QUAFL 2019 - Pool A Preview

QUAFL is fast approaching. The pools have been drawn and big name clashes are being anticipated. But what about the teams that might not get talked about as much? That's the aim of these articles, written by seasoned analyst and player, Stephen Butler (of Macquarie Marauders)- to analyse each team and build hype in the lead up to QUAFL. We begin this QUAFL analysis with Pool A.

Pool A is an interesting pool, purely because the battle for third place is a lot more exciting than any other spot, with first and second looking pretty set (barring any upsets). Macquarie, UQ Dumblebees and the Unforgivables will all be fighting hard for that final bracket spot, surely giving us some exciting games between the three.

Monash Muggles 

First QUAFL: 2013

Best Performance: Third Place (2016)

The Monash Muggles have had a stellar 2019, losing only a single game all season and coming out victorious at both Mudbash and the Victoria Cup finals. A lot of this can be attributed to the constant growth and development of this squad over the past few seasons, with a lot of their younger stars now growing into state and national level players.

Photo: VQA

Dan Leane and Edward Vienet are two of their key quaffle players, both offensively and defensively. They are both important members of the Victorian Leadbeaters, in addition to being key Muggles. They are helped by the incredible quality and depth in their female chasing stocks, with the trio of Madeline’s (Fitzgerald, Bell, and Coleman-Bock) and Jess Cooper, all huge threats in that team.

However, it is the incredible tenacity and energy of Sam Kilpatrick and Zach Giofkou in beating that really helps drive this Muggles team. Both beaters have huge gas tanks and don’t know the meaning of the word “slow”.

The Muggles should have no trouble with Macquarie, UQ and the Unforgivables, so their game against Valkyries QC will be important if they want to prove themselves a serious threat for the championship. After mounting a serious challenge to last year’s finalists, the USyd Unspeakables last year in two games that could easily have turned out in the Muggles’ favour, and only having gone from strength to strength this year, the odds are certainly in their favour. 

The Muggles should top group A, with the Valkyries realistically being the only team to challenge them. A top 4 finish is highly likely, and I wouldn’t be totally shocked if they reached their first grand final in 2019.

Prediction: 3rd place playoff.

Valkyries QC

First QUAFL: 2019

Best Performance: N/A

Valkyries QC, forming partially from the ashes of Western Sydney Quidditch Club, but picking up a variety of players from other clubs including Macquarie, Newcastle, UNSW, Serpents, UTS, and USyd, enjoyed a solid debut season in 2019. Obviously, the difficult thing for any new team is learning how to play with each other, which perhaps hurt them a little this season, along with a somewhat unreliable roster for part of the year. However, they were never out of their depth and had close games with all the other top NSW teams. While they finished the season in fourth, they’d shown a huge improvement on their team work and almost scored an upset overtime against eventual champions Sydney City Serpents, but an unfortunate declined snitch catch prevented this. Still, it showed that the Valkyries were capable of matching the best team in the state, and one of the favourites for QUAFL.

Photo: Ajantha Abey Quidditch Photography

What has helped Valkyries QC is the amount of talented players on their roster, with recent State Shield champions Rajtilak Kapoor, Isobel Rennie, Jono O’Brien and Courtney Buckley representing the Valkyries at QUAFL this year. Raj, Jono and Courtney are all key quaffle players and are regularly involved in the work scoring for Valkyries, while Isobel Rennie’s incredible beating allows those chasers the time and space they need to score.

However, it’s their depth that is really going to help them out, with the often underrated Amber Williams (who was the highest scoring female in division 1) and Phil Vankerkoerle providing support and back-up options to ease the pressure off the top line players.

Obviously, it is the tantalising clash with the Monash Muggles that Valkyries must surely be looking forward to, as it is likely to be the group decider (barring any upsets, which can happen). This will be a frenetic match up with lots of back and forth action. An excellent chaser defence for Valkyries will be essential to holding out against the Muggles dynamic and cohesive offence, and big hitters such as Miles, Raj, and Jono will be essential to slowing down the relentless Ed and Dan train. On the flipside, while the Muggles present some of the strongest tackling defence in Victoria, Valkyries at their best have the passing game to work around it.

The Valkyries have enjoyed their first year of existence and should be fairly strong contenders in this group. The Muggles look stronger on paper, and have more experience playing together, but the Valkyries still have a very capable chaser line and have a beater line that, at its best, should be able to handle the beating storm that the Muggles will undoubtedly apply.  

Prediction: 5-8th

Macquarie Marauders

First QUAFL: 2012

Best performance: Runners Up (2013)

The 2019 season was one of development for the Marauders, with the majority of the team being first or second year players. It was also their first year in NSW’s second division, as they spent 2018 playing in division one against the best teams in the state.

They very quickly set themselves as one of the top teams in the division, sitting in the top three for the entire season, eventually finishing second on the ladder and earning them their pod 3 spot. Unfortunately, they had a poor finish to the season, finishing sixth overall after finals.

Some of the players that might catch the eye this year include NSW Rookie of the Year 2019 Rebecca Robb, who very quickly and effectively embraced the position of Keeper, in an age where female Keepers are becoming more prevalent. Also likely to shine is Xanthe Petridis, who has really stepped up her game this season in preparation for the impending loss of captain and key beater Ana Barciela. Xanthe has proven more than capable on the pitch and is an important part of Macquarie’s beater depth.

Another key quaffle player is Ryan Shields, who is in his second season of quidditch and is vital for Macquarie’s attack; his pace and fearlessness make him a potent goalscorer. In the beating, it’s hard to forget Geoffrey Talbott, who is incredibly dominant when on form.

While every game should be important for Macquarie, the clash against Valkyries QC will help Macquarie prove they can definitely hang with the top teams in NSW.

Macquarie have historically had an incredible habit of stepping up their performances at QUAFL, punching well above their usual weight, and they’ll surely be hoping this year is no different. If they can deliver strong performances against the Unforgivables and UQ Dumblebees, they’ll be able to secure yet another trip to the knockout rounds of QUAFL... (against the loser of the Serpents vs Manticores pool play match, RIP…)

Prediction: 9-12th

University of Queensland (UQ) Dumblebees

First QUAFL: 2016

Best Performance: Pool Play (2016/2017/2018)

2019 must be seen as a great season for the UQ Dumblebees, finishing as runners up to the ever dominant USC Dementors in the Queensland State League. They also had a few members of their squad travel down to Melbourne Mudbash to gain further experience playing with and against different players from around the country. They’ll be hoping to improve on their previous QUAFL results and will surely be aiming to make it out of the group.

The Dumblebees have a very young but relatively experienced roster coming to QUAFL, with players such as Emma Foots, Jared Easterbrook and Ebony-Li Mahoney all recently appearing as reserves for the Queensland Thunderbirds, despite being relative newcomers to the quidditch scene.

However, they aren’t short on experienced players either. Niamh O’Mara and Kallum Strachan (a recent signing from QUT) have both played multiple State Shields and are high quality players that will help the Dumblebees challenge their inter star opponents. Add Will O’Connell, formerly of USC, to the mix and you have plenty of strong leaders in this team.

UQ’s game with Macquarie will be vital for them, as a victory over Macquarie and Unforgivables will be enough to get them out of pool play for the first time ever. They’ll be hoping to surprise Macquarie, due to being relatively unknown and hard to prepare for.

UQ have developed a strong little squad. They aren’t short on depth and have enough quality across all positions to really threaten Macquarie and the Unforgivables. Perhaps the lack of overall experience could hinder their chances, but they also have the capability to catch an underperforming team off guard. 

Prediction: 13-16th

University of Sydney (USyd) Unforgivables

First QUAFL: 2017

Best Performance: Pool Play (2017/2018)

The University of Sydney Unforgivables is the third of the three teams under the USyd umbrella, and as such, often features many new players to the sport. This provides these new players ample opportunity to play without being overshadowed by the top tier players, however it does also mean it may take a while to translate into positive results. The Unforgivables struggled to break down the teams in division 2 this season, though they did score their fair share of goals and got a few snitch catches to go with those goals.

Their biggest game was at NQL finals against fellow USyd team, the Unbreakables. They actually looked like the stronger team for much of that game, being up by 20 points well into the game, and got so close to a victory, however eventually fell to the quality of the persistent and prevailing Unbreakables. This game should give them the encouragement that they can indeed put up a good fight against the teams in their pool.

Despite their status as the third team of USyd, they still have some talented individuals on their roster. Key quaffle carriers Willem de Gouw and Samuel Feeney are strong leaders and are definitely capable of punishing a sleeping defence with their driving. Then you have the numerous female chasers they’ve trained up to support, most of whom aren’t scared of using the quaffle. Ashleigh Chilton in particular is a confident quaffle carrier and goal threat.

They also have the benefit of the leadership provided by Lilian Thai in beating. Lilian has gained some experience playing with fellow pool A team Valkyries QC and has brought that back to the Unforgivables, her commanding voice definitely being the loudest on pitch (referees, step up your game).

While I’m sure they’re looking forward to testing themselves against Macquarie yet again, it’s the game against the Dumblebees that should stand out for the Unforgivables. They’ll be hoping they can adapt to the unknown Dumblebees and outplay their Queensland opposition to score a huge QUAFL victory.

Unfortunately, I do think it’ll be a tough weekend for the Unforgivables, and small numbers will be one of their biggest adversaries, beyond the other teams they’ll have to face too. They’ll definitely put up a fight and a good showing against Macquarie and UQ, but whether they’ll have the quality to match their opponents remains to be seen. 

Prediction: 17-20th

Pool A may not initially seem as exciting as the other pools, due to the gulf in class between the top teams, but there are definitely still some interesting match ups. Macquarie vs UQ will certainly be an interesting game; can Macquarie turn their recent dip in form around and see off their relatively unknown opposition from Queensland? There is also plenty of room for the underdogs in this group, as Valkyries will be looking to prove me wrong and cause an upset over the heavy favourites of the group, while the Unforgivables will be looking to do the same at the other end of the pool against Macquarie and UQ.

However, I do think this pool will go in pod order, from 1 to 5, with the Muggles, Valkyries and Macquarie finishing top three and moving on to bracket play.

Team Previews - The NSW Blue Tongues

Team History: 

The NSW Blue Tongues is the other team who have been taking part in Quidditch Australia’s state level competition since its inception at the start of 2016. Competing against the Victorian state team in this original State Of Origin series of three sets of three games, the Blue Tongues won the second series 2-1 but overall came a narrow second, winning four games to Victoria’s five. When the state competition evolved into the single State Shield event in 2017, the Blue Tongues went winless across three games against the Victorians. They were able to come back last year with five straight wins against the Victorian Leadbeaters to finally claim the title for NSW. As the other long-established quidditch state in Australia and with a rapidly growing playerbase, NSW remains Victoria’s greatest competition and rival in the competition They present a strong team of state and Dropbear veterans supplemented by promoted players from the state’s B team, who will be looking to level the overall State Shield score to 2-2 against the Victorians. 

Roster and Reserves of the 2019 Blue Tongues, with new logo designed by Brittney Watiwat and Tegan Diep

Interview with Team Leadership: 

We spoke to Paul Harrison, Head Coach of the Blue Tongues for the second year, and Raj Kapoor, the team’s captain this year and veteran of the squad, about their thoughts on the upcoming competition. 

1. How are you approaching State Shield/what are your goals for the tournament?

Paul: My approach to State Shield is the same as my approach to any major tournament; to win in a way that is both honest and meaningful for the team.

Raj: State Shield is the highest quality of quidditch we get to experience in our part of the world. With the inability to have leagues such as MLQ (Major League Quidditch in the US) or QPL (Quidditch Premier League in the UK), or tournaments like EQC (European Quidditch Cup), State Shield is extremely important for the promotion of the sport and the development of top level talent. Retaining the Shield is extremely important. After having a tough few years at the start of the tournament, the team is keen to prove that last year's win wasn't a one off. The goals for the tournament are the same: get the win, play good quidditch, have a blast.

The Victorious 2018 Blue Tongues | Photo: Ajantha Abey Quidditch Photography

2. How have you prepared/trained for State Shield and how confident are you at this point?

Paul: Every player on the team has a solid understanding of the game and has their own unique qualities to add to the team. With this in mind, trainings were always focused on building teamwork between players rather than focusing on any particular skill set. Whilst I imagine every team playing this tournament will provide tough competition (training against the Bluebottles has already proven this to be true), I have every confidence in my team’s ability to perform if we play our own game.

Raj: We've been lucky enough to have a good spread of players across the top teams in NSW and those teams being open to have their trainings being taken over by the Blue Tongues alongside a few weekends to get that synergy going. I'm very confident that we'll have a good showing over the weekend. We've got a great squad with amazing depth and versatility alongside a top coach. I'm keen to step on pitch and tough it out to win it all again.

3. Where do most of the players on your team come from? Any players you think people should look out for? 

Paul: Our players come from a variety of different teams, many of them having played for multiple club teams in the past. Ranging from past World Cup winners to State Shield newbies, every player on this team has a high level of talent and should be looked out for.

Raj: Sydney City Serpents and University of Sydney Unspeakables contribute the most, but new teams Valkyries Quidditch Club and North Sydney Nightmares are not far behind. The team itself is a nice mix of state and Dropbear vets plus a few new faces. Luke Derrick, Nat Astalosh, and Isobel Rennie all return to bring their vast beating experience to the team alongside Sam Chittenden, Gary Hague, and Courtney Buckley, forming the veteren core of the team. 2018 Dropbear Arlyta Andrews makes her long awaited Blue Tongues debut. On the other side, USyds dynamic keeper duo Max Brenner and Haydn Johansson both make their own Blue Tongues debuts. Max was sidelined last year due to injury and Haydn of course was the 2018 MVP for his amazing play with the NSW B team. I'm sure they'll both be keen to put their stamp on the tournament, just as they have this year in the NSW Quidditch League.

4. Why should people be excited to see your team playing at State Shield? 

Paul: State Shield is one of the few events on the Australian quidditch calendar that brings the best performers in the country together for a tournament and the Bluetongues have more than their fair share of this talent. If you want to see top quality teams playing to quality quidditch, this is the place to do it.

Raj: I believe we've got a really well balanced squad with enough new talent and old hands that something spectacular will happen almost every single game. From long range ultra accurate beats to unreasonably high alley-oops, nothing is off the table. However, most important of all people should be excited for the rock-paper-scissor contest at the start of each game. I know that's what I'm looking forward to.

New Jerseys of the re-branded Blue Tongues, designed by Tegan Diep and Brittney Watiwat 

Analysis & Commentary: 

While NSW struggled against Victoria in the earlier years of the competition, last year’s competition proved this was finally no longer the case and the years of Victoria’s dominance were over. The growth of NSW quidditch over the years has resulted in a growing player-base from which to source top level talent. The presence of NSW’s B Team, the Bluebottles, in the final round of the 2016 State competition and at the 2018 State Shield, has proved immensely valuable to the state’s development and growth, producing a well seasoned team of elite level players for this year’s competition. 

If the Monash University quidditch program is the dominant force behind the Leadbeaters for Victoria, then the University of Sydney Quidditch Club is that for NSW. This year, the Blue Tongues feature five current players from the USyd Unspeakables team and a further seven alums, with two current Unspeakables and an ex-Unspeakable on the team’s reserve. Many of these ex-Unspeakables now hail from the Sydney City Serpents, whose current and recent players count eight of the Blue Tongues players and three reserves (as well as Head Coach Harrison). The Serpents and Unspeakables have dominated the NSW State league (and indeed, State Teams) for the past two years, with lots of competitive success in interstate competitions between them. Two thirds of the Blue Tongues this year have been retained from the 2018 squad, with a further four being promoted from the Bluebottles. 

With so much experience playing with each other already, and now under the aegis of Harrison as Head Coach for the second year, the Blue Tongues have remarkable scope for expanding their tactical arsenal and significant capacity for synergy, which will be crucial against the well-drilled Victorian team. 

Like the Victorians, there are still some notable absences this year, especially in significant keeper-drivers such as Brandon Frison, Dameon Osborn, and Miles Newton, all players on the 2018 Dropbear squad. This will undoubtedly give the likes of Max Brenner, a national rower known for his athleticism and driving ability who made the team in 2018 but was unable to play due to injury, a chance to shine as a primary keeper alongside veteran Raj Kapoor. While Luke Derrick also featured in the keeper line last year, the Blue Tongues have brought up both Lukasz Sikora and Haydn Johansson from the Bluebottles, both exceptional keepers and distributors, Johansson being awarded Most Valuable Player at the 2018 competition. Jackson Shields, a chaser for the Blue Tongues since 2017 known for his exceptional speed, also now sits as a keeping option, rounding out a relatively new but nevertheless solid keeper line for NSW. Keepers act as playmakers and dictate a lot of the pace and strategy on offence and defence, so it will be interesting to see how a largely new keeper line changes NSW’s playing style from previous years. 

Courtney Buckley chasing at State Shield 2018 | Photo: Taylor Angelo Quidditch Shots

The chasing corps of the Blue Tongues, remains relatively consistent from previous years, with players like Dropbear reserve Samantha Chittennden and Gary Hauge representing NSW for the fourth year, Courtney Buckley for the third year, and chaser-seekers Lachlan Ward and Jonathon O’Brien also having played on the team before. Arlyta Andrew, a promotion from the Bluebottles and a 2018 Dropbear, will be an asset to the Blue Tongues with her tackling ability, while Brittney Watiwat and Ava McConnell are both making their debuts on the state scene as exceptional receivers. Along with Bluebottle promotion Sanju Vairav who will also be making her Blue Tongues debut, Chittennden, Buckley, Ward, and McConnell have all played together on the Unspeakables in the last three years. They can be expected to have great team cohesion with Unspeakables keepers Brenner and Johansson. With Buckley additionally having played substantially as a keeper for Valkyries Quidditch Club this year alongside Kapoor, the Blue Tongues can be expected to have a highly versatile quaffle line up, with many players of all genders comfortable in receiving or ball-carrying roles, and familiar with playing with each other, suggesting a dynamic passing game that should be fun to watch.

What has also remained more stable from previous years is the beater core for the Blue Tongues. Though Hailey Clonts is a relatively new find for the team (though an experienced player, moving from the US last year), Natalie Astalosh and Luke Derrick have been consistent members of the Blue Tongues since their founding, with both also hailing from the Unspeakables, then Serpents, and the past two Dropbear squads. Isobel Rennie has also been a stalwart of the NSW team since 2017 and a Dropbear reserve in 2018, while Geoffrey Talbott, Harrison Jones, and Alexander Cunningham all played on the 2018 squad with the latter two being a significant duo on the Unspeakables. Retaining most of the country’s best beaters while Victoria has seen several retiring Dropbear beaters may give the Blue Tongues a significant advantage in this game-changing aspect of the team. However, with Victoria’s veteran Nathan Morton providing an answer to Derrick, the newer Muggles beaters already having proven themselves a match for Jones and Cunningham, and Dropbear Clementine Round matching up against Dropbear Astalosh, what can only be certain is a superbly entertaining beater game.

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They key strength of NSW however is the seeker line up, with Cunningham and Ward arguably representing two of the fastest and most consistent seekers in the country at the moment. They are ably backed up by the likes of O’Brien, Hague, Andrew, and Talbott, all of whom can bring different qualities in size, reach, athleticism, and strength to the seeker game. The depth and versatility of NSW’s seeking capability mean that whatever snitch the team faces, there are always several excellent options. This will be vital to the team’s success in the likely in-range games against Victoria, whose main seekers’ strength lies predominantly in speed and timing. 

Lachlan Ward catches the final game winning snitch of State Shield 2019 | Photo: Ajantha Abey Quidditch Photography

Overall, the NSW Blue Tongues present a tough offensive line up and while a substantial portion of the keeper line is relatively new to the team, they are by no means new to their teammates. Although missing some of their most physical quaffle players of past years, the team has plenty of new faces to make up for it on defence, and enough versatility and synergy on offence to play effective passing or driving heavy games, depending on what the situation demands. Critically, the team’s beating and seeking corps are strong enough to present an incredibly tough snitch-on-pitch game to any opponent. After going undefeated in 2018, the Blue Tongues are the team to beat this year. 

Can the Victorians, with a home crowd in support, pull it off again? Will the growing Queensland powerhouse strike their first blow against the Blues? Is there enough parity between the A and B squads to keep the game in range? Only the weekend at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval will tell us! Come along to watch, and make sure to read up on the remaining teams in the next couple of days as well! 

Volunteer Profiles: Kathryn Cooper:

Quidditch is an entirely volunteer run sport. This week, as nations around the world start and finish celebrating volunteers weeks, we are profiling some of the people from all around the country who help keep quidditch running. Kathryn Cooper is currently the Chairperson of Quidditch NSW (QNSW), but she started her quidditch journey all the way back in 2013 with the University of Sydney Unspeakables. Since then, she's been a manager, vice president, coach, captain, team mum, and inspiration to many. Get a sense of what she does and why she does it below...

What kind of things do you have to do as chairperson of a quidditch governing body?

Since becoming Chairperson of Quidditch New South Wales earlier this year, I have to complete a number of tasks, some of which are ongoing throughout the year. Mostly, I just have to make sure that I am communicating with the Club Representatives of the clubs within New South Wales about what the Board is planning, and overseeing much of what is occurring within the New South Wales community (I am an admin of five different Facebook groups or pages for Quidditch New South Wales). Part of this means working with the other Board Directors, Phillip Vankerkoerle and Geoffrey Talbott, to make sure that the New South Wales Quidditch League (NQL) tournaments are being organised fully, and also coordinating with the other volunteers in the New South Wales community, making sure that the tasks we set for them are being completed, or that they are getting the support they need to organise and coordinate their own plans and ideas for Quidditch New South Wales. Recently, I have also been working with the New South Wales State Shield Team Selectors to coordinate the tryouts, and that they have everything they need to select the team.

What’s the hardest part of your job as chairperson?

I would say that the hardest part of being Chairperson is that there are fewer members of the Quidditch New South Wales Baord this year, and that myself, Phillip, and Geoffrey are all having to take charge of multiple portfolios. For 2019, I am also in charge of the Events portfolio. This is quite a lot of work to do, and with this also being my first year as a Board Director, there is a lot of pressure to make sure that everything is working well.

Are there other ways you volunteer or have volunteered in the past for quidditch?

This is actually quite a long list, as I have been somewhat volunteering in different roles since I joined the University of Sydney Quidditch Club in 2013. For the six years that I was part of that club, I held six different leadership roles. Since moving on and joining Valkyries Quidditch Club this year, I have also taken up leadership roles within the club. On top of holding these leadership roles, I have helped coordinate and run multiple fantasy tournaments throughout the years, mostly the Internal Fantasy tournaments that the University of Sydney Quidditch Club have run in the last few years, of which I have also been the Tournament Director. Last year, I also volunteered as a commentator for the State Shield tournament, which my first official outing as a quidditch commentator. I have continued commentating this year, by being a commentator for NQL matches this year, and helping support Arfy Papadam in running QNSW TV this year.

Why do you volunteer in quidditch?

I have always enjoyed helping organise events and tournaments, even before I joined quidditch. Within the last few years, I have definitely taken more of a role in helping organise bigger events, rather than just smaller club-based events, and I think this mostly comes down to wanting to help further the development of quidditch within New South Wales. I want to be able to help others with the ideas that they have, and what they are able to do to help improve how events and tournaments are being run. A lot of this mostly just comes from wanting to make sure everyone is being looked after, and that they are getting the support they need to do what they can do.

What’s been your best experience volunteering with quidditch?

I don’t really have one specific experience with volunteering that I would say is my best experience, but rather I have just enjoyed helping and supporting others to achieve their goals within quidditch. Whether this just be making sure that tournaments are being organised, or that issues are being handled, I just like making sure that they are able to do the best they can do. That might be how I achieved the persona and nickname of Mum when I was still part of the University of Sydney Quidditch Club, and that this image has evolved and grown within the New South Wales community.

Why should people get more involved in quidditch volunteering?

Being a volunteer within the quidditch community has been really rewarding, and has meant that I’ve been able to meet many people, and get to know their own experiences with quidditch volunteering. We all have different ways that we have volunteered, and it’s really interesting to hear the different ways that we have all helped quidditch growed. If anyone has any idea that they want to see happen within quidditch, then they should definitely give a try, because it could end up being an amazing idea that could really help the growth and development of quidditch. I would encourage anyone in the New South Wales community to do this, as myself and the other Board Directors would hear the ideas that you have, and how you would like to see them happen.

These profiles are being conducted in coordination with Q Consultancy, an international quidditch organisation who this week, is compiling volunteer profiles from all around the world, in time for Volunteers Week in the UK. Read more here.

Valkyries Quidditch Club - An Introductory Interview

In this interview, we talk to Phil Vankerkoerle and Amber Williams, two veterans of the sport from UNSW and Macquarie respectively, who have recently embarked on the great challenge of starting and leading a new team - the Inner Western Sydney based Valkyries Quidditch Club. They discuss the club's origin story, their aspirations for the year, and the story behind #broccolis.

What is your role with the team?

Amber - I am co-captain, along with with Kathryn

Phil - I am one of the 3 coaches and treasurer for the club [the others being Raj Kapoor and Isobel "Obel" Rennie].

How did the Valkyries come about?

Phil - Raj and I have been talking about making our own team for years now. It started as a joke that when we graduated we would start an ex-Snapes team, this was before the Serpents was made. Last year we started to talk to people who either wanted something different from their current team or wanted to train closer to home. We found 2 gaps in the type of clubs in Sydney: the first was teams that trained in the Inner west, and the second was teams that trained hard but didn’t care much about game day results. This was a perfect gap for Obel, Raj and I as we live in the Inner West and have been around long enough that we just want to get better without having to worry about winning every game. So after QUAFL last year we put out that we were making a new team and waited to see how many people wanted to join.

Valkyries Brooms Up for their first game (Featuring the coaching team of Obel, Phil, and Raj, as well as Steph "Panda" Barakat, Jessica James-Moody, and Terry Koutzas | Photo: Ajantha Abey Quidditch Photography

Who makes up the Valkyries?

Amber - Most of our team is made up of older players who’ve been in the community for a long time. Our players come from a few different teams, including WSQC, Macquarie, Serpents, UTS, and Newcastle.

Phil - First we were getting players by talking to our friends that we knew would probably want to train and play with us, this way mainly in a casual way to see who would make up the team and if we could make a team. Then we opened up interest to the community as a whole and had people from all over Sydney wanting to join.

What do you think the vibe of the team is going to be this year?

Amber - If the first tournament is anything to go by, I think we’re going to have a pretty chill but competitive vibe, which is honestly what the team is aiming for. Everyone has been supporting and encouraging their teammates, on and off the field, and that is something we hope continues throughout the year.

How did you come up with the ideas for the team’s name/branding? Was anything left on the drawing board?

Phil - The team name was difficult to decide. We knew we wanted to be in the Inner West so we were trying to make some alliteration with suburbs around but nothing really fit. When talking to people about the team we realised that we would most likely have a lot of female players, as most of the women from WSQC wanted to join, and wanted to have a name that reflected that. Obel did some research and got super into the Norse mythology and suggested Valkyries to us at QUAFL. We instantly took a liking to it and it stuck with us on all of the conversations from then on. You can still see some remnants of ideas we had on the drawing board in the team, for example our leadership group is called the Melon Lords as one of the earliest names we had was the Inner West Melon Lords, which came from the Avatar TV series, and of course the Broccolis which I will get to later.

What are your hopes for the team this year? Competitive goals?

Amber - My hopes for the team are that everyone continues to support each other at trainings and during games and to keep helping each other improve but to make sure they’re still enjoying themselves and the sport. As for competitive goals, see what Phil wrote, as that sums it up nicely.

Phil - My hope it that we continue to train at the same intensity, while still keeping the stress levels to a minimum. Some of our players tell us it’s the most intense training they have had without being stressed or pressured to be perfect. In terms of competitive goals I just want the team to do the best we can while utilising every player to their full potential.

The Valkyries after defeating North Sydney Nightmares at the second NQL Preseason | Photo: Ajantha Abey Quidditch Photography

What are you most excited for this year?

Amber - Getting to play with a new team of people! My entire quidditch career prior to this was with Macquarie, so getting to play with completely different people and finding where I fit in play-wise and learning from everyone is definitely what I’m most excited for. Plus I’m super interested to see how we compare to everyone else, whilst still maintaining the team culture we’re hoping to build.

Phil - Personally I am most excited about trainings and the social aspects. The last few years that I was with UNSW I wasn’t able to attend training very often as they trained on a Uni timetable and I was working. Now I am able to attend almost every training and share my years of experience with a new group of people. The social aspect has been great, we are a group of people that have mostly known each other for years so it’s good to hang out with friends that previously I would only hang out with 1 or 2 times a month.

What challenges have you had in setting up the new team? How have you overcome them? How much preparation is involved in setting up a new community team?

Phil - Where do I begin with this one, there is a lot of work involved when setting up a community team. First is the obvious setting up the branding, making logos, designing jerseys (which by the way is still happening), and making a social media presence. We do have some designers on the team that helped out with the logo design and the original jersey designs that were sent to the jersey company. Ensuring that your designs look good and reflect the team was quite challenging.

Another challenge was finding adequate fields to train on. I went around the Inner West and checked out a lot of fields. You need to look at the space, the parking options, nearby dinner options, if the field have lights, if you need to book the field etc. It took some looking but finally we set on 2 fields that we use for training.

Setting up the bank account was another interesting and complicated procedure. We wanted to get a business bank account so if needed we could change signatories and have easier access. There was a lot of paperwork that we didn’t realise we would need just to set up the account, such as signed board meeting minutes documenting who would be the signatories and exactly what roles they held. I think in the end we went to the bank like 3 times before our account was properly set up.

The final preparation was finding companies to make our jerseys and other merch, and see if we could get any sponsorships. Luckily our team rep Jess [James-Moody] has experience talking to companies and getting sponsors. With Jess contacting companies we found the best value jersey company and also the company that made our amazing pins.

Captain Amber Williams fights Peter McKenzie-Hutton from the USYD Unbreakables for the quaffle | Photo: Ajantha Abey Quidditch Photography

Who are the up and coming stars that we should be watching out for on your team?

Amber - Considering 99.9% are old players that most people already know, this was actually a hard question to answer. However we do have a newbie in the form of Matt Rennie, Obel’s younger brother, who has shown a lot of raw talent and I’m interested in seeing how he develops.

What’s the story behind the broccoli?

Phil - The story behind the broccoli. As I said previously we were trying to come up with alliteration with suburbs in the inner west, and some of the WSQC players that were helping us were adamant that we should have a food based. One of the names that stuck was the Burwood Broccolis. We knew we could come up with something better but it kept coming back in discussions and we couldn’t really just leave it out of the team. So now our team group chat is the Broccolis and every post we make we ensure that we use the hashtag Broccolis as just a bit of fun.

You can follow the Valkyries Quidditch Club on their facebook page and their instagram @valkyriesqc

Interview with Courtney Buckley: Head of the Gender Engagement Committee

In this interview, we talk to Courtney Buckley, previously of USYD Unspeakables and now of Valkyries Quidditch Club, who was recently appointed head of Quidditch Australia's new Gender Engagement and Initiatives Committee, as announced earlier last month. With many plans already in the works for 2019, we talk about what we can expect from the committee this year, and what she's most excited for.

Courtney chasing for the NSW Blue Tongues at State Shield last year | Photo: Taylor Angelo Quidditch Shots

What made you want to take part in the Gender Engagement Committee?

I was keen to join the committee as it provided the opportunity to work with a group of passionate and intelligent people and the ability to pursue more projects for the community.

What are the aims of the committee?

The aim of the QA's Gender Engagement Committee (QAGEC) is to primarily support female players and players with less confidence and sporting experience so they can recognise and be recognised for the value they bring to their team.

What can the community expect from the committee this year?

The committee has created an extensive list of initiatives for this year, with lots of opportunities for members of the community to get involved too.

There are 12 projects in total, including encouraging community discussion around gender, reviewing the MVP award system, and finding ways to showcase female talent. (A full list of projects will be released soon.)

Courtney filming at March NQL Preseason | Photo: Ajantha Abey Quidditch Photography

What project are you most excited to be working on as head of the committee? What are you most excited to see happen?

I'm most excited about creating material for the resource hub, with short video-based content that teaches skills, techniques, and strategies advantageous for small-bodied individuals, from how to hold the ball more easily, to how to overcome a seemingly daunting defence.

The biggest project in the works, however, is probably the development day and fem-powered fantasy tournament weekend, in which every state will host a day-long female-identifying development training event followed by an all-genders fantasy tournament on the second day, where the new skills and strategies can be put into practice in-game.

What advice would you give to any of the women joining the sport this year?

Get in there. If you want the ball, demand it. If you don't want the ball because it's confronting, even more reason to get that ball so you can challenge those fears. One of the best ways to learn is to be in the midst of the action, and the easiest way to do that is with a ball in your hands, your legs charging, and your voice calling out.

Courtney keeping for Valkyries Quidditch Club | Photo: Willem de Gouw Quidditch Photography

What's next on your agenda for the committee?

We're on the look out for more volunteers to help make these initiatives reality, especially in Victoria and Western Australia. If you're keen, if there's an initiative you're excited about, if you have an idea, if seeing others get better gives you warm and fuzzies, then let us know and we'll find a way that fits around other commitments you've got so you can be involved. Or if all you have time for is feedback then that is greatly welcome - we'd love to know what teams want to see from us and if what we're providing is helpful and ways to make it better.

Do you have any favourite female players from Australia or around the world? Inspirations?

Every one of them. Every female who takes initiative, who gets into the midst of the action, who challenges herself - they're the people who inspire me. It's seeing those players with such great potential develop themselves and their confidence that makes me incredibly excited to be part of this community and the upcoming projects.

If you would like to get involved with the gender engagement committee, please get in contact by emailing us at admin@quidditch.org.au.