Tournament Updates

Breakfast Taco Tournament
Favorites' Pool Play Records
LSU 3-0
Texas A&M 3-0
Silver Phoenixes 2-1
Baylor 2-1

LSU beat Baylor in an Overtime thriller 130*-90. I believe that Baylor will exact revenge in the semifinals.

Dumbledore Memorial Tournament
All four of my projected semifinalists have made the Semifinals!!!
The matchups will be Marquette vs. Michigan and Michigan State vs. Ball State. Marquette has looked very dominant winning 170*-20, 80*-40, and 230*-20 over Loyola, Central Michigan and Miami. Central Michigan also looked good coming in 5th out of 14 teams (narrowly missing bracket play) with a 2-1 record losing only to Marquette.

Brief Predictions for Breakfast Taco and Dumledore Tournaments

The Breakfast Taco Tournament in Houston and the Dumbledore Tournament in South Bend will give us the first glimpses of the Southwest and Midwest regions. Big name teams such as Texas, Kansas, and Pittsburgh won't be attending these tournaments, but a good lineup of experienced teams are set to make 2 great tournaments. Here's what I expect to see:
Breakfast Taco Chicken and Waffles Tournament

Teams:

Sam Houston State University (SHSU)

Rice

A&M

Silver Phoenixes

University of New Orleans (UNO) + University of Southern Alabama (USA)

Louisiana State University (LSU)

Texas State University

Baylor

Baylor Bruins

Merc Team

University of Incarnate Word (UIW)

University of Texas - San Antonio (UTSA)

Semifinalists:

Texas A&M,  Silver Phoenixes, Baylor, LSU (or the Merc team if its made up of almost all UT players)

Finals:

Baylor 90* Texas A&M 80

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore Memorial Tournament
Teams:

Pool A: Purdue, MSU, NIU, IU, St Marys.

Pool B: BSQL, U of M, SIUC, IUSB, Purdue Community Team. 

Pool C: Marquette, Miami (OH), Central Michigan, and Loyola.

Semifinalists:
Michigan State, Michigan, Marquette, Ball State (or Purdue depending on new recruits)

Finals:
Marquette 120* Michigan State 50

Maryland Quidditch: Keys to Success

This past Saturday, 10 teams gathered in Blacksburg, Virginia for the 2nd Sirius Blacksburg Brawl. 8 of the 10 teams were from the Mid Atlantic, there was one Mercenary team and Ohio State also made the journey for some good inter-regional play. Many teams played well, but one team dominated, scoring more than 100 points, holding the opposing team to less than 50 and catching the snitch in every game. And that was the University of Maryland. As Kitty Schaffernoff, a Virginia Tech player and organizer of the Blacksburg Brawl said, "These kids REALLY know how to play Quidditch."
 I contacted Sarah Woosley, UMD Quidditch President and newly appointed IQA Development Director to find out how Maryland has become so good. Sarah said, "our growth in the past few years has been great. Going from 'what's a broom' three years ago, to... we can compete but probably not win last fall, to our current standing of being a well known team across the country." As someone who is in the stages of forming a quidditch team, I would ask, so how do you get from being a new inexperienced team to being successful. "(Maryland) prides itself on working together and communication," Sarah explains, "This means both chasers and beaters coordinating with each other.  We maintained bludger control for almost the entire tournament thus allowing our chasers to run in through a much easier defensive field." I think many teams do position specific drills, but to be one of the best in quidditch, a team has to practice and utilize multi position skills. Beaters can be used in a very wide variety of ways, some more effective than others.
All great teams, the Middleburys, Floridas, and Emersons, are cohesive units and to hold those units together, your team has to be properly conditioned. "Our conditioning is probably unusual in quantity for a quidditch team, in that we run sprints after every single scrimmage and have two (ninety minute) conditioning sessions a week," describes Sarah. In addition to the two conditioning sessions, Maryland practices 3 times a week.   "At the practices we have a smattering of scrimmages, drills, and games," says Sarah as she goes into detail.
The Blacksburg Brawl also told us about a rising star in the Quidditch game, who I think, has a great opportunity to be the Tufts of the Mid Atlantic Regional in November. Virginia was praised by both Sarah and Kitty, who said of UVA, "definitely a Virginia team to watch out for. They beat UR via a snitch catch and gave VT a run for their money. I would predict that they'll become a real contender this year. They're going to the Turtle Cup, too, so watch out for that." Sarah described the relatively new team as Maryland's greatest challenge at the Blacksburg Brawl. "They played very well and their growth from the previous year is remarkable.  If they continue the way they are going they will certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the region." Virginia finished in 6th overall behind VCU, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Richmond and champions, Maryland.
In this article, I focused on a great tournament, a new quidditch powerhouse, and a rising team. Last week, I related the New York Badassilisks' success to how whimsy+competitive=IQA's success. This week, I want to talk about how amazing the growth of the IQA has been. 2 years ago, most teams were not competitive and all competitive teams were from the Northeast. Now, we can identify favorites to win each regional. Regionals didn't even exist 2 years ago. The World Cup was a bid from an outside source (not the IQA) and it will be outside of the Northeast for the first time ever.  We as a quidditch community have to thank the teams like Maryland, the teams that have worked and trained to become one of the best. Our sport, once goofy and cape-bearing now has uniforms and trained referees. At my school, I am trying to start a Middle School Quidditch team and the hardest part is to make Quidditch serious. If I could only sit them down to watch a Maryland vs. LSU game... I asked Sarah what she thought of Maryland's chances at Regionals, "beyond that any team can grow insanely with the new school year.  So as far as regionals go I would be confident to say that we will be a challenge for anyone we play."

Maryland Wins Blacksburg Brawl

The University of Maryland won their second consecutive Blacksburg Brawl today defeating Richmond in the finals. Maryland dominated the tournament scoring more than 100 points, catching the snitch and holding the other team to less than 50 points in all 6 games. Including the Spring Brawl, Maryland is 12-0 in Blacksburg. In my opinion, this makes Maryland the favorite at the Mid Atlantic Regionals in November. Hosts Virginia Tech lost to Richmond in the semifinals after beating James Madison, Virginia and UNC-Greensboro in pool play. Maryland beat Ohio State, the lone non-Mid Atlantic team 110-20 in the other Semifinal and then Maryland took the tournament by beating Richmond 120-20 in the finals. Here a complete list of teams plus the score by which Maryland beat them if they played them.

Virginia Tech

University of Richmond 120-20

University of Virginia 130-50

Christopher Newport University

William & Mary

James Madison University 170-40

University of Maryland

UNC-Greensboro

Ohio State University 110-20, 170-20

Virginia Commonwealth University

Mercenary Team 160-30

Zombie/Inferi Tournament Through the Eyes of the Walking Dead

Baruch Field, on the Lower East Side, was infested with Zombies on Saturday and even worse for fellows like Vernon Dursley, Quidditch Players! I gave the factual information on this horrifying event on Sunday and Monday, as the news was breaking, but now, I can give you 2 first hand accounts on the NYC Zombie/Inferi Tournament. Jonathon R is the Badassilisks' GM, a role in which he deals with technology, logistics, marketing, tournaments, and travel arrangements of the New York Community team, and Irvin K is one of the four original Badassilisks.

When I first heard of the "Zombie/Inferi Tournament" my first question was how did you come up with the idea for the Zombie theme and why? Jonathon explained, "The Zombie Tournament came from my love of Zombie crawls and my desire to get more spectator involvement in Quidditch. Many tournaments have had problems getting people outside the teams friends and families from attending." Jonathon is also the head organizer of the New York Harry Potter meetup a group closely linked with the Badassilisks since their founding. To engage members, Jonathon tries to come up with unique ideas that demonstrate great "creativity and enthusiasm." Look for future Badassilisk tournament to have more cool themes! Jonathon helped ZombieNYC and ActionVance FX with Zombie makeup for tournament participants. Checkout pictures here.

Now on to the games. Hofstra was the favorite coming out of pool play after beating Macauley by 60 points and the eventual Champion Badassilisks by 80 points. "Hofstra was widely considered the favorite to win the tournament - their offensive game... proved too much for us in the end," says Irvin, a two year Badassilisk veteran. While Hofstra dominated Quaffle play, Vassar won with Beaters and Seekers. After Vassar's "well renown" Beaters held the Badassilisks to 30 points, Vassar's Seeker, Matt Zeltzer won the game on a snatch, 50*-30. Hofstra's high powered offense and Vassar's D would meet later on in the Semifinals.

Newbies, the Honey Badgers defeated Stony Brook and Macauley before losing to the Badassilisks in bracket play. Also, NYU lost to Stony Brook and Vassar before losing again to Vassar in the quarterfinalsAfter intense quarterfinals, including an 100-60 overtime win for Macauley over Stony Brook, there were only four teams left: New York, Macauley, Hofstra and Vassar. Irvin describes the semifinal against Macaulay, (we tried to) "open up the field and focus on defense, and it worked.  Even though we shut them out 80-0, every single goal was hard-earned, and it was a great match." The Badassilisks practice with Macauley, so knowing their style, they were able to come up with a game plan that successfully exposed Macaulay's weakness.

Now, we come to Offensive Minded Hofstra and Defensive Minded Vassar. Irvin and the Badassilisks got to watch, "The game lasted FOREVER, with neither side giving an inch." After 10 minutes, only one goal had been scored. However, Hofstra began to pull ahead but Vassar was able to keep Hofstra's lead below 30 so when David Gonzalez, another one of Vassar's seekers, made the snatch, they won and advanced to the championship to play the Badassilisks.

As many matches between the elite in Quidditch do, the NYC Zombie final match came down to who would catch the snitch. Strategic Beater play from Vassar was able to hold the Badassilisks' Seekers off for a while, but eventually the number of Badassilisks substitutes wore out Matt and Badassilisk Seeker, Walter "broke through Vassar's beaters" with a snatch to win the championship. "This is the first tournament the Badassilisks have ever won in their two-year history - as one of four original players left, that meant the world to me," says Irvin.

If you plan on hosting or attending or competing in a Quidditch tournament, do as the New Yorkers do, because the way Irvin describes it, the NYC Zombie/Inferi Tournament sounded perfect. "On the whole, it was a great tournament all around.  It was also a surprisingly even tournament, all the teams were really nice and friendly, and played cleanly.  And when we weren't playing, we were having lots of zombie fun.  A lot of us were zombified and blood-splattered."

The whimsical/competitive argument has come up a lot in recent months and I think the New York Badassilisks are a great example of how the two types from the Quidditch community can coexist. The whole idea for the tournament is kind of "whimsical" and it definitely shows creativity and the goal of the themed tournament was to enhance the community and then, those same creative, community minded people, went out and won the competition. For those who don't know, creativity, community, and competition are the three principles that the IQA states on their About page. Quidditch needs the Creative side to enhance the community and to keep the community interested, gameplay has to be at a high level. But what attracts community in the first place is creativity and "whimsical"-ness. You see, to survive, Quidditch needs both whimsy and competition. The New York Badassilisks are a perfect example of this and I congratulate you on your tournament win and your win for the quidditch community.

IQA Rulebook 6 is Out!

No major changes.
New rules preventing off pitch quaffle/Bludger play, allowing more contact from behind, allowing beaters to catch Bludgers thrown at them, and allowing players to finish motions in progress when being hit by a Budger before returning to their hoops.
Here is a complete list of changes:

1.3.6.
2.6.1.4.
2.6.2.3.
2.8.1.4. – 2.8.1.8.
2.9.2. – 2.9.6.
3.1.2.7. – 3.1.2.8.
3.1.4.2.g.
3.1.6.5.
3.2.3.6. – 3.2.3.8.
3.2.3.11.
4.1.5.
4.2.3.
4.5.6.

And here is the link to the Rulebook. 

NYC Zombie Elimination Round Scores

Here are the elimination round games:

#1: Hofstra - bye in first round

#4 vs. #5: Vassar (90) vs. NYU (30)

#3 vs. #6: Stony Brook (60) vs. Macaulay (100) (overtime)

#2 vs. #7: Honey Badgers (60) vs. Badassilisks (90)

Semifinals:

Hofstra (30) vs. Vassar (40)

Macaulay (0) vs. Badassilisks (80)

Finals: 

Vassar (60) vs. Badassilisks (110)