Antwerp A Drive European Competition Extinct - Capture EQC 2017 Title

By Andy Marmer

Antwerp A are the champions of Europe and it could not have happened in more dramatic fashion, as last year’s runners up vanquished the METU Unicorns 120*-110 on a snitch catch by Laurent Venckeleer.

EQC 2017 Group C Preview

With European Quidditch Cup (EQC) 2017 rapidly approaching, the Quidditch Post takes a look at each of the teams competing in this year’s tournament.

Group C

METU Unicorns

By Can Kaytaz

Editor’s Note: Can Kaytaz is a player and former captain of the METU Unicorns.

This is the third consecutive EQC appearance for METU Unicorns, who impressed by finishing joint third last year with the Nottingham Nightmares. The Unicorns won both the Turkish Quidditch Cup and Turkish Quidditch League in 2016, with a record of 18-2 in the two competitions.

EQC 2017 Group B Preview

With European Quidditch Cup (EQC) 2017 rapidly approaching, the Quidditch Post takes a look at each of the teams competing in this year’s tournament.

Group B

Virtute Romana

by Dina Caruso

Virtute Romana Quidditch, the current Italian national champions and champions of their regional “Girone Rosso,” are Italy’s strongest team. Under the captaincy of Giorgia Quinti, Virtute Romana Quidditch were able to steal the national title from Green Tauros at the “Torneo Nazionale” last May.

EQC 2017 Group A Preview

With European Quidditch Cup (EQC) 2017 rapidly approaching, the Quidditch Post takes a look at each of the teams competing in this year’s tournament.

Group A

Warwick Quidditch Club

By Dina Caruso and Hannah Dignum

Editor’s Note: both Dina Caruso and Hannah Dignum are affiliated with the team.

After their early exit at the 2017 British Quidditch Cup, Warwick Quidditch Club will be entering the tournament with a renewed vigour.

Southern Cup 2016 Review

By Jack Lennard, with additional reporting from Ashara Peiris

On Oct. 29-30, 17 teams from the UK’s South region came together for QuidditchUK’s Southern Cup 2016. There, two things were decided: first, the three teams that would secure places for the 2017 European Quidditch Cup (EQC), and second, which teams would not qualify for the 2017 British Quidditch Cup (BQC). In this article, we outline some of our key storylines from the tournament and explore where the teams will go from here.

Northern Cup 2016 Preview

by Fraser Posford, Ashara Peiris and Claudio Svaluto. With help from Jack Lennard.

After an action-packed (and surprisingly dry) Southern Cup two weeks ago in Southampton, we turn our attention to Northern Cup this weekend, Nov. 12-13. Returning to Belmont School in Durham, this year's tournament has all the ingredients in place for a thrilling showcase of UK quidditch with the prospect of some mouth-watering encounters on both days of the tournament. Here, we break down for you the key storylines and who to watch out for.

Five Lessons From Southampton's Battle Royale

By Ashara Peiris

Following on from the success of last year’s “Battle of Four Armies,” Southampton Quidditch Club (SQC) decided to take the reins in running a tournament, inviting some of the best teams in the UK and wider Europe to compete in SQC: Battle Royale. Whilst some last minute dropouts meant that the event couldn’t be as ambitious as originally planned, it was still a highly successful tournament. 

World Cup From Their Perspective: A View From Eastern Europe

By Kinga Robutka, with contributions from Marian Dziubiak (Poland), Martin “Hofi” Hofbauer (Slovakia), and Verena Deutsch and Borut Bezgovšek (Slovenia). 

In comparison to the 2014 IQA Global Games held in Burnaby, Canada, the 2016 World Cup expanded dramatically, with 21 teams competing in the tournament held in Frankfurt, Germany – a stark contrast to the seven teams of the previous event. Being invited to the tournament was a unique chance for smaller developing leagues from around the world to challenge themselves and have what remains their only chance to compete against such international powerhouses such as Team USA and Australia. However, a greater number of teams competing naturally results in greater diversity in the level of play across the tournament. To some commentators, this was one of the main drawbacks of the tournament as the stronger teams, presumably, felt less challenged, especially during the group stages of Day One.

World Cup 2016: Spotlight on Belgium | België in de schijnwerpers | Lumière sur la Belgique

By Joke Daems and Fraser Posford

Nederlandse vertaling verderop, door Joke Daems en Chula Bruggeling

Traduction française anonyme plus bas

History

Quidditch took off in Belgium in 2013 almost simultaneously in two cities: Deurne (Antwerp) and Brussels. While the Deurne players kept to their roots, some of the Brussels players spread out to help set up teams closer to where they lived. Ever since, the sport has seen massive growth for such a small country. There are currently 11 official teams in Belgium, of which six play competitively, and a few additional teams that are just starting. With the exception of Luxembourg, there is a team in every province. Most teams are community teams, although UMonsters and Les Dracognards have university support.  

Spotlight on Creating the Winning Bid for World Cup 2016

By Chula Bruggeling

Recently, there has been a lot of talk on the importance of good tournament bids for the overall success of a tournament. Deutscher Quidditchbund (DQB), Germany’s NGB,  has obviously done a good job with their successful bid for World Cup 2016, so the Quidditch Post sat down to interview two of the NGB’s board members about the process of making their World Cup bid, as well as finding out how to make a (great) tournament bid in general. 

Nina Heise is the DQB’s President, while Juliane Schillinger is its PR Director. Both were heavily involved with the Frankfurt bid for World Cup and have had ample experience with tournament location decisions in the past two years, including German Cup 2016.

Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown: Some Thoughts on Captaincy

By Abby Whiteley

I sent a survey to captains in QuidditchUK, and I draw on the results here as well as discussing my own experiences.

There is no role quite like captaincy. It is, although instantly recognisable, a very peculiar blend of many disparate responsibilities: figurehead, coach, administrator, Agony Aunt, and dogsbody. But captaincy loses something in the dictionary definition; no summary or list of tasks can quite capture the specificity of a role which looks so much larger on the inside.

When The Dust Settles: Comparing EQC 2016 and BQC 2016

By Jack Lennard

Editor’s Note:  This article was written in the days following the European Quidditch Cup 2016. In recent weeks, Quidditch Europe have announced many changes to the competition going forward, a lot of which echo suggestions made in this post. We have decided to publish this piece anyway to illustrate the author’s view that these changes are vital for the future of the tournament’s success.

The British Quidditch Cup (BQC) 2016 was the third installment of the event and was held in March. The European Quidditch Cup (EQC) 2016 was the fourth edition of the continental club championship and was held in April.

Whilst BQC 2016 showed marked improvement from the flawed previous year’s tournament and was a success for QuidditchUK (QUK), the organising National Governing Body (NGB), many reviews pouring in of EQC 2016 have been scathing, with the location, organisation, communication, and gameplay management all being criticised. What I intend to do in this report is explore the differences between these two tournaments. Though the premiere European competition was, in 2016, a troubled event, I want to take the issues evident throughout the weekend and produce a comparison that allows our sport to learn lessons from the problems encountered with EQC 2016 and work towards a brighter and more efficient strategy for elite events in the future.

From Vikings to Vanguards: EQC 2016 Groups A and B

This coming weekend, 40 teams will descend on the small beach town of Gallipoli, Italy to compete to become the European quidditch champions. Follow the Quidditch Post’s coverage over the next few days to learn about the teams, group by group, that will be competing at European Quidditch Cup (EQC) 2016. Predictions like these would usually be posted in alphabetical order. However, we decided to switch things up this time, so for EQC 2016, we will be publishing our articles in reverse order, starting with Groups G and H, moving onto E and F, C and D, and now A and B.

From Hinkypunks to Honeybees: EQC 2016 Groups C and D

In a bit less than a week, 40 teams will descend on the small beach town of Gallipoli, Italy to compete to become the European quidditch champions. Follow the Quidditch Post’s coverage over the next few days to learn about the teams, group by group, that will be competing at European Quidditch Cup (EQC) 2016. Predictions like these would usually be posted in alphabetical order. However, we decided to switch things up this time, so for EQC 2016, we will be publishing our articles in reverse order, starting with Groups G and H, moving onto E and F, and now C and D.

From Dodos to Durham: EQC 2016 Groups E and F

In a bit less than a week, 40 teams will descend on the small beach town of Gallipoli, Italy to compete to become the European quidditch champions. Follow the Quidditch Post’s coverage over the next few days to learn about the teams, group by group, that will be competing at European Quidditch Cup (EQC) 2016. Predictions like these would usually be posted in alphabetical order. However, we decided to switch things up this time, so for EQC 2016, we will be publishing our articles in reverse order, starting with Groups G and H and moving onto E and F.

A Non-American’s Guide to USQ Cup 9

By Andy Marmer

European, Australian, Canadian, and really any quidditch player from around the world has probably seen countless Indiegogo fundraisers and other social media posts about the upcoming US Quidditch Cup 9. Since not everyone knows all of the going-ons of US Quidditch (USQ), we figured we’d provide a little post to help non-Americans discern what exactly is happening in the US.

From Rheinos to Rumpeldunks: EQC 2016 Groups G and H

In about a week, 40 teams will descend on the small beach town of Gallipoli, Italy to compete to become the European quidditch champions. Follow the Quidditch Post’s coverage over the next few days to learn about the teams, group by group, that will be competing at European Quidditch Cup (EQC) 2016. Predictions like these would usually be posted in alphabetical order. However, we decided to switch things up this time, so for EQC 2016, we will be publishing our articles in reverse order, starting with groups G and H.

Unicorns Win Intergalaktik Cup

Unicorns Quidditch of Middle East Technical University hosted Intergalaktik Cup on Jan. 23-24 in Adana, Turkey. Two-time undefeated Turkish champions METU Unicorns and their second team METU Minicorns hosted eight other teams: six from Turkey, and one each from France and Norway. Below is a review of the teams from both Division 1 and Division 2 in order of their standings, as well as the tournament overall.

Trying to Be Well-Rounded Makes You Worse at Quidditch

By Austin Lillis

Many quidditch players struggle to find their place on the pitch, even when they are not lacking in knowledge, athleticism, or passion for their team. The trait that changes someone from “just another player” to a key part of a team is their identity. Quidditch has four positions that interweave so heavily that it is easy for players to lose sight of where they can be most useful. Players get caught up in trying to imitate too many styles without realizing the potentially negative impact that has on their own skill level. 

Dutch Quidditch Cup 2015 Recap

By Inke Gieghase

Introduction

On Nov. 21, the first official Dutch Quidditch Cup was organised. Three teams from the Netherlands gathered in Wageningen to enjoy a small, yet landmark tournament. The teams at this event were the North Sea Nargles, the Dom Tower Dementors, and the Wageningen Werewolves. Despite only having three teams in attendance, the afternoon still had quidditch games that show that the Dutch players were very eager to learn and are well on their way to developing further as a region.