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Abbreviation | QUK |
---|---|
Formation | 2011 |
Legal status | Non-Profit Organisation |
Location | |
President | Dec Ramsay |
Vice-President | Vacant |
Website | www |
QuadballUK (formerly QuidditchUK) is the official governing body of quadball in the United Kingdom and is affiliated with the International Quadball Association.
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, [1] and set up matches and new teams. In July 2022 QUK made a statement saying they plan to rebrand with the new name Quadball later in 2022. [2] The rebrand was completed in October 2022.
Since its foundation, QuadballUK has become vastly developing organisation as, after hosting the Summer Games [3] in August 2012, there was a massive growth of quadball teams throughout the country. It was at this point that QuadballUK advanced from a network for UK teams and players, to become an established governing body of quadball in the UK. [4]
A staffing structure was set up whose aim would be to develop and promote quadball in the United Kingdom. Its current president is Josh Fogg, [5] and the Vice President is Alex Freeman. [6]
The staff of QUK is currently composed of volunteers within the quadball community. [4] In May 2022, the role of QuadballUK president was changed from a volunteer role into a paid position paying an annual salary of £5,000. [7]
Currently QUK runs 6 major tournaments: the regional university Northern and Southern Cups, British Quidditch Cup, Development Cup, European Qualifier Tournament and the Community League. The two university regionals and the Community League are used to qualify teams for the British Quidditch Cup with teams that fail to qualify instead eligible to compete at the Development Cup.
Northern and Southern Cups (for university teams) and the UK-wide Community League (for community teams) are run as multiple 1 day fixtures over the season with teams divided into divisions of around 5 teams each that compete in a round-robin at each fixture. At the end of each fixture, the top team in each division is promoted to the division above and the bottom team in each division is relegated to the division below.
The top 12 community teams and top 12 university teams after all fixtures qualify for British Quidditch Cup where they compete in separate university and community flights. The 12 university places are distributed proportionately between the Northern and the Southern regions based on the number of teams competing in each.
The Development Cup allows any team that does not qualify for BQC to compete, with its main aim being to allow teams with little competitive experience the opportunity to play other teams of a similar level competitively. The first Development Cup encouraged experienced coaches to coach an attending team for the weekend in order to help them develop as a team.
The European Qualifier Tournament is an opt-in tournament that is used to determine qualification for teams to represent the UK at European Quadball Cup in Divisions 1 and 2 (based on the team's overall performance). Both community and university teams can attend with a maximum number of 20 teams. Rankings at the university regionals and Community League fixtures are used to determine attendance priority if more than this number of teams apply to compete.
The first British Quidditch Cup (BQC) was held on 9–10 November 2013, at University Parks in Oxford, England [8] with 16 teams competing. [4] The host team, Oxford's Radcliffe Chimeras, won the trophy, beating Avada Keeledavra [9] in the final with Bangor's Broken Broomsticks placing third. The second BQC [10] was held at Wollaton Hall and Deer Park, Nottingham on 7–8 March 2015 and was won by Southampton Quidditch Club 1. [10]
QuadballUK operated a "Challenge Shield" league event which ran 2014–2015. This competitive format was phased out in 2015 in favour of two regional competitions. [11]
From 2015 until 2019, QuadballUK ran the Northern and Southern Cups regional tournaments as singular 2 day fixtures at the start of the season which were open to any team that applied to play. The format consisted of round-robin group play on the first day followed by 2 knockout tournaments on the second day, with the top 2 teams from each group competing in a "champions" bracket and the rest playing in a "consolidation" bracket. The 2019 tournaments had a slightly different structure which removed the full knockout tournaments in favour of a "ranking bracket" stage followed by a "play-in" stage. [12] The tournaments were used for qualify teams for EQC (spots were distributed equally between the two regions) and the British Quidditch Cup (spots were distributed proportionately to the number of teams competing in the region), with seeding for BQC also being based on the results of the tournaments.
The Development Cup was first introduced in 2017 with the first tournament being won by Liverpool's "Liverpuddly Cannons".
At the end of the season, the British Quidditch Cup was run as a 32 team tournament with the top teams as decided by regionals invited to compete. On day one of the tournament the teams were split into 8 groups of 4 where they would compete in a round robin. Day 2 followed the same "champions bracket"/ "consolation bracket" knockout structure seen in Northern and Southern Cups. BQC's final standings were used to rank all teams in attendance alongside seeding next season's regionals.
In 2021, QUK introduced the current season format which includes a split between university and community teams (previously all teams competed in the same events). The new UK-wide Community League was formed as an equivalent tournament for community teams to the new university-only Northern and Southern Cups. The British Quadball Cup was changed to its current state as a 24 team tournament, with 12 university and 12 community teams competing in separate flights. [13]
These are the teams involved with UK Quidditch listed as they appear in QuadballUK's team directory as of 2022: [14]
Inactive teams that have previously been involved with QuadballUK: [15] [16]
The first international club level fixture took place in Brussels, February 2014 when both Oxford University teams were invited to play in the European Quidditch Cup (then known as the European Regional Championships), Oxford's first team "the Radcliffe Chimeras" came 1st. In the following years, more teams where invited to the European Quidditch Cup. In 2015 the UK hosted EQC, originally the UK were supposed to send 6 teams but due to dropouts 10 teams were sent to replace those missing. In 2016 the UK sent 8 teams to Italy, 7 out of 8 came finished in the upper bracket while the other team didn't lose a match on day 2. 2017 saw 6 teams compete in Belgium. 2018 saw 4 teams compete in Bamberg in Germany.
The 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 seasons saw teams compete for EQC spots with half the spots given to the top teams in the north and the other half given to the top teams in the south.
The 2018/2019 season onwards saw top-teams from the South and North compete for 12 spots in a special European Qualifier Tournament (EQT) held in London. This tournament was used to determine the top eight teams qualifying for EQC spots.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, EQC did not take place in 2020 or 2021. [17] The 2022 EQC tournament was held in Limerick, Ireland. The planned EQT that would have taken place in Cardiff to determine spots was canceled due to COVID fears. EQC spots were instead awarded based on the performance of teams in the previous events in the season. [18] The EQC 2022 tournament was won by Werewolves of London.
QuadballUK plays hosts to Team England, Team Scotland and Team Wales which represent their respective countries in international quidditch tournaments. [19]
Team Scotland made their tournament debut at the 2019 IQA European Games in Bamberg. Team England and Team Wales made their tournament debuts at the 2022 IQA European Games in Limerick, with England winning the tournament.
Previously there was a Team UK, however in 2021 this was split into the 3 independent teams. The UK team made its debut in 2012 at the Summer Games in Oxford. Team UK's achievements included a win at the 2017 IQA European Games and numerous medal placements at other international tournaments. Team UK's final tournament appearance was a 3rd place medal at the 2019 IQA European Games.
Below is a table of all major fixtures by UK national teams. [20]
Competition | Host nation | Placement | Number of teams | |||
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UK ![]() | England ![]() | Scotland ![]() | Wales ![]() | |||
2012 Summer Games | Oxford, UK ![]() | 5th | • | • | • | 5 |
2014 IQA Global Games | Burnaby, Canada ![]() | 4th | • | • | • | 7 |
2015 IQA European Games | Sarteano, Italy ![]() | 2nd | • | • | • | 12 |
2016 IQA World Cup | Frankfurt, Germany ![]() | 3rd | • | • | • | 21 |
2017 IQA European Games | Oslo, Norway ![]() | 1st | • | • | • | 15 |
2018 IQA World Cup | Florence, Italy ![]() | 4th | • | • | • | 29 |
2019 IQA European Games | Bamberg, Germany ![]() | 3rd | • | 14th | • | 20 |
2022 IQA European Games | Limerick, Ireland ![]() | • | 1st | 15th | 16th | 20 |
Quidditch, officially known as quadball since 2022, is a team sport that was created in 2005 at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, United States, and was inspired by the fictional game of the same name in the Harry Potter books by the author J. K. Rowling. Two teams of seven players each, astride broomsticks and opposing each other on a rectangular pitch, compete with the primary objective of passing a ball through the defenders' hoops, while preventing their opponents from passing it through their own hoops. The real-world sport is sometimes referred to as "muggle quidditch" to distinguish it from the fictional game of the books, which involves magical elements such as flying broomsticks and enchanted balls—a muggle in the Harry Potter series being a person without magical abilities. The sport is played around the world.
The International Quadball Association (IQA), previously known as the International Quidditch Association, is the governing body for the sport of quidditch. It was founded as the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association in 2009 following the very first intercollegiate quidditch match. In 2010, the IQA added the "international" term to its name, and 2016 saw its induction as an international sports federation with its creation of the Congress. It now comprises more than ten national associations governing quidditch in their respective nations.
The British Quadball Cup, also British Quidditch Cup, is a quidditch tournament held in the United Kingdom that follows the rules laid out by the International Quidditch Association. It is organised by QuadballUK and is the largest UK tournament of the year.
The US Quadball Cup, previously known as US Quidditch Cup, is a quadball tournament held in the United States and organized by US Quadball. The first US Quidditch Cup was held in 2007 with only two teams participating, and now features around 60 collegiate and club teams from around the United States. The tournament was formerly known as the IQA World Cup, but that name now refers to the international championship IQA World Cup.
Oxford Universities Quidditch Club (OUQC) is the quidditch club of both the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University. It is composed of two teams: a first team, the Radcliffe Chimeras, and a reserve second team, the Quidlings. Both teams are official QuidditchUK (QUK) teams. QUK is the UK quidditch governing body, and is a constituent part of the International Quidditch Association (IQA).
Quidditch Canada is the governing body that oversees quidditch within Canada under its mother organization, the International Quidditch Association. In August 2022, QC announced plans to rebrand with the new name Quadball in 2023.
The United Kingdom National Quidditch Team, colloquially known as Team UK, was the official national Quidditch team of the United Kingdom. Team UK made its debut in 2012 at the IQA Summer Games in Oxford, UK where it placed 5th of 5 teams. The team then played in Canada at the 2014 IQA Global Games in Burnaby, BC on July 29, 2014 where it placed 4th of 7 teams and in the European Games in Sarteano, Italy in July 2015, placing 2nd of 12. Team UK gained its first medals at the IQA World Cup 2016 in Frankfurt on July 23–24, 2016, finishing 3rd out of 21 teams. In 2017 the team gained its first international trophy, winning the IQA European Games, beating France in the final. Team UK's final tournament appearance was a 3rd place medal at the 2019 IQA European Games in Bamberg.
Belgian Quidditch Federation, or BQF, is the governing body of quidditch in Belgium. It was founded in 2012 as a Facebook page to garner interest from potential players and teams within Belgium and began to take shape in 2013 with the introduction of its first two teams: Deurne Dodo's and the Brussels Qwaffles. The organisation began to take shape as a non-profit in early 2014 with the formation of the newly-international International Quidditch Association in the form an international federation. Belgian Quidditch Federation maintains one delegate within the IQA Congress as a member of Quidditch Europe alongside Quidditch Nederland (QNL) and the Luxembourgish Quidditch Federation (FLQ). On 10 October 2014, BQF changed its name from Belgium Muggle Quidditch to its current name to better integrate with other sports in the country.
US Quadball, formerly known as US Quidditch, is a non-profit organization that governs the sport of quadball in the United States of America. Quadball is a sport that combines elements of basketball, dodgeball, and rugby. The sport is played at more than 100 colleges and 50 independent clubs in the United States.
Quidditch, also known as Quadball, in Australia is played by a mixture of university and community teams. Due to the geographic demographics of the country, most major competitive tournaments are held in the eastern states. There are currently over 30 registered teams in the country.
The European Quidditch Cup, also known as EQC and formerly as the European Quidditch Championship, is the culminating championship tournament for the sport of quidditch in Europe. It began to be legitimised in 2014 when the International Quidditch Association became an international federation for quidditch. The first tournament took place in 2012 in France as quidditch began to develop across Europe. Today, the tournament is the highest level of championship in Europe besides the European Games with league-level tournaments being the qualifying competitions. In 2019, Division 1 of EQC was held in Harelbeke, Belgium, where the Paris Titans won the championship for the fourth time in their history.
The IQA World Cup is an international quidditch tournament contested by the national teams of the members of the International Quidditch Association, the sport's global governing organisation. The championship, which was named Summer Games and Global Games in its first two editions, has been awarded every two years since 2012. The current champions are the United States, who defeated Germany in 2023, after having also beaten Belgium back in 2018.
Quidditch is a growing team sport in Canada. Due to its relative youth within the sports scene of Canada, adoption is not as widespread as other sports such as rugby or ultimate. However, adoption is picking up with additional university and community teams each year. As a result of its inclusivity and its many niche styles of play, a wider spectrum of individuals are drawn to this sport than other mainstream sports. For the moment, the majority of teams are based in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, but teams are rapidly starting up in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Manitoba. Quidditch Canada is the governing body for the sport across the country; there are no associations within Quidditch Canada that govern provincially/territorially.
The IQA European Games (EG) are the biennial games for the sport of quidditch held in Europe where national governing bodies send national teams to compete. The European Games were created in response to the IQA World Cup, the biennial tournament wherein nations from around the world compete in a similar style to the FIFA World Cup. Both Games alternate years so in the off years regional tournaments such as the European Games or the Asian Quidditch Cup can occur. These games are the highest level of championships in quidditch aside from Global Games. The 2015 champions were Team France, narrowly beating Team UK.
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, Italy. France took first against the United Kingdom with a final score of 90*–50, and Norway came in third winning 150*–80 against Belgium.
The Northern and Southern Cups are the two major regional quidditch tournaments of the United Kingdom. Organised by QuadballUK, the tournaments serve both as qualification prerequisites for other tournaments, such as the European Quidditch Cup and the British Quidditch Cup alongside being their own stand alone tournaments. Regionals are often considered the most important tournaments of the year after the British Quidditch Cup and they serve as qualifiers for the latter tournament. Those teams that fail to qualify for BQC each season compete in the Development Cup instead. From 2021 onwards the tournaments have been held as a series of one-day fixtures exclusively for university teams with the equivalent Community League tournament held for community teams.
The United States national quadball team, previously known as US Quidditch, is the official quadball team of the United States. The team is regulated by US Quadball and is a national member of the International Quadball Association. The team has won the most IQA World Cup titles, winning the 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2023 titles. The USNT only competes in events once every two years; at the IQA World Cup, as it is geographically ineligible for the only other current international quadball event; the IQA European Games.
The Development Cup, also known as Dev Cup is a British quidditch tournament that runs parallel to the annual British Quidditch Cup, catering for those teams that did not qualify for the latter. The tournament is organised by QuidditchUK, the sport's national governing body, and follows International Quidditch Association rules. The inaugural event, held on 29–30 April 2017, was won by the Liverpuddly Cannons from Liverpool.
The English national quadball team is the official national quadball team of England. The team, which is organised by QuadballUK, was founded in 2021 after the splitting of Team UK into separate teams for each of the individual Home Nations. They made their debut at the 2022 IQA European Games in Limerick, winning the tournament.
The Scottish national quadball team is the official national quadball team of Scotland. The team, which is organised by QuadballUK, was founded in 2018 and made its tournament debut at the 2019 IQA European Games in Bamberg.
In total 26 matches for the inaugural national tournament took place in the University Parks grounds. Chairman of Quadball UK Ben Morton said this was "the biggest Quidditch tournament outside America".