As most of Australia has gradually been able to come out of lockdown and resume sport, Western Australia has been first to be able to resume full games and tournaments. To celebrate returning to quidditch, the Western Australia Quidditch Association (WAQA) ran WAQA (We Aren’t Quarantined Anymore) Fantasy at the end of June. They recount what went down below.

The Lead Up:

Ever since the 'rona hit we had to postpone quidditch for a while, straight after our first quidditch matches for 2020 way back in February.

We had originally planned to go ahead for a March game day, but ultimately decided to cancel closer to the date to err on the side of caution. It was an unfortunate day for WA quidditch, but through our constant banter we kept awaiting the day we could play again.

AJ produced a Resumption of Play action plan, and along with updates from Mark McGowan (WA's Premier) we knew there would be hope again.

Enter the Fantasy tournament.

We wanted to continue quidditch, but knew returning from hiatus that many teams would likely struggle with a return.

After tossing up our options, the committee agreed on the tournament going ahead, and started the hype. The tournament would be free, and would be a fun way of encouraging players to return to our beloved sport.

Originally titled as "Welcome Back Fantasy" as its template name, it was renamed the It's About Time Fantasy Tournament on the sign up form.

The WA quidditch chat was lit. Henry kept asking us led a revolution to "change the name" of the Fantasy tournament.

And hence, the WAQA (We Aren't Quarantined Anymore) Fantasy Tournament was born.

The Teams

The tournament organiser, Josh Simmons, selected our three captains: Luke, Jordy, and Trenaman. And we stuck with three of our most traditional colours: blue, white and red.

Here’s what the teams looked like:

White Team! Josh's Favourites

Captain: Luke
Most looking forward to: ACTUALLY PLAYING
Why I'm the best Captain: Because I'm the tallest there is

Blue Team! FaceBeat (like Facebook but with bludgers)

Captain: Jordy
Most looking forward to: Excited to WIN
Why I'm the best Captain: I'm a female chaser so I'm invisible and can focus on captaining

Red Team! The Fire Nation

Captain: Trenaman
Most looking forward to: FANTASY
Why I'm the best Captain: Because I am the Firelord

After our engagement with the event, our numbers kept climbing. We reached 47 sign ups (one of these being the photographer, and one being the organiser). Perspective: an extremely high turn out for WA quidditch is 50 players.

The rain downpoured. Our marquees were set up.

But all in all players remained excited, albeit angry that the rain be so wild. Seriously, top complaint in our feedback form.

After sign ins, last minute shirt designing, and team warm ups we were ready to begin!

The rain still wasn't letting up, but we refused to let it deter us!

Game 1: White vs Blue

It was a very wet, slippery game made nonetheless more difficult by players who had not played matches in a long, long while.

And a few players met the ground with their face (although they were mostly okay).

(This is why you wear cleats)

Brooms Up on the first quidditch game in months | Photo: Mel Edmeades

Sam Addison (white) and Jason Gonsalves (blue) were players to watch this match. When they had the ball it very quickly went from their end to the opposition's, in a fantastic display of a drive. However, all was not sunshine and rainbows for the blue captain as a yellow card was given to blue team for breaking gender.

Resuming the game, Jordan (blue) managed to score a goal just before Luke (white) caught the snitch.

The game went into overtime.

Syafiq (white), making their debut, managed to contend on the field to score a goal. And the snitch was caught 1 minute 18 seconds in by Jason (blue).

White 60*° - 70°* Blue (Game length 20 min 5 sec)

Shane (blue beater) lines up Sam (white keeper) | Photo: Mel Edmeades

Game 2: Red vs White

Once the Fire Nation and Josh's Favourites went head to head, red tried to dominate but couldn't keep up - their defence was their downfall.

Each team had three different scorers. On red it was Ben (Mako), Hyder (Uncle Iroh) and Dylan (Zuko). White had Luke, Sam and Mikey.

Whilst red team struggled to find their feet, white clearly dominated here.

The game ended with Luke (white) catching the snitch for the second time that day.

Red 40 - 90* White (18 min 26 sec)

Rebecca Goodsell playing for the Fire Nation | Photo: Mel Edmeades

Game 3: Red vs Blue

This game was quite close. Each team had multiple players scoring and it was exciting to watch both teams in stride.

Red goal scorers: Hyder (Uncle Iroh), Ben (Mako), Raihan (Kuzon), Dylan (Zuko)

Blue goal scorers: Alex, Jason, Sandy

Unfortunately, poor old Iroh was injured and had to leave, although this was the main injury for the day. We hope to see him again soon when he is recovered.

As the match went on, it looked like either team could take this game for the win. That's when Mark (blue) swooped in and caught the snitch, ending the game and any chance of red team's success.

Red 70 - 100* Blue (19 min 43 sec)

Game 4: State Match

Since this was a return to quidditch day, and we had a clear winner, we decided to scrap the finals matches.

For the fun state match, players were divided by age. Players below 23 continued to wear their coloured shirts, whilst players over 23 wore a black shirt.

It was quite a competitive match, and the oldies ended up winning and catching the snitch.

Awards:

Winning Team: Facebeat (Blue Team)

MVP: Dylan Turner

Best Rookie: Sam Addison

Viktor Krum Award: James Hyder

Best Captain: Tom Trenaman (Red Team)

Captain’s Medals:
Red: Baptiste Riches
White: Dan Di Crescenzo
Blue: Alex Allcock

What Comes Next?

After an extremely successful fantasy tournament, and return to quidditch, WA looks to keep going strong and continue with the Perth Quidditch League.

The WAQA committee will be looking into retention, safety/insurance, and organising further matches.

If you have any feedback please feel free to let us know!

A massive thank you to Josh Simmons for organising the Fantasy tournament and Melissa Edmeades for her outstanding work with the photos! You can find the full album here.

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WAQA's WAQA (We Aren't Quarantined Anymore) Fantasy - A Recap