times. I was impressed with myself to find out that it took the Seekers quite a while to get the Snitch ball from me. I started laughing devilishly and doing cartwheels, inspired by the performances of Snitches I’d seen at the World Cup. We were all flushed and sweating by the end of our 40-minute period, which is regrettably all we are allotted. I was proud that I had grazed my knee on the floor diving for the Quaffle. One girl on the tennis team who had been sitting in the bleachers approached me and asked for a permission slip so that she could join us next time, and when she came today, despite her lack of knowledge of the game, she was fast and furious as soon as I handed her a broom! We may have been short on players, but it was incredibly fun and intense, and more onlookers wanted to participate. We still need permanent space, but for the time being, Quidditch is ready to soar.

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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PL AYERS’ C ORNER

Injury prevention 101

By Zara Fishkin

No matter how ardently nonbelievers will deny the legitimacy of Quidditch as a sport, there is nothing fictitious about the injuries that result. According to the official World Cup Injury Report, there were 53 injuries in all. Not all of those could have been prevented (take “bee sting,” for example), but there are certain simple precautions that can be taken to prevent injury, like warming up and stretching!

Phase One: Take your team on a brisk jog.

This is to get your muscles moving and your heart pumping.

Stretching should never be performed before a quick warmup, especially in cold weather. You can call it a pre-victory lap, if you like.

Phase Two: Stretching.

Every team has its own repertoire of stretches, but make sure devote enough time to each muscle group. Here are some stretches to help: Quad stretch - Stand on your left foot while gripping your right foot with your right hand, bringing it up to your butt. If you have trouble balancing, hold your broom out straight in front of you vertically, like you are holding onto a pole. Stretch both sides.

Calf stretch - Point your right toe up, while using both hands to pull it towards you. Stretch both sides.

Groin stretch - Sit on the ground, put the soles of your feet together, and pull them in. While holding your feet together, push down on your knees with your elbows.

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IT band stretch - Bring your right foot behind your left foot so that the outside of your right foot is touching the outside of your left foot. With your right hand over your head, lean to your left. Stretch both sides.

P L AY E R S ’ C O RNE R

Hip flexor stretch - Lunge with your left leg in front and your right leg behind, so that your right knee is almost touching the ground. Turn your waist to the left, pushing the outside of your left knee to the right. Stretch both sides.

Shoulder stretch - Bring your right arm across your chest, with your left arm crossing it perpendicularly at your elbow, while pulling to the left. Try waving to someone with your right hand; it looks silly. Stretch both sides.

Add your own stretches and warm ups to these suggestions, and make them part of your routine! The team that stretches together, avoids MRIs together. n

Tricep stretch - Put your right arm behind your head, while pulling down on your elbow with your left hand. Good for people who don’t have back scratchers. Stretch both sides.

Phase Three: Plyometric Stretching Plyometrics are a combination of phases one and two, because they combine aerobic and anaerobic components.

High knees - Jog, bringing your knees up in front of you as high as you can. You may feel compelled to laugh, because when you say it, it sounds like heinies.

Butt kicks - Jog while kicking your butt every time your foot comes up behind you.

Grape vines - Turn to the left, and run sideways to your right, alternately bringing your left foot in front or behind your right foot. Stay facing the same direction, now running to your left.

Great practice for dancing the hora.

Frankensteins - Walk forward with your arms straight out in front of you, trying to kick your hands with each step.

Grunting and greenish complexion optional.

Marios - Start by jumping off your right foot, bringing your left knee up as high as you can, simultaneously throwing your right fist into the air. Alternate so that it turns into an exaggerated skip.

Ankle crunchers - Walk on the outsides of your feet, and then on the insides. There is no way to do them without looking like a penguin.

Illustrations by Elle Carnley and Kati Polaski.

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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PL AYERS’ C ORNER

Learn to chase with confidence

C

By IQA Chasers

haser is a position of speed, strategy, and skill. If you are a Chaser, you must be well versed in the disciplines of both offense and defense, as well as the true meaning of teamwork.

You will fight to maintain control of the Quaffle, ultimately aiming for favorable point differentials and crowd-pleasing stunts.

There are three Chasers from each team on the pitch at all times. Besides the Keeper, the Chasers are the only players allowed to handle the Quaffle (unless of course the Snitch decides to kick it out of sight, as occurred in last year’s World Cup). While it is sometimes tempting for teams to keep their all-star athletes Chasing for as long as possible, it is important to remember the value of subbing out, as this will keep your Chasers fresh and able to give their all on the pitch. When subbing out, make sure that there is a sub ready to rush in at a moment’s notice to take your place. The player subbing out should be completely out of the bounds of play before the person taking his place runs in. Ideally, it is a good idea to wait for a point in game play when you are not directly involved in the action and are close to your team’s side. If you become mildly injured, don’t writhe on the ground in false agony like a soccer player, but instead sub out as soon as possible so as to avoid further injury.

Strategy is one of the most important aspects of Chasing and is particular to every team. It is hard to determine if there is one concrete formula for success, but what we can be sure of is that a good strategy is one that plays to your team’s strengths as well as keeping in mind the strengths of the team you against which you will be playing. It is a good idea to go into each match with a strategy and even some specific plays in mind, but don’t be unwilling to alter your planned course of action based on new developments and observations.

No matter how

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Chaser is a position of speed, stretegy and skill. || P ­ hotos

well-planned your strategy, it will be impossible to execute without all of your teammates being in the loop. Make sure to confer with your teammates on and off the pitch, and even mid-play. Don’t let mouth guards get in the way of talking to your Chasers as you move down the field, letting them know where you are, if you’re open, if he has a man-on, or whom he should be covering.

Relating to strategy, remember that Chasers rarely work in isolation.

Quidditch is in no way a Chasercentric sport. You have three other indispensible players on the field with you, and you should make sure to take them into account in all of your plans. When readying to charge up the field, know where your Beaters are, and how well they can cover you from your imminent sacking. When the Quaffle is recovered by the Keeper, he is not obligated to hand it off to you immediately. When out of the Keeper Zone, he operates just like another Chaser. Passing and communication

May/June 2011 • The Monthly Seer

by

Andrea Hill

is important among Chasers, but is imperative among the various positions on the pitch.

Before you take to the pitch, you want to have the confidence that you have physically prepared to the best of your ability in the weeks preceding.

That means that you trained your little heart out, and made time outside of practice to do some conditioning on your own. Official practice time allows you to practice your teamwork and plays, but there is no reason you can’t be running or lifting weights to truly be on top of your game. At practice, make sure to work on technical skills like plays, accuracy, and communication, but things like speed and endurance cannot only be practiced once a week. Get a buddy to bike with you or to hit the gym. Next time you step onto the pitch, you’ll be able to stare your opponent in the eye with the confidence that you got all the way up that hill without stopping yesterday.

And it felt awesome.

P L AY E R S ’ C O RNE R

It is impossible to be a Chaser and be timid. What’s fun about college players is that you know they’re going to bring it with all the intensity and competitiveness with which they filled out their common app. It’s you against them, and it’s time to get aggressive. Don’t be afraid to assert some physical pressure on the people you’re guarding. You are not allowed to tackle players who don’t have the ball, but that does not mean you have to let them run around unhindered, either. Stay with your man, and let him you’re there.

Because Quidditch is a co-ed contact sport, in many cases (but not all) the size or strength match-up is not equitable.

Some teams address this issue by primarily having females cover females and males cover males. That being said, I absolutely refuse to advocate the idea that males should chivalrously avoid tackling females.

We signed up for this and are more than capable of holding our own. However, and this goes for everyone, always exercise the utmost caution and discretion when using force. Playing aggressively may be fun and effective, but safety should be of

primary concern.

When asked what she tells her Chasers before they take the field, one team captain responded, “Great moments are born from great opportunity.

And that’s what you have here tonight, boys. That’s what you’ve earned here tonight. One game.” She vehemently denied taking those lines from Coach Herb Brooks. Another captain spoke a little more seriously about his role on the team. “The way you address your players really sets a tone for how they are going to conduct themselves on the field. If you tell your Chasers to get in there and take no prisoners, it’s not going to be a fun match.

At the World Cup last year, we were in it to win it, but I think our Chasers still did a good job of keeping it Quidditch.”

To throw out a few more tips: read the rulebook thoroughly, respectfully adhere to the referees’ calls, wear appropriate safety equipment, and above all, always maintain the spirit of the game. For you are a Chaser and your sport is Quidditch: you play, you get grass stains, you have fun. n

The Monthly Seer • May/June 2011

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PL AYERS’ C ORNER

Skills from other sports: introducing rugby

R

By Kathryn Mudgeway

ugby legend states that the sport was revolutionized

by William Webb Ellis at Rugby School in England in 1823. Did you know that Ellis created rugby by picking up the football (US: soccer ball) and running down the field with it? This is similar to Alexander Manshel’s creation of Muggle Quidditch at Middlebury College in 2007 with a group of friends.

Although Quidditch didn’t come from our world, they were inspired by the sport featured in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Like Quidditch, rugby was rocketed to popularity at a school and started out as an intramural game before it became a nation-wide and international sport.

Believe it or not, rugby actually existed in the amateur world before it reached its professionalism era in the early 1990s! But what do these two sports have in common?

How are they different?

Let’s start out with the most obvious dissimilarity. Rugby has 15 different field positions (with players numbered 16-22 on the reserve) per team whereas Quidditch only

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requires 7. For rugby, the different field positions can be found labeled for you on the graph below. Note that the numbers below the jerseys also correspond with that of the number labeling the athlete’s current game play position and not a random embroidered number. This concept is not the same in Quidditch because Quidditch athletes can actually choose the jersey number of their desire but must wear a specific colored headband to separate them self from the rest of the pack (the Seeker wears yellow, Beaters wear black, Chasers wear white, and the Keeper wears green).

Another distinction that Quidditch has is the addition of the neutral Snitch Runner/Snitch position. There is no rugby equivalent to this role.

Take a look at the graph for another second. Notice that the team is split up into two blocks. The first block represents the eight forwards and the remaining seven, the backs. Basically, “this group’s [meaning the ‘fearless forwards’] main goal is to win possession of the ball.

These players are usually the heavyweights of the team,

P L AY E R S ’ C O RNE R using their bulk and strength to try to overpower their opponents. Forwards can be broken up into three groups: front-rowers, second-rowers, and the back row. The last seven players (7-15) are called the back line (not to be confused with the back row of the forwards).

According to Rugby for Dummies by Mathew Brown, Patrick Guthrie, and Greg Growden, “like in [American] football, where the linemen do all the dirty work in the trenches and the quarterback, running backs, and receivers get all the glory, in rugby an old oval adage says that the forwards win the ball and the backs win the game. A team with great backs and mediocre forwards will find itself starved of ball to work with. The opposite will produce plenty of possession, but few chances to attack and score. To play winning rugby, you need 15 players totally committed to their roles and each other.”

Quidditch takes on this same type of atmosphere because everybody has to work together in order to make sure that the game remains in their team’s favor.

The game simply couldn’t be won if the Chasers didn’t have good Beaters to protect them, a focused Keeper, and a fast Seeker.

One of the real reasons why a lot of folks tend to compare Quidditch to rugby is because of this similar concept (a combination of team work and gentlemanly sportsmanship)

and the fact that both sports can be compared to a lot of other games as well (rugby is another form of football and can also be said to have traits of hockey, basketball, and the like).

For the newcomer, a rugby match may look very confusing and chaotic. What do all of these lines mean?

Why does it look like these guys are just running up and down the field? But once one grasps the basic fundamentals, the game quickly becomes much easier to understand.

First of all, let’s start out by describing how long a match is. Every game starts at the half-way line and a complete game lasts 80 minutes (divided up into two 40 minute halves); the intermission is only 10 minutes. Note: that after the kick off, the ball must reach the 10-meter line in order for it to count. See the difference between Quidditch already?

Unlike a lot of other sports, Quidditch games continue until the Seeker catches the Snitch. There isn’t an intermission and Quidditch game play isn’t split up into halves, quarters, periods and what have you. Although it is difficult to understand in the beginning, making out how scoring works actually isn’t that hard either. A try is worth five points (think of this as a rugby touchdown), a penalty try and drop-goal are both worth three points, and a conversion is two. n

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