Coping in the Corona Closedown Crisis - Practical Advice and Ideas for Teams and Individuals

Introduction

With quidditch suspended across Australia for the foreseeable future, most countries having cancelled all of their sporting events, and further societal shutdowns announced for the coming week in various Australian states, what is to be done in the Corona Closedown Crisis? (As I am calling it).

Quidditch forms an integral part of people's lives, not just their physical exercise, but also their social life, and both contribute to physical and mental health. Without the opportunities we usually have for sport and socialising, and in a world of social distancing and isolation, the community must find new ways to interact, engage, and stay connected. While the situation is extremely serious, there is nevertheless always room for taking any advantages of the situation as they come, finding light and levity in an otherwise dark time, and lifting the community mood wherever possible.

This article attempts to pool together some ideas, offer some more suggestions, and inspire action across the quidditch community as we face the Corona Closedown Crisis separated, but together.

Note: In this post, I am coming to you as long time quidditch member and enthusiast and club leadership person AJ, not as official QA Board Member/Media Director Ajantha, though I of course still carry this perspective with me.

Individual & Team Exercise

From both a physical and mental health perspective, staying active during the closedown is absolutely vital. Staying stationary during the crisis will only engender another heath crisis of its own. The importance of exercise to physical health is obvious, but many people underestimate and undervalue the critical importance of physical exercise to mental health, so in this time of increasing social isolation, it becomes increasingly important to take care of yourself on both fronts.

If you are still able to, take yourself out of the house, and go for regular (solo) runs - if you've never done this before, there are many apps that can help ease you into it (the Couch2FiveK one is excellent). Better still, form a running group with your team - there are plenty of platforms that also facilitate this kind of thing. Work together to achieve distance or time milestones, and challenge other teams to races - first team to reach a cumulative 500 km, that sort of thing. Gamification makes everything much more motivating.

In the home, there are also plenty of exercises that you can do, whether it's simply throwing a tennis ball against a wall to maintain hand-eye coordination (bonus: use something that doesn't have a uniform surface so it bounces at odd angles. (double bonus: do this while on a unstable surface like a mattress or a wobble board to maintain ankle stability and improve balance)), actual work-out style things for strength and conditioning, or even skype-dance sessions to keep active, it's all useful.

Many teams are also working on these together, creating common google docs with ideas for exercises you can do around the house, and coaches are putting together weekly training routines that people can do by themselves, or with the rest of the team over video chat - some teams are even working out together over Skype.

If you'd like to contribute your exercise suggestions, resources, documents, training plans, ideas, etc. please email them to media@quidditchaustralia.org (or just message me - Ajantha Abey) and I will collate them on the QA Website for general use!

Stay Connected - Team Activities

Quidditch is of course not just about the playing of sport, but about the community and social aspects as well. There are a myriad of ways to stay connected, be productive, and continue to engage with your team and others during the closedown. Here are a few ideas:

1. Online Gaming - Many teams have already created their own Discord servers for online gaming together - everything from eSports to online board games, Cards Against Humanity, Mafia, and more. Usyd Quidditch held a successful Online Gaming Session last Friday through Discord, and hopefully other teams can follow this example. There is also talk in Quidditch NSW of running an eSports competition between local teams, as a continued competitive outlet and way to continue engaging with the broader community.

2. Footage Watching Sessions - There is a wealth of quidditch footage online - from QPL and MLQ matches overseas, State Shield games from the last 4 years all on YouTube or Facebook [we are currently working on collating all of these into a more easily accessible format on the QA Website, but if you go back on Quidditch Australia's facebook page for now, all of the posts have been edited to include the game in the title/description of each video post], Quidditch NSW TV [which has lots of new footage rapidly being uploaded], European Games, European Quidditch Cup, QUAFL footage [2019 games coming soon], and more. Facebook supports "Watch Parties" as do many other platforms, and these are a great way for teams to be able to get together and talk strategy, learn from their past games and other teams, and try and get ideas for plays once the season is able to resume.

3. Documentaries -  Another underappreciated resource is Quidditch Documentaries. "There are documentaries about quidditch??" I hear you ask. Yes! From feature length documentaries like "Mudbloods" (the story of UCLA and their journey to Nationals, available on Netflix) and "Fly" (TeamUK's Journey to Frankfurt in 2016) to shorter flicks like "Brizzlepuffs: The Dossumentary" (the story of the Bristol Brizzlepuffs, their founding, their culture, and their journey to the European Championships, available on YouTube - look out for yours truly!), and even our own homegrown "Come Fly With Us" (which tracks the story of Usyd Quidditch, their culture and growth as a club, and journey to Nationals in 2018, available on YouTube), there is a wealth of incredible quidditch history online. Mandatory watching especially for younger players should be "Brooms Up" - a documentary about Quidditch World Cup IV (held in 2010, available on YouTube). #KnowYourRoots #HowFarWeveCome #ThrowBackToOffPitchSeeking (Fun fact: Finding this in my YouTube sidebar was how I first learned about quidditch). These are all great content for watch parties. As a related sidenote - there are many platforms and browser plugins that allow groups to watch Netflix together, for example.

4. Create Content Together - Working together in groups to make rules videos can be a great way to learn the rulebook. Natalie Astalosh would also reprimand me for neglecting this opportunity to remind you all that this is a great time to read the rulebook. Many platforms allow you to host and records video chats, and these can allow you to create discussion panel shows (see things like the Salt Mine in the UK), be they one off discussions around a topic in quidditch, or an ongoing show. Everyone also seems to be getting their own podcast these days so why not create one with your team or other friends you may have in the community. Check out things like "How to play Quidditch" by Alejo Enriquez (ongoing podcast and video series) for inspiration. Also based across the Pacific, Ethan Sturm's new project "The Midline" features in depth discussion and analysis on high quality quidditch footage - if anyone wanted further inspiration, or just some cool content to check out and learn from.

5. Engage on Social Media - this is a no brainer, but you can get creative with this, and have a lot of fun especially as the social media manager for a club. For example - in the wake of QuidditchUK postponing their national championship, the London Unspeakables announced their teams as 'interim champions'. In response? Warwick Quidditch Club have challenged the team to a decider - in a game of Facebook Basketball. Wholesome. Content.
There are also endless quidditch photos that are highly memeable - and Usyd Quidditch have started an open-to-all COVID-19 meme competition on their page. Did I just endorse memes as a way to deal with the Corona crisis on an official platform? Maybe I just think that any and all ways people can stay connected with one another, continue to have fun, and boost the general public mood in a pretty dark situation is a valid way of coping. You decide. And incidentally, if you are looking for memorable content, my NQL photos will be up shortly and can confirm, there is a lot of highly memeable content there.

Engage in the Community - Write in to Quidditch Australia

Speaking of engaging with the community and producing content, I know I say this all the time, but it's honestly never been more true that now is the best time to start writing articles for Quidditch Australia. You don't have to join staff or do anything formal, literally just have an idea about something to write about in quidditch, write it, and send it to me at media@quidditchaustralia.org.

Have ideas about recruitment? Want to pitch your ideas for alternative State Shield events? Have ideas for a Quidditch Hall of Fame? Think you have a good system to split QUAFL into divisions? Concerned about issues in quidditch like burn out, discrimination, lack of volunteers, refereeing quality, (I'm sure there are plenty of others too), and have ideas about how to fix them? Want to write some analysis on a particular game/team/tournament/season/etc. Are you from Perth/South Australia? Tell us about what quidditch is like in your state! Most East-coast players have no idea what goes on in other parts of the country. Want to make sure quidditch history is put into writing?

I will take any and all suggestions. Get your ideas, thoughts, memories, reflections, analyses, and solutions out there, and give the community something to discuss in turn.

We would love to hear from you. Email articles to me at media@quidditchaustralia.org.

Contribute to Player Profiles - Voices from the Community

Over the past month, as many of you will have been aware, I ran the #ASportForEveryone campaign on the Quidditch Australia facebook page - trying to highlight all the best aspects of the sport, and the many things we value and love about it. Unfortunately, lines like "there's never been a better time to get into sport" were becoming increasingly ironic, so the campaign has been paused, but in such a time as this where #WholesomeContent is more and more needed, I am going to be finishing the campaign (there are still a bunch of posts left which were meant to segue into the Dropbears campaign….).

Following this, I would like to continue the stream of wholesome content with community profiles. These will be open to anyone who has been a part of the Australian quidditch community, and an opportunity for people to share their own experiences in their own voice. People can answer a question or two such as what your favourite thing about quidditch is, what was the moment you knew you were hooked on quidditch, what the highlight of your time in quidditch has been, who their biggest inspiration in quidditch has been, etc. These will be posted to the Quidditch Australia website, and where possible, on the Quidditch Australia facebook page - because we could all use a light in these dark times.

You can submit an answer to a question for a profile via the form here: https://form.jotform.com/200812640856049

Be Productive and Volunteer

Seriously, if I didn't include an appeal to please volunteer, you should check that I'm not being impersonated or something. One of the hardest things in the shutdown, long term, is going to be finding meaningful things to do. Netflix is great, but Netflix all day every day is going to get real old, real quick. Help make an actual difference in quidditch, and help #MakeQuidditchBetter.

Volunteering doesn't have to be hard and doesn't have to take up a lot of your time if you don't want it to. If I had a Social Media Manager who just made a single post in the QA Instagram every week, it would be a 100% improvement on what I currently have going on there. Ditto twitter. If you're good at video editing? I'm sure Arfy and QNSW TV would love your help in editing and uploading footage. (I would also love the help). Quidditch Australia has a lot of initiatives - from gameplay, governance, and gender engagement, to social media, sustainability, and strategic planning.

You can find all of these and more at www.quidditchaustralia.org/volunteer-roles, but beyond these prescribed roles, if you simply have an idea for how to make quidditch better, and want Quidditch Australia to help you do it, you can also volunteer with us to do whatever you happen to have a skill or interest in. Not only are you helping the community, but frankly, having volunteer roles for a national sporting organisation looks pretty good on a CV, especially if you can show that you volunteer your time towards something related to your professional interests.

You don't have to 'apply' to be a volunteer - you just have to be willing to help. All we need is your contact details and a basic CV for our own records, and we will onboard you onto our Quidditch Australia Slack, set you up with what you need, and try to get things off the ground as soon as possible.

Volunteering is giving me something (actually, to be honest, too many things) to get me out of bed in the morning and get me engaging with the community on a daily basis, working with other people regularly, and making a positive difference (I hope). As we face a long Corona Crisis Closedown ahead of us, with plenty of bad news days, dire warnings, and extended social isolation, what are you planning to do to keep yourself sane?

Hopefully, this article has been helpful in this regard.

Otherwise, stay safe, stay healthy, and do whatever you can to stop the spread.

Final Message - To Community Leaders

There are going to be a lot of hard months ahead of us. Without regular quidditch, with the sadness of major tournaments and international events cancelled or postponed, and with the news every night being increasingly dire, people need leadership.

If you are a community leader - a club exec member, a captain, a coach, a president, a board member, a staff member, if you run an organisation or NGB or are just a widely respected and looked to member of the community - this is not the time to shutdown, this is the time to step up. This is a time to help the community when it needs it the most, reach out to all of our members, keep everyone engaged, and make sure we keep taking care of and looking out for one another. We all need to be stepping up to do the right thing with regards to hygiene, social distancing/isolation, quarantine, and other public health measures, but we also need to be stepping up as community leaders to give guidance in a time of chaos, and reassurance in a time of uncertainty.

I look forward to working with the community at large over the coming months to continue to #MakeQuidditchBetter