International Weekend Wrap-Up - December 17-18

Contributions by Marco Anglano, Lena Mandahus, and Lucas Szykula

There is a lot going on in the world of quidditch on any particular weekend, and most of us only see the stories immediately relevant to our regions. However, it can be very interesting to look outside of our own bubble every once in a while and take a look at the rest of the global community. To that end, each week the Quidditch Post collects information about tournaments and events that happened during the weekend around the world.

This week we are covering some international friendlies with teams from Austria and Germany, Girone Rosso, part of the Lega Quidditch (Quidditch League) in Italy, and the international Copa del Sur in Argentina.

Austria/Germany – Friendlies

The two Austrian teams, the Vienna Vanguards and the Danube Direwolves, were joined by the Three River Dragons from Passau this past Saturday in Vienna to play a set of friendly matches. In the first game, Passau won 90*-30 against the Direwolves, in the second game Passau won 90*-30 against the Vanguards, and in the final game the Vanguards won 90*-50 against the Direwolves.

The three teams at the Austria/Germany friendlies | Photo Credit: Danube Direwolves

For all the teams, this was a great opportunity for their new players to gain some experience. Passau are competing for a place at the European Quidditch Cup (EQC) at the German Winter Games on Jan. 14-15, whereas the two Viennese teams are competing for an EQC spot the weekend after. Passau were the team with the most new players this weekend, and they also fielded more players than any of the two home teams, both of which had many ill or injured players.

The Vanguards used the friendly matches to give their players the opportunity to try positions other than their primary one in a game situation; almost all of their players subbed in for whichever player’s position had to be filled at that moment. Some of the Direwolves players, such as their coach Georg Aigner, also played their secondary position, but for the most part they clearly used the games to give their new players some gameplay experience.

One of the new players certainly stands out, though: Sami Fekkak, an exchange student from Toulouse who only started playing quidditch in October and made his debut at Danube Cup in Vienna, excelled with his quick drives and skillful positioning  in the games.


Italy – Lega Quidditch, Girone Rosso

1. Virtute Romana Quidditch

2. Lunatica Quidditch Club

3. Pescara Spartans Quidditch

Girone Rosso, one of three events in the Italian Lega Quidditch (see our recent article for a full explanation on the league and its various events) has been an intense tournament full of surprises, showing a revelation team and a match ended with no snitch catch due to an injury.

Virtute Romana Quidditch and Lunatica Quidditch Club battled for the title in the final match of the tournament, on a foggy and cold pitch. The first team had a smaller roster than usual and the second one a reduced roster because of injuries, but the match did not lose intensity. It ended 130-50 for the Roman team, with no snitch catch. During the game one of the Lunatica players became injured due to a regular tackle, and seeing the state of the pitch and conditions of the teams, both captains decided to end the match at that point.

Girone Rosso banner | Image Courtesy of AIQ 

Pescara Spartans Quidditch was the newest team at the tournament. Founded just a few weeks ago, they have surprised everyone with their athletic chaser game. With some months of training and some work in the beater game, they will surely be strong opponents.

Tarantulae Quidditch Lecce, with their first official experience, have hosted a good tournament and have shown good bases from which they can build a competitive team, with some key players that can help.

Cerberus Quidditch Bari, with almost no substitutions and some missing key players, have still shown an incredible determination, gaining respect from all attending teams. Some recruitment will help them grow and arrive at the Coppa Italiana, the league’s final tournament, more motivated than ever.


Latin America – Copa del Sur

1. Santiago Snidgets (Chile)

2. Scarlet Fireball (Argentina)

3. Cumulus Nimbus (Argentina)

Last weekend, five teams (one from Chile and four from Argentina) reunited in order to participate in the most important tournament of Latin America, the Copa del Sur (for more info about the teams, see our recent preview article).

The first day of the tournament took place as scheduled. Six matches were played, which positioned the Santiago Snidgets and Scarlet Fireball as the candidates to win the Cup. The Day Two matches were played until it started to rain, so it was decided that the final would be played between the two best-scoring teams (Scarlet and Snidgets), and the rest of the positions would be decided according to the games already played. After an intense and even match under the rain, Cristian Baeza’s snitch catch ended the game 80*-70 for the Chilean team, and earning them the title of Copa del Sur 2016.

International Weekend Wrap-Up is a roundup of quidditch tournaments our correspondents attended last weekend. Were you at a tournament and want to make sure it gets featured in International Weekend Wrap-Up? You can send in your short submissions to quidditchpost@gmail.com until Tuesday.

Update: An earlier version of this article identified George Aigner as their team's captain instead of coach. This has since been corrected.