Belgium national quidditch team

Belgian Gryffins

Full name	Belgium National Quidditch Team
Nicknames	The Belgian Gryffins de Belgische Gryffioenen les Gryffons Belges den Belgischen Greyfen
Founded	2014
League	International Quidditch Association
Colours	Black, gold and red
Head coach	Louis Lermytte & Corentin (Cory) Faniel
Captain	2015: Tim Van Huygevoort 2014: David Danos
Championships	2015 European Games 2014 Global Games
Uniforms
Website	Belgian Gryffins Facebook Page

The Belgium national quidditch team, also known as the Belgian Gryffins (Dutch: Belgische Gryffioenen; French: Gryffons Belges; German: Belgischen Greyfen), is the national team of Belgium in quidditch. The team was founded in 2014 upon the announcement of the 2014 IQA Global Games,^[1][2][3] the International Quidditch Association's second international tournament featuring national teams.

The team is overseen by the Belgian Quidditch Federation, the head organisation of all quidditch in Belgium. The name Gryffins and the logo come from the combination of Belgium's two community's symbols: the Walloon cock and the Flemish lion.^[4]

History

The Gryffins were founded in 2014 under the guiding of Canadian David Danos at the announcement of the 2014 Global Games^[5] in Burnaby, B.C., Canada. As Belgium's quidditch scene was young and developing, unlike other nations, there were no try-outs for the 2014 team. The decision for who goes rests on the individual player's ability to fund themselves. The Gryffins held a crowd-funding campaign through Indiegogo where they raised nearly €1000^[6] of the €8000 needed and are keeping a social media presence through their Facebook and Twitter pages.

After appearing at the European Games in Sarteano, Italy (July 2015), and ranking fourth in Europe, the Gryffins will once again compete in a worldwide event at World Cup 2016 in Frankfurt.

Colours

The Belgian tricolore flag

The colours of the team have always been that of the Belgium tricolore, red, gold and black. Since in quidditch it is illegal to sport a jersey primarily with yellow due to confusion with snitches, the primary colours are always red or black with yellow as a flair.^[7]

Jersey History

The design of the 2014 jerseys were put through a popular vote open to any interested Belgian quidditch player. The majority chose the option created by Julie-Anne Weber, who designed the paw, and Cory Faniel, who dealt with the colour layout. ^[8]

In November 2014, a popular vote ranked the Gryffins' jersey among the five best quidditch team uniforms in the world, according to the readers of The Quidditch Post. ^[9] A jury of editors graded each submission and, after aggregating the score of popular and jury votes, Belgium was awarded the title of World's Best Quidditch Uniform for the jersey design displayed above.

In 2015, the decision was made to maintain a similar design for the European Games jersey, though a change in provider resulted in some necessary tweaking.

Players

The team is open to any player that is a Belgian citizen or permanent resident, a temporary resident of Belgium or has excessive contact with Belgian quidditch at the discretion of the head of Belgium Muggle Quidditch.

2014-2015 Vancouver

The first roster was established for the 2014 Global Games in Vancouver. No try-outs were held and players had to be chosen on the basis of whether or not they could afford the trip. ^[10] The following players took part to this competition.

2013/2014 Season

No.	Pos.	Player	Nat.	Team
10	C	Laurens Grinwis Plaat Stultjes		Brussels Qwaffles
9	C	Jana Meers		Brussels Qwaffles
11	C	Nathan Wilputte		Brussels Qwaffles
07	C/K/S	Corentin (Cory) Faniel		St. Andrews Snidgets
06	K	Gorik Verbeken		Brussels Qwaffles
72	B	David Danos (C)		Brussels Qwaffles
4	B	Inke Gieghase		Deurne Dodo's
12	B	Jerona van der Gevel		AmsterDragons
3	C/S	Pauline Schena		Brussels Qwaffles
17	B	Laura Mailleux		Brussels Qwaffles
18	C	Ruth D'Hoore		Ghent Gargoyles
26	B	Lieselot Van den Abbeele		Ghent Gargoyles

2015-2016 Sarteano

The Belgium quidditch national team, aka Belgian Gryffins, at their second tournament in Sarteano. One player missing for being away from the field at that point.

Following the announce of the European Games, it was decided that new players would be selected to compete in Sarteano, Italy, against other European national teams. This would reflect the growth of quidditch in Belgium and increase the depth of the team ^[11] The selection process involved scouting players who had applied to be part of the team, but no try-outs. The final roster was announced on May 22 and consisted of 20 players, with only four Gryffins from the previous selection returning to the team. ^[12] Two players were kept as reserve: Rik De Boeck and Brian Verbeure, with Rik ending up joining the team. The Belgian Quidditch Federation nominated Louis Lermytte and Corentin (Cory) Faniel as coaches.

2014/2015 Season

No.	Pos.	Player	Nat.	Team
10	C	Laurens Grinwis Plaat Stultjes		Ghent Gargoyles Quidditch Club
16	C/K/S	Seppe De Wit		Deurne Dodo A
13	B	Elisabeth Reyniers		Deurne Dodo A
2	C/K/S/B	Tim van Huygevoort (Cap.)		Deurne Dodo A
9	C	Jana Meers		Brussels Qwaffles / Hasselt Horntails
26	S/C	Pieter Goossens		Hasselt Horntails
12	B	Pauline Raes		Ghent Gargoyles Quidditch Club
7	K/C/S/B	Corentin (Cory) Faniel (Coach)		Leeds Griffins
21	C/K/S	Florian Dion		Brussels Qwaffles / Les Dracognards
14	C	Jorge Diaz		Brussels Qwaffles
789	B/S/C	Tanghi Burlion (V-Cap.)		Brussels Qwaffles
949	B	Shati Patel		Oxford Quidlings
69	C/K/S	Nathan Wilputte		Brussels Qwaffles
4	C/B	Ellen Huycke		Ghent Gargoyles Quidditch Club
94	B	Pauline Berger		Brussels Qwaffles / Les Dracognards
717	C/K/S	Nicolas Volders		Leuven Leprechauns
33	C/B/S	Louis Lermytte (Coach)		Deurne Dodo A
17	C	Charlotte Buelens		Deurne Dodo B
89	B	Moussa Fall		Brussels Qwaffles
23	B	Caroline Mailleux		Brussels Qwaffles
34	B	Rik de Boeck		Leuven Leprechauns

2015-2016 Frankfurt

To be announced.

After receiving more than 60 applications, the four members of the selection committee named 32 players to take part to the first 3 trainings. The Selection committee was appointed by the Belgian Quididtch Federation to include both coaches from the previous year (Louis Lermytte and Cory Faniel), the former captain (Tim van Huygevoort) and a former member of the selection committee (Soraya A.). They also decided to appoint Louis Lermytte as coach who took Laurens Grinwis Plaat Stultjes as his non-playing assistant.

Competitive Record

2014 Global Games

The Gryffins made their debut at the 2014 IQA Global Games where they placed last. Due to lack of selection process and the fact that the team had just eleven players, the Gryffins had difficulties keeping to pace with the competition. However, as the quaffle point differentials show, Team Belgium, while outmatched, did not experience all complete losses, most notably in the Belgium-Canada game where a strong defensive line held the score to just 70-30* Canada. What solidified Belgium's seventh place was the final forfeit to Team USA where it was decided by the team to no longer progress as much of the team had succumbed to treatable injury.^[13][14]

2014 Global Games
Opposing Team	Winning Team	GF	GA	SC	MM:SS
Team Mexico		70	150		24:00
Team Canada		30	70		18:19
Team UK		50	90		14:31
Team Australia		0	160		20:00
Team France		60	140		-**
Team USA		0	150	-*	00:00

* Indicates that that was forfeited with a 150*-0 loss.

** Indicates unknown game time.

2015 European Games

At the 2015 European Games, the Belgian Gryffins came second of their group, with the highest QPD, behind France and ahead of Turkey, Catalonia, Spain and Poland.^[15] Facing the host, Italy, in the quarter of finals, Belgium conceded no goal and proceeded to face the UK in the semi-final.^[16] This was among the toughest games of the tournament for the UK, but the Gryffins lost on a snitch catch.^[17] As a result, Belgium entered the 3rd place play-off against Norway, that had lost facing France in the other semi-final. This game saw Norway pull ahead before Belgium scored a series of goals, but failing to come back within snitch range before Norway ended the game.^[18] The team ranked fourth overall and firmly established the country as one of the strongest in Europe.^[19]

2015 European Games
Opposing Team	Winning Team	PF	PA	SC	Type
Team France		50	150		Group
Team Spain		140	20		Group
Team Catalonia		190	50		Group
Team Poland		150	0		Group
Team Turkey		140	50		Group
Team Italy		90	30		1/4 final
Team UK		40	80		1/2 final
Team Norway		80	150		3rd place play-off

See also

• Muggle quidditch
• International Quidditch Association
• Sport in Belgium

References

1. "IQA Global Games Announced". US Quidditch. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
2. "IQA Global Games". US Quidditch. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
3. "L’avant-tournoi des Global Games". La Gazette du Sorcier. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
4. "BKL5 à Bruxelles : ils se préparent aux Jeux Mondiaux de Quidditch". SudOuest. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
5. IQA Global Games Announced
6. "Gryffins Indiegogo page". Indiegogo. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
7. Rule 2.5.2.C - jersey colours
8. "Facebook thread where votes were cast". Facebook. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
9. "World's Best Uniform Announced". The Quidditch Post. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
10. "Les IQA Global Games 2014". La Gazette du Sorcier. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
11. https://www.facebook.com/QEurope/posts/740692862690332
12. https://www.facebook.com/BelgianGryffins/posts/397668387107222
13. "Les Resultats des Global Games 2014". PotterMag. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
14. "Team USA Wins Gold at Quidditch Global Games 2014". Vancity Buzz. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
15. http://quidditchpost.blogspot.fr/2015/07/france-captures-european-games-over-uk.html
16. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/26/european-quidditch-finals-tuscany-harry-potter
17. https://twitter.com/IQAEuroGames/status/625306680193060864
18. http://quidditchpost.blogspot.fr/2015/07/france-captures-european-games-over-uk.html
19. http://quidditchpost.blogspot.fr/2015/07/france-captures-european-games-over-uk.html