By Kirsty Scheiby for The Boar
It was a weekend of triumphs for Warwick Quidditch Club as they finished top of their tier at the British Quidditch Cup. The team made the trek to Newcastle on the 6th of April for the annual national tournament, which saw around 600 players from the 31 teams in attendance.
Winning 5 of our 7 matches across the weekend, WQC came out victorious in the lower bracket of the competition.
Day 1 was off to a highly competitive start playing against Exeter Eagles. Though the Warwick team took a loss, they were quick to regain their feet, winning their second match against London Unstoppables 100* - 50. The buzz of this victory carried the team into the afternoon, with our third match against Werewolves of London. This match was described by many spectators as one of the most entertaining of the tournament, as Warwick more than held their own against one of the most experienced teams in the country (Werewolves placed 2nd overall in the tournament). In spite of this, Warwick managed to score 2 goals in what proved to be a match of intense contact and high performance from every player.
Day 2 of the tournament followed a knock-out structure, and Warwick headed directly towards the final, defeating Bournemouth Banshees, Leeds Griffins and Durhamstrang along the way. The final match against Leicester Thestrals ended 70* - 30 with a winning snitch catch from the team’s star seeker, fresher Louis Southwell. Louis spoke of his sense of “relief and elation when the catch was called ‘good’ [by the referees]”. The team demonstrated great determination and strength throughout the weekend, with Captain Joshua Brooke commenting that the team’s performance in the lower bracket “proved that we deserved to be in the upper bracket”.
The fictional sport of Quidditch from the Harry Potter books has been rapidly growing amongst both university and community teams across the globe since it’s conception in Vermont in 2005. Real-life quidditch requires players to hold a broom between their legs, whilst playing a hybrid of rugby and dodgeball rules.
The three chasers and keeper score points by shooting the quaffle (a volleyball) through one of three hoops at the end of the pitch. Meanwhile, the two beaters on either team fight for control over the three bludgers (dodgeballs), which they then use to “beat out” other players, sending them back to their own hoops. A goal with the quaffle is worth 10 points.
The snitch functions in a similar way to tag-rugby, as the seekers must grab a tennis ball from the shorts of a referee dressed in yellow: “the snitch”. The snitch is released onto pitch at 17 minutes, and if a snitch catch is called good the game ends and the catching team is awarded a further 30 points.
The final game of the tournament was also a bittersweet moment, as it marked the last competitive match for many of the team’s older members. Captain Brooke, who has been playing quidditch for four seasons now, commented that he was “glad the team is living on after us”. It was motivating for new players to have many graduates of the Warwick team cheering us on from the sidelines. Incoming captain Katie Savva said she was “impressed with how the newer players stepped up at BQC, thinking tactically and exceeding the quidditch community’s expectations”. Such a performance at this competitive level gave the new captain “confidence” for her team next year. BQC 2019 marked the handing over of these older members of the team - graduates and finalists alike - to the current first years who will lead the team forward into further victories in the years to come.
NB: In quidditch scoring, a star (*) indicates the team that caught the snitch.
Images courtesy of Mark Hill Imagemaker and LN Graphics and Photography