QuidditchUK

QuidditchUK
Abbreviation QUK
Formation 2011
Legal status Non-Profit Organisation
Location
President
 Melanie Piper
Vice-President
 James Burnett
Website www.quidditchuk.org

QuidditchUK is the official governing body of quidditch in the United Kingdom, and affiliated with the International Quidditch Association. Its current president is Melanie Piper, and the Vice President is James Burnett.[1] It began in 2011 as a Facebook group intended to act as a network for quidditch teams and players within the UK to communicate with each other, become aware of local teams and resources,[2] to set up matches and new teams.

Since its humble beginnings, QuidditchUK has become a structured, involved, and vastly developing organisation. After hosting the Summer Games[3] in August 2012, there was a massive growth of quidditch teams throughout the country. It was at this point that QuidditchUK decided to advance from a network for UK teams and players, to become an established governing body of quidditch in the UK. After talks with several members of the original group a staffing structure was set up, whose aim would be to develop and promote quidditch in the United Kingdom.

Competitive structure

The first British and Irish Quidditch Cup was held on 9–10 November 2013, at University Parks in Oxford, England.[4] The host team, Oxford's Radcliffe Chimeras, won the trophy, beating Avada Keeledavra[5] in the final with Bangor's Broken Broomsticks placing third. The Second BQC[6] was held at Wollaton Hall and Deer Park, Nottingham on 7–8 March 2015 and was won by Southampton Quidditch Club 1.[6]

The International Quidditch Association (IQA) and QUK have established two regional tournaments known as The Northern Cup[7] and The Southern Cup.[8] QuidditchUK operated a 'Challenge Shield' league event which ran 2014-2015; beginning with a mini-season from its inception in August 2014 through to the end of November 2014. The Shield was run in a ladder-format, with each team beginning outside of the ladder before getting onto it and advancing or retreating in its rankings via the outcome of 'challenges'. Any team may challenge any other so long as the defending team is not more than 3 places further up the ladder than their challengers. The teams then play three games in a single day; if the challenger wins the best of three (and their opponent is higher on the ladder) then they switch spots with their opponents. In the event of the defending team emerging victorious, the ladder is unaffected.

Invitational tournaments in the UK, both current and historical, include:

Teams

These are the teams involved with UK Quidditch listed as they appear in QuidditchUK's team directory:[12]

Currently actively competing Quidditch teams:

  • Bangor Broken Broomsticks
  • Brizzlepuffs Quidditch Club
  • Cambridge University Quidditch Club
  • Chester Centurions
  • Derby Union Quidditch Club
  • Durham University Quidditch Club
  • Flying Chaucers
  • HogYork Horntails
  • Holyrood Hippogriffs
  • Huddwart Lions
  • Keele University Quidditch Club
  • Kinlochleven Midges
  • Leeds Griffins
  • Leicester Thestrals
  • Loughborough Longshots
  • Manchester University Quidditch Club
  • Norwich Nifflers
  • Nottingham Nightmares
  • Oxford University Quidditch Club
  • Portsmouth Horntail Strikers
  • Preston Poltergeists
  • Reading Rocs
  • Southampton Quidditch Club
  • SQC
  • St Andrews Snidgets
  • Taxes Quidditch
  • The London Unspeakables
  • The Seven Swans
  • Tremough Quidditch Club
  • University of Exeter Quidditch Club
  • Warwick Quidditch Club
  • Werewolves of London

European competition

UK teams were invited to the European Regional Championships, organized by the IQA, in Parc du Woluwé, Brussels, at the start of February 2014. Two British teams, both representing Oxford University Quidditch Club were able to attend: the Oxford Quidlings, and the British Champions, The Radcliffe Chimeras, who won[13] the competition. In 2015[14] and 2016[15] the teams with the best performances at the national tournament BQC qualified those teams on to compete in the European Quidditch Cup.

National team

QuidditchUK also plays hosts to Team UK[16] which represents the UK in international quidditch tournaments. The team made its debut in 2012 at the Summer Games in Oxford where it placed 5th of 5 teams. Team UK travelled to Burnaby, B.C., Canada for the 2014 IQA Global Games to compete and ranked 4th. In 2015 Team UK competed in the inaugural European Games held in Sarteano, Italy placing second behind France, after a close final that ended 90*-50. In July 2016 Team UK[17] will once again be competing in the IQA World Cup, formerly known as the Global Games, in the host city of Frankfurt, Germany.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "QuidditchUK - About". quidditchuk.org. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  2. ↑ "Hooch Iniative QuidditchUK" (PDF). quidditchuk.org. 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  3. ↑ "British Quidditch Cup History". quidditchuk.org. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  4. ↑ "BBC News - First 'Quidditch' British Cup held in Oxford". BBC Online. Retrieved 25 November 2013. In total 26 matches for the inaugural national tournament took place in the University Parks grounds. Chairman of Quidditch UK Ben Morton said this was "the biggest Quidditch tournament outside America".
  5. ↑ "Oxford Quidditch Club". www.ouqc.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  6. 1 2 "BQC 2014-15 Overall Result" (PDF). QuidditchUK. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  7. ↑ "QuidditchUK - Northern Cup 2015". quidditchuk.org. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  8. ↑ "QuidditchUK - Southern Cup 2015". quidditchuk.org. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  9. ↑ "QuidditchUK - Highlander Cup II". quidditchuk.org. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  10. ↑ Perryman, Francesca (2016-04-25). "The Quidditch Cup spreads its magic across University of Reading". getreading. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  11. ↑ "THE QUIDDITCH POST: L Tournament Review". quidditchpost.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  12. ↑ "QuidditchUK - Clubs". quidditchuk.org. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  13. ↑ "Chimeras Take Europe".
  14. ↑ "eqc2016". eqc2016. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  15. ↑ "eqc2016". eqc2016. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  16. ↑ "QuidditchUK - TeamUK". quidditchuk.org. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  17. ↑ "QuidditchUK - TeamUK". quidditchuk.org. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  18. ↑ "International Quidditch Association". www.iqaquidditch.org. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
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