Saturday, March 24, 2012

Swamp Cup 2: An interview with Hannah Pohlmann

On Thursday night I was able to talk with Hannah Pohlmann via Skype about the Swamp Cup and the state of Quidditch in Florida. She told me that planning for the Swamp Cup is less stressful this year even though 8 teams will be attending. (Florida, South Florida, Miami, Ringling, Rollins, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast and Florida State) Perhaps the biggest news in Florida is that USF's best player has transferred to Miami and will be competing with Miami against his former team. Miami has already been the favorite after going 4-0 at the first FQC Meet in 2012. I expect them to win as long as the addition of the USF player doesn't disrupt team chemistry. Joining USF, Miami, and UF, is FAU. Florida Atlantic is already a "trial" member of the FQC and they have been doing very well lately. They traveled all the way to Mardi GRAS Cup in Louisiana. Hannah said about FAU, "they display the spirit of Quidditch in every way. Not just on the field but off too."
Another "trial member" of the FQC, is Rollins College, who according to Hannah had a rocky semester. Also hoping to improve on last year is FQC members Ringling College. Both teams have been working hard hoping for a good showing at Swamp Cup.
Florida Gulf Coast is an interesting team. The captain of FGCU was the former captain at Cape Coral High School. Cape Coral attended last year's Swamp Cup, but this will be the first tournament FGCU will play at. Last, Florida State. FSU formed in the last 6 months so it is not expected that they will do great.
I also asked Hannah about the future of the FQC. The FQC is being very cautious about allowing new members in. Hannah said that they "don't want to stretch ourselves too far and too fast." However, both Rollins and FAU are "on their way" to becoming memmbers. Being one of the founders of the FQC, I asked her what she would tell budding conferences. She said, "You have to find a group of people who are passionate about every aspect of the game. That includes the game itself, rules, reffing, Harry Potter, etc. and you have to sit down and hammer out a set of rules." The FQC more or less uses IQA rules, but "you still have to discuss stuff like Seeker Floor." I asked what is the FQC doing in the next 3 months. She said, "We have to worry about staying ahead of everybody else, and continue to build our strong infrastructure.". Also, she told me that the FQC is having a meet in Miami on the weekend of April 6th and 7th. They are very excited for that meet because a team from Mexico is coming!
I am very appreciative that I was able to interview Hannah, and if any of my readers want to have an interview with me please comment.

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