2015 IQA European Games

European Games
2015

Sarteano 2015 official logo
Tournament information
Sport Quidditch
Location Sarteano, Italy
Dates 24 July 2015–26 July 2015
Administrator(s) International Quidditch Association
Quidditch Europe
Tournament format(s) Pool play
Single elimination bracket
Host(s) Associazione Italiana Quidditch
Venue(s) Pian di Mengole, Sarteano, Italy
Participants 12 National Teams
Final positions
Champion Team France[1]
1st Runner-up Team UK
2nd Runner-up Team Norway
Current champion
Team France
Most recent tournament
2015 IQA European Games
2017 IQA European Games →

The 2015 IQA European Games, also known simply as the European Games, was the inaugural European championship for the sport of quidditch organized jointly by Sarteano2015, Quidditch Europe and the International Quidditch Association. The tournament was held the weekend of the 24–26 July 2015 in the city of Sarteano where Team France took first[2] against Team UK with the final score being 90*-50; Team Norway came in third winning against Team Belgium.[3]

As the 2015 Games were the first held and as the sport of quidditch is still expanding in Europe, there were no qualifiers for teams wishing to compete other than the need for a overarching governing body for that team's region/country. Planning is underway for the 2017 European Games where Quidditch Europe and the IQA will work together and start accepting bids in the 2015-2016 season.

Organization

After a bidding process released by Quidditch Europe and the IQA,[4] Sarteano was announced as the winner.[5] Building up to the events, Sarteano established several marketing campaigns across the country, across Europe and in the United States. Teams arrived to major airports within Italy with buses prepared to transport athletes to the site of the Games. The pitches themselves were maintained and organized to offer teams space to practise, to rest and to take shelter. Additionally, the town organized several entertainment events open to the public, from workshops to live concerts.[6]

Competing teams

The following twelve teams competed in the 2015 European Games:[7]

Country Number of athletes National Governing Body Previous appearances in tournaments
Poland Poland 7 Polska Liga Quidditcha -
Belgium Belgium 21 Belgian Quidditch Federation 1 (2014)
Catalonia Catalonia 21 Associació de Quidditch de Catalunya -
United Kingdom UK 21 QuidditchUK 2 (2012, 2014)
France France 21 Fédération du quidditch français 2 (2012, 2014)
Turkey Turkey 14 Quidditch Derneği -
Republic of Ireland Ireland 8 Quidditch Ireland -
Norway Norway 17 Norges Rumpeldunkforbund -
Netherlands Netherlands 13 Muggle Quidditch Nederland -
Germany Germany 14 Deutscher Quidditchbund -
Italy Italy 20 Associazione Italiana Quidditch -
Spain Spain 21 Asociación Quidditch España -

Broadcasting

Unlike many other quidditch events, there was no livestream available. However, volunteers updated a live Twitter account for online followers and several media outlets were present to report on the games.

Match officials

As the games happened during the off-season for most leagues, several officials came from the United States and Canada to referee and snitch events. Most teams supplied volunteer referees to fill in gaps where there was a lack of availability of non-playing officials. There were no player-snitches; in fact, the snitch with the most play time was Nicole Stone of QuidditchUK nicknamed "Little Snitch".

Marketing

The city of Sarteano established an aggressive marketing campaign that extended beyond the city's and country's borders. Importantly, craftspeople and artisans across the city started to sell European Games wares available for a limited amount of time such as pottery, wine and cheese. One of the most ambitious advertising campaigns run was for free bottles of specialty wine where adverts were places across European cities[8] and even in New York.[9]

Structure

The tournament structure consisted of an initial pool play where pools consisted of pots which were based on EQC rankings[10] and seasonal performance matched up.[11] The top four teams from each group then would proceed to bracket play, where brackets were decided using the following criteria: games won, head-to-head, QPD[note 1] and SWIM catches.[note 2] Finally, matches will end in semi-finals, third place final and the gold medal match.[11]

Notes
  1. ↑ QPD stands for "quaffle point differential" where the final score is tallied ignoring the 30 points given when the snitch is caught. QPD is capped at ±150 per game.
  2. ↑ SWIM stands for "snitch when it matters" coming into play when a team wins when within snitch range, i.e. ± 30 pts.

Bracket phase

Group A

Pos. Team QPD W L MP SWIM
1  France 570 5 0 5 0
2  Belgium 380 4 1 5 0
3  Turkey -40 3 2 5 1
4  Catalonia -30 2 3 5 0
5  Spain -170 1 4 5 0
6  Poland -720 0 5 5 0

Group B

Pos. Team QPD W L MP SWIM
1  UK 500 5 0 5 0
2  Norway 370 4 1 5 0
3  Italy 170 3 2 5 0
4  Germany -20 2 3 5 0
5  Netherlands -480 1 4 5 1
6  Ireland -540 0 5 5 0

Single-elimination phase

  Quarter-Final                    
  1G1  France 160  
  4G2  Germany 30*   Semi-Final
      QF1  France 110*  
  Quarter-Final   QF2  Norway 40  
  2G2  Norway 160*
  3G1  Turkey 50         Gold Medal
              SF1  France 90*
  Quarter-Final             SF2  UK 50
  2G1  Belgium 90      
  3G2  Italy 30*   Semi-Final   Bronze Medal
      QF3  UK 80*   SF1  Norway 150*
  Quarter-Final   QF4  Belgium 40     SF2  Belgium 80
  1G2  UK 190*
  4G1  Catalonia 0  

Final rankings

Pos. Team
1  France
2  UK
3  Norway
4  Belgium
5  Italy
6  Turkey
7  Catalonia
8  Germany
9  Spain
10  Netherlands
11  Ireland
12  Poland

Prizes

The European Games offered two prizes in total: First Place and MVP. The first place prize was a handcrafted, metal sculpture created by a local artisan for this event,[12] which was awarded to Team France upon their win. The MVP award, a hand-painted artwork,[13] went to player Ollie Craig for his efforts within the tournament.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ IQA European Games [@IQAEuroGames] (26 July 2015). "France with the catch to win European Games" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Marmer, Andrew (26 July 2015). "France Captures European Games Over UK". The Quidditch Post. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Scammell, Rosie (26 July 2015). "France beats Britain to win first European Quidditch Games". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "Quidditch Europe Announces the Inaugural European Games". Quidditch Europe. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Philipson, Alice (21 July 2015). "First Quidditch European Games to be held in Tuscany". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Gigliotti, Mirco (13 July 2015). "Elethnica". Sarteano2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Tournament and Teams". Sarteano2015, IQA, Quidditch Europe. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  8. ↑ Sarteano2015 (8 July 2015). "Catch the Snitch". Facebook. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Sarteano2015 (8 July 2015). "Catch the Snitch". Facebook. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "EQC III Announcement". Quidditch Europe (Facebook). 1 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  11. 1 2 Sarteano, Quidditch Europe, International Quidditch Association (5 July 2015). "Tournament Structure".
  12. ↑ Gigliotti, Mirco (21 July 2015). "European Quidditch Champion Cup". Sarteano2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Gigliotti, Mirco (21 July 2015). "Best Player Award". Sarteano2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  14. ↑ Howat, Fiona K.T. (26 July 2015). "FYI - Ollie got awarded MVP of EG! #captainSuave". Facebook. Retrieved 27 July 2015.

External links

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