Regina Atkinson and Dean Rodhouse have put together this amazing piece about the history of QUAFL.
2011
In 2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was released, signalling the final instalment of the book and film series that influenced a generation. Quidditch was catching on around the world, and a group of students, led by the Quidditch Universities Australia Federation League Cup Organiser Justin Chau at UNSW put together the then-biggest quidditch tournament Australian quidditch had ever seen. Five teams; UNSW, UWS, Newcastle, Wollongong, and ANU attended the first ever QUAFL on November 26 at UNSW Physics Lawn. The tournament went for one day, with a hard cap of 30 minutes game time, seeker floor of 10 minutes, and off-pitch seeking from then until 18-24 minutes. UNSW won the Grand Final, cementing their place in the quidditch history book. While there is very little information about this tournament available online (such as any scores), the Facebook event was never taken down and can be found here. WINNER: UNSW SECOND PLACE: UWS TEAMS: 5 NEW TEAMS: UNSW Snapes on a plane, UWS Thestrals, Newcastle Fireballs, Wollongong Warriors, ANU Nargles
2012
In its second year QUAFL doubled in size, with new attendees coming from host Macquarie University, as well as the University of Sydney (USyd), and interstate teams making the trip over from Perth, (Melbourne) Manticores, and JCU. Before the weekend started Newcastle were favourites to win [taken from a source authored by “James Hosford”], and even though they had a shaky start to games on Saturday they still arrived at the Grand Final ready to face off against UNSW. The Snapes who were hoping to become not only the first team to win QUAFL once but the first team to win QUAFL twice in a row, and after a low scoring game UNSW’s star player Andrew Culf got the snitch and the second trophy for UNSW. UWS’ Chrystal Player won Player of the Tournament. 2012 saw the birth of a different, but still wheel-y fun, adaption of Quidditch, one with “an equally popular” Grand Final taking place before the official final. The inaugural QWAFL – Wheelchair Quidditch – Cup was won by ANU Nargles over the JCU Galleons. The official title of the tournament seems to have changed, while “QUAFL” is still present the acronym has been replaced with “Oceania Regional Championships”, a bold yet technically correct claim to make when at the time Australia was the only country in the Oceania region to play quidditch. More details on QUAFL 2012 can be found here, and the Facebook event can be found here.WINNER: UNSW SECOND PLACE: Newcastle THIRD PLACE: Macquarie TEAMS: 10 NEW TEAMS: Macquarie Marauders, USyd Unspeakables, Perth Phoenixes, Melbourne Manticores, JCU Galleons
2013
In 2013 QUAFL was held at the University of Western Sydney and saw 12 teams attending thanks to new arrivals UTS and Monash. Teams were split into two pools and coming into finals UNSW and ANU were top of their pools having won every game and all but one game (to Wollongong), respectively. However, neither team made it to the Grand Final, with Macquarie and Perth taking to the field for the gold medal game. Macquarie had the home state advantage but that wasn’t enough to stop Perth’s Palmisano from catching the snitch and winning the cup for WA. There was Wheelchair quidditch across both days of the tournament, at the end of day 1 UWS were top of the 6-team ladder and at the end of day 2 UWS were still on top. 2013 also saw the final games from the JCU Galleons, who had attended two QUAFLs and only played 3 games, forfeiting the rest away. The top four teams of the tournament; Perth, Macquarie, Newcastle, USyd, qualified for World Cup VII – the seventh instalment of USA’s semi–international nationals. More information about QUAFL 2013 can be found here and the Facebook event can be found here. WINNER: Perth PhoenixesSECOND PLACE: Macquarie THIRD/FOURTH PLACE: Usyd & Newcastle TEAMS: 12 NEW TEAMS: UTS Opaleyes, Monash Muggles
2014
Held at Macquarie University, the fourth edition of QUAFL was attended by 13 teams, with JCU departing the national scene while the Basilisks and the Wrackspurts made their debut outside of Victoria. Again, two pools were used to divide the teams, coming into the semi-finals the undefeated UNSW found themselves the only NSW team present against the Basilisks, while the Manticores and Wrackspurts faced off. UNSW continued their winning streak all the way to the Grand Final where they were bested by the Melbourne Manticores, who took the trophy back to Victoria for the first time. The weekend was marred by awful weather with the Grand Final was played “in the midst of a torrential late evening rainstorm”, despite a weather report at the time predicting 31-degree heat. UWS retained their titles of Wheelchair Quidditch champions, again in a competition of 6 teams. Again, there is a change in the event title, now doing away with both an explanation of the acronym or a claim at being a regional championship, the event is simply “QUAFL 2014” More information about QUAFL 2014 can be found here and the Facebook event can be found here.WINNER: Manticores SECOND PLACE: UNSW THIRD/FOURTH PLACE: Basilisks & Monash TEAMS: 13 NEW TEAMS: Basilisks, Wrackspurts
2015
In its fifth year, QUAFL was held outside of NSW for the first time with the Monash Muggles hosting the 19-team tournament. The tournament was directed by Monash Team Rep Nicola Gertler.Due to the increase in attendance teams were split into three pools, at the end of pool play the Manticores were favourites to win again after an undefeated Vic Cup and QUAFL day 1. When they got to the Grand Final they faced off against the also undefeated UNSW, and at the end of their rematch of the previous year’s Grand Final the Manticores again came away the victors. Wheelchair Quidditch took place on the Friday before QUAFL weekend, again with 6 teams entering and Western Sydney winning the competition. This year marks a noticeable change in the Quidditch atmosphere – Western Sydney have changed their name and dropped the Harry Potter association. While this change was brought initially brought about by a change in their university affiliation status, the previous murmurs around Quidditch and its status as a real sport compared to a fan club are becoming stronger. This conversation will presumably last ad infinitum, or at least until the name of the sport is changed (if that ever happens) the community across Australia is clearly starting to take things a bit more seriously. The Facebook event for QUAFL 2015 can be found here.WINNER: Manticores SECOND PLACE: UNSW THIRD/FOURTH PLACE: USyd/Newcastle TEAMS: 19 NEW TEAMS: QUT Lycans, Adelaide Augureys, USC Dementors, South Melbourne Centaurs, Melbourne Unicorns, La Trolls.
2016
Now known as international gold medallists following the 2016 IQA World Cup, QUAFL 2016 marked the first time the competition wasn’t held at a University campus, and instead was held at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. The Tournament Director was Matt Ingram, originally from Newcastle. With 23 teams each team was split into four pools, with Western Sydney, Monash, and the Wrackspurts dominating their respective pools at the end of pool play, while the Manticores placed top of their pool despite losing a game to Perth. For the first time in QUAFL history a third place play off took place, with the Manticores forfeiting the bronze to Monash. The Grand Final saw Western Sydney and the Wrackspurts face off in a battle of the blue jerseys, both teams fielding world class players that kept the score tight until the Wrackspurts came away with the snitch and the victory. Wheelchair Quidditch again took place a day before QUAFL kicked off, this time with 5 teams and still Western Sydney won it all. 2016 QUAFL was a tournament of firsts; the first time a B team made an appearance - by the University of Sydney Unbreakables - the first time QUAFL was held on a professional sports field, the first time a third place play off took place, and the first-time trading cards were available at QUAFL. The name for the event again changed, no longer the Oceania championships the tournament is the “Australian Quidditch Championships” The Facebook event for QUAFL 2016 can be found here.WINNER: Wrackspurts QC SECOND PLACE: Western Sydney QC THIRD PLACE: Monash Muggles FOURTH PLACE: Melbourne Manticores TEAMS: 23 NEW TEAMS: UQ Dumblebees, USyd Unbreakables, SA Bunyips, Macarthur Weasleys, ACU Paladins
2017
In 2017 QUAFL returned to the AIS, with 25 teams in tow. The continued use of the Canberra venue was largely viewed positively, as the fields themselves were top standard and any negatives to do with the location were not as important was fantastic fields. The Tournament was Directed by Merryn Christian Teams were again split into four pools with games played across 6 pitches simultaneously. The game of the tournament was predicted to be between the newly formed and state league dominators, Serpents and Willows, however this face off took place in the Semi Finals following Willows’ seeker/chaser/keeper Morton snitch catch with less than 5 seconds on the overtime clock against Western Sydney. The Willows again came out on top in this game and continued on to the Grand Final. The third place play off was again forfeited by the Manticores, however the Serpents and the Manticores still took their scheduled time to play a fun game. For the first time since 2013 the Grand Final was played by teams from the same state, the Willows hoped to make their mark in their first year while the Wrackspurts aimed to defend their national title. The game was won by the newest team on the block, and the Willows took the trophy back to the same state it’s been in since 2014. Wheelchair Quidditch did not make an appearance this year. Its presence was missed, however hopefully it will make a comeback before too long. The weather over the weekend was atrocious. A few days out from the tournament the schedule had to be pushed back to accommodate for the rain damaged fields, and two of the six fields played on were synthetic grass while the other four were natural grass. Scoresheets were too damaged to be read, so the scores from a few games are either missing or potentially inaccurate. The Facebook event for QUAFL 2017 can be found here.WINNER: Whomping Willows QC SECOND PLACE: Wrackspurts QC THIRD PLACE: SerpentsFOURTH PLACE: ManticoresTEAMS: 25 NEW TEAMS: Melbourne Unicorns Blue, USyd Unforgivables, Whomping Willows, Monash Mudbloods, Glenelg Gargoyles, Sydney Serpents
2018
In just under two weeks, QUAFL 2018 will take place. This year we’re back to a University campus, but for the first time in history QUAFL will be held in Queensland, at the University of the Sunshine Coast. The Tournament will be Directed by Alistair Yap. This year the competition will be fiercer than ever, with 24 teams will be attending spread evenly across 4 pools. USC Dementors have the home advantage and coming off the back of winning the Queensland League they’re sure to want to add another trophy to the collection. USyd Unspeakables have the largest club in Australia and the largest depth of players in Australia, through winning the NSW League they’ve shown one or two injuries can’t phase them. Out of all the state league winners, the Melbourne Manticores are the only team to have previously won a QUAFL and they’ve shown this year that their top performance is not in the past. Who will take home the trophy this year? Will it come back to Victoria for the 5th year in a row? Will it come back to its home state of NSW? Or will Queensland finally get a grab at the gold? We’ll find out #soon The Facebook event for QUAFL 2018 can be found here.
