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APRIL 28, 2012 • BOSTON, MAIQA Champions SeriesBY ETHAN STURMTEAMS CIRCLE UP BEFORE THE CLOSING CEREMONIES. (PHOTO: PAULINA PASCUAL)The Boston Cannons Major LeagueLacrosse team, Boston Universityand Emerson College collaboratedwith the IQA to bring us the first annualChampionship Series this past April.Ten teams—a combination of elite collegesquads and regional conglomerations of topplayers spanning the entire United States—descended on the city for a competitionthat was likely the broadest in geographicscope of any non-World Cup tournamentin the IQA’s history.After a long day of hotly contestedmatches, one of the host teams came awaywith the victory. Emerson College battereda fatigued Villanova squad 130-10, winningits second title in two weeks and itsfirst major championship in school history.Due in part to the late announcement ofthe event, teams struggled to put together aroster in time for the tournament. But despitethe problems, interested players stillfound ways to get in on the action. Thosefrom teams that couldn’t send whole squadscame together on regional “all-star” teams,with the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and eventhe West each forming one. The Universityof Vermont and Green Mountain Collegeformed one combined team, while Villanovatook on a few of Penn State’s players,including Team USA member MichaelParada, to fill out their side.The local teams didn’t suffer from thesame issues. Boston University submitteda full roster, while Emerson entered notonly its tournament team, but also a secondside, the Mattapan Muppets. Middleburyalso sent its own team for a rare appearanceat a non-World Cup intercollegiate event,but disappointed many when a last minuteannouncement revealed that their squadwould contain almost none of the playersthat had led them to five straight WorldCup titles.Perhaps the most impressive story wasMinnesota, who worked with All AboutGroup Travel to turn a hope of attendingthe Championship Series with a full squadinto a reality. The team was able to dip intoits funds to pay for most of the cost of attendance,therefore retaining team chemistry.Using only their own players provedinvaluable throughout the tournament.The competition was well run throughout,a testament to the organizational skillsof Emerson’s Allison Gillette, the ChampionshipSeries tournament director. Thefirst major move that helped efficiency wasthe implementation of tournament-widemeetings on Friday evening. These includeda referees meeting and test to help to getthem all on the same page, a snitches meeting,a captains meeting, and a general meeting.These helped to clear up many of theissues that typically plague a tournament inthe early stages. This was also a chance forteams to spend time with each other off thepitch and see old friends from across thecountry as well as meet new ones.The following morning, the teams madetheir way out of the city to the Brooklinearea for pool play action. Matches tookplace across three fields with each of the 10teams getting two games to attempt to earna high seed for the bracket portion of thetournament. The Mid-Atlantic Monstarsstarted things off by pulverizing Middleburyon their way to the No. 1 seed, butmany other games were much closer. Oneof the marquee games of the early roundswas a defensive battle between Minnesotaand Boston University, which the GoldenGophers pulled out on a snitch grab. Minnesotawas one of the most organizedteams defensively all weekend thanks to acombination of highly disciplined beatersand strong man-to-man chaser play, earningthe No. 2 seed for their efforts.One of the few hiccups of pool play wasthe set of snitch boundaries that gave thesnitches almost nowhere to hide. Some ofthe more resourceful snitches, includingConnor Loch and Jeffrey Brice, found a12 Quidditch Quarterly • Summer 2012
L: THE NE PRESENTS A SHRUBBERY (PHOTO: MICHAEL MASON). M: EMERSON VS. MONSTARS (PHOTO: PAULINA PASCUAL). R: THE WEST TRAVELED FARTHEST.courtyard they could use for a brief respite,but they were eventually kicked out of theirsolace. This, combined with a three minuteseeker floor, led to shorter games thanmany players and teams had hoped for, butalso made for a smoothly running schedule.With the pool play rounds in the booksand the bracket complete, the entire tournament—teams,officials, referees, equipmentand all—were transported by van to theHarvard Stadium Complex in Cambridge.Upon arrival, two fields were constructedon a turf field awaiting bracket play.The single-elimination rounds beganwith two play-in games for the four lowestseeded teams: Mattapan vs. Middleburyand the West vs. Vermont. The Muppetswere eager to have a chance to knock outthe game’s most storied school, but Middleburyput up a fight, sending the gameto overtime with a snitch grab and holdingoff the Muppets for five minutes to forcesudden-death double overtime. But in theend, Brandon Cardwell came away witha grab for Mattapan, sending them to thequarterfinals.Across the bracket, the West and Vermontwere locked in just as tight of a game.Eventually, a Vermont snitch grab gavethem a 90-70 victory, eliminating a teamfull of talented players who many thoughtwere hit harder by a lack of prior experienceplaying together than lack of skill.In the quarterfinals, the well-rested topseeds feasted on the play-in sides. TheMonstars eliminated Vermont 120-20,while Minnesota took down the Muppets160-20. Emerson struggled more againstthe Northeast (their team was called TheKnights Who Say NE, a play on the movieMonty Python and the Holy Grail), but wasable to pull away thanks to dominant beaterplay and an ability to find the cracks in theKnights’ defense. By driving at them on offense,goals from either David Fox, ChrisSeto, or Matt Lowe were the usual result.The Lions eventually pulled away, and wereout of snitch range by the time they madethe grab, winning 90-10.But the best game of the round by farwas the contest between Boston Universityand Villanova. The Wildcats were able tohold onto bludger control for most of thegame, which, combined with some formidabledefensive chasing, was able to shutdown the very strong Boston offensive attack.This allowed Villanova to keep thegame close and low-scoring throughoutuntil the snitch returned to the field andBilly Greco, another Team USA member,completed the 40-20 upset victory with asnitch catch.In the semifinals, Villanova looked toplay a similar style against Minnesota, ateam who was more than happy to play defensivelyitself. Each team managed to puta few points on the board, but the game remainedtight right through to the end. Thistime, it was Dan Takaki coming throughwith the crucial grab for Villanova, givingthem the 70-40 win and sending them tothe finals.Emerson’s semifinal against the Mid-Atlantic was just as intense. Using a similarstrategy that had served them well throughoutthe tournament, the Lions built up yetanother sizable lead. But against a talentedsquad that included Steve DiCarlo, USAteam member Jessica Klein, and USA reserveteam member Patrick Rardin, it wastougher for Emerson to pull away. Withthe score at 60-30, a controversial snitchgrab threatened to send the game to overtime.But the snitch was ruled down, andminutes later Emerson had extended thescore out of snitch range. An eventual grabsent them to the finals as 110-30 winners.After an intense tournament, the finalscould be seen as somewhat of a letdown,beginning with a snitch attempting to divethrough a hoop pregame and instead wreckingit completely. Villanova had a shortsquad, and the tournament had strainedit to the core. By the time the finals camearound, the team had just two female players.Minutes into the game, Zach D’Amico,another Team USA selectee, hit the groundhard on a tackle delivered by Max Blaushildand suffered concussion symptoms, unableto return to the game. Eventually, the gamejust became too much for the Wildcats, andthe Lions slowly pulled away, finally winningthe match and the tournament with ascore of 130-10.The day did not end with the final match,as the tournament’s award ceremony addedanother new tradition to the game withteam trinkets. Each squad in attendancebrought along something that representedthe quidditch community to them, thendrew another team at random to presenttheir gift to. The top prize in the drawingwas likely Middlebury’s broom, whichwas used in the first-ever game of mugglequidditch and ended up in the hands of theMid-Atlantic. Even the referees joined inon the action, presenting signed yellow andred cards to Gillette and Alex Benepe.From there, some players made theirway to the Boston Cannons lacrosse game,where they were given access to the onfieldVIP area, another chance for teams tointeract with each other off the pitch. Thenight concluded with a party at a local barfor those who could still stand by that timeof night.Overall, the Championship Series tournamentreceived positive feedback, and willlikely become a much-loved part of theIQA’s tournament canon in years to come.But the biggest question is whether Emersonwill be back to defend its title. nEthan Sturm is a junior at Tufts University, where he is studying biopsychology. He plays for Tufts and also captains the Toms River Hydras, his hometown’scommunity team. In the IQA, works in the Game Play Department. He also referees and founded the Massachusetts Quidditch Conference early this year.Quidditch Quarterly • Summer 2012 13
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Page 6 and 7: NORTHEASTMAY 26, 2012 • BRIARCLIF
Page 8 and 9: SOUTHPHOTO: ALI FISHMANABOVE: MARCH
Page 10: PHOTO: MATT HELLMAN1ST: UT2ND: A&M3
Page 17: SHOPIQA.COMWITH THIS SHIRT,THE ODDS
Page 20: SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL QUIDDITCH.BUY
Page 24 and 25: QUIDDITCH DOWN UNDERBY ERIC ANDRESQ
Page 26 and 27: BUILDINGCOMMUNITYIN FRANCEBY LUKE Z
Page 28 and 29: FLYING TO CHINABY KATIE STACKThis p
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Page 32 and 33: JE NE PARLE PASL’ANGLAIS, BUT YES
Page 35 and 36: THE CORE CONFLICT:WHIMSICALITYVS.CO
Page 37 and 38: matter how you were seeded for the
Page 39 and 40: “There’s one big problem with t
Page 41 and 42: Quidditch Quarterly • Summer 2012
Page 43 and 44: Who is he?PHOTO: JAKE HINESBut sinc
Page 46: LEFT: MISSY SPONAGLE (PHOTO: JERRY
Page 50 and 51: The QQ interview: QuiykBY ABBIE RIC
Page 52 and 53: PLAYERS’ CORNERGetting into the s
Page 54 and 55: Tackling safe tacklingBY ERIC ANDRE
Page 56 and 57: A SNITCH HOLDS A BLUDGER BEFORE BRO
Page 58 and 59: Like Connor, Gwen is excited about
Page 60: “It always seems impossible until

summer 2012

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