Hi everyone!

I'm the president of Quidditch Europe, home to over 20 European National Governing Bodies and 2000 players. We host two European championships every year (first and second division). Find more information about us on our website: www.quidditcheurope.org

Quidditch is the world's only mixed-gender, full-contact sport, and is played everywhere from Turkey to Canada to Uganda to Australia to Singapore. It is truly a worldwide sport, and is enjoyed by athletes of all ages and athletic backgrounds. 

Ask me anything!

Proof: https://tinyurl.com/w4qrfpt

Username here is Q/Europe

Comments: 128 • Responses: 52  • Date: 

InappropriateTA31 karma

How much do you regret not calling yourselves the Quidditch United Association of Federated Leagues, Europe (aka QUAFLE)?

qeurope22 karma

I hadn't thought about that before, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna lose many nights of sleep now, damn. That's genius.

arunv25 karma

Why do you use brooms? What value do they add?

I feel like the sport itself could be legit but the fact that you have to ride a broom around keeps me from taking it seriously.

qeurope33 karma

So, basically the broom, which is not a broom anymore but a PVC tube, is considered a handicap. We use it to make the game more difficult (and also more equal). For example, in basketball you can only run with the ball while dribbling, in football you can only use your feet.

In quidditch, we want to make it more difficult by having the 'broom'. It makes it harder for you to catch with two hands while running. So, to catch the ball, you have to stop running and catch it with two hands. It makes it more difficult.

matheny20147 karma

Can I add, that it also shows wether you are in the game (not beat) or if you are out ( beat by a bludger).

qeurope13 karma

Ah, yes, of course. When you are beat, you have to lift up your broom/pvc tube and go back to your hoops. It's a good indication! There's more reasons, but this is the one we like to use to explain why we are still sticking to using a 'broom/stick' to play.

Thanks!

CacheMeOutside4 karma

So basically OBJ would dominate in quidditch

qeurope2 karma

Maybe.

nikabrik04053 karma

My old middle school had their own quidditch team (it wasn't part of this specific organization i don't think) and the kids looked so ridiculous on the brooms they became subjects of relentless bullying. It may be fun, but at what cost?

qeurope8 karma

Do we have to stop doing things now because other people feel too insecure to leave others alone?

jawanda17 karma

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, but the absolutely stupid and nonsensical rules of quidditch (particularly the way points are scored) is one of the most glaringly annoying "plot holes" in the entire series to me. Why...I mean... Is your version of quidditch also decided (almost) 100% by who catches the snitch?

qeurope20 karma

Hi!

No, we don't play like that at all. We have our own set of rules that aren't coming close to the rules of the movies/books.

Our snitch is worth 30 points. Every goal is worth 10 points. The snitch comes on pitch after 17 minutes. This can cause interesting scenarios, for example with a score of 10-40. If the first team catches the snitch, we will have a score of 40-40 and that will make us go into overtime.

Our rules are as following:

First of all, there are chasers. Each team has 3 chasers who wear white headbands, and their job is to score points with the quaffle (you may know it better as a volleyball, albeit a slightly deflated one). Chasers put the quaffle through one of three hoops, from either side, winning the team 10 points with each goal. 

The other player that plays with the quaffle is the keeper. There is one keeper who wears a green headband. They have several jobs on the team. Their primary function is to stop the quaffle from going through the hoop, much like a keeper in football. However, keepers often take on an offensive role within the team as well, moving the ball up the pitch with chasers and either driving to the hoops or making a distribution pass. 

The team's two beaters play with bludgers (rubber dodgeballs) and wear black headbands. There are 3 bludgers on the pitch, meaning that there will always be one team in possession of 2 bludgers and the other team in possession of 1 bludger. Beaters throw the bludgers at anyone on pitch, and if the other player is hit they must dismount their broom, run back to their hoops, and tag back in, at which point then they can resume play. If somebody is holding a ball when they are hit by a bludger, they must drop it straight to the ground before returning to their hoops.

Finally, there is the seeker, who wears a yellow headband and is tasked with catching the snitch - the tennis ball inside a sock attached to the snitch runner, The snitch runner comes onto the field at 18 minutes of game time and can evade the seekers however they like; they often wrestle or grapple with the seekers. Catching the snitch is worth 30 points and ends the game.

If you are interested in more rules, you can find the rulebook here: http://iqasport.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IQA-Rulebook-2018-20.pdf

jawanda9 karma

Good, that sounds much more fun than Rowling's version (although flying brooms would be sweet)

qeurope2 karma

It's fun and very intense! People tend to underestimate the intensity of the game. However, it's a mix of handball, rugby and dodgeball. It's when people see their first tackle happen on pitch that they quickly change their mind about the sport, hahaha.

HPfreakforlife1 karma

So what does the seeker do for the first 18 minutes? Are they just a fourth chaser?

qeurope4 karma

Basically, a team can exist out of 21 players on their roster. However, the first 18 minutes only 6 players are on the field.

This is 3 chasers, 1 keeper and 2 beaters. Players on the field can sub out with other players in the subbox. The "seeker" can be any other position, but in the 17th minute - the snitch goes on pitch and the referees call for the seekers. Seekers from each team go to to where the officials table is and on the 18th minute, they are released.

So no, they are not a fourth chaser. That position is just not filled for the first 18 minutes. There is not one specific seeker, it just depends on who takes that position. They can also sub out.

Masked_Death1 karma

Damn, this sounds pretty cool. I had no idea quidditch was made into a real sport.

qeurope1 karma

You should definitely check it out!

LordBlacKhiin8 karma

Which do you think is the major difficulty about organizing a sport without official recognition (yet) as such?

qeurope7 karma

Definitely the funding. The sport itself has grown quickly over the past few years, but tournaments for example are paid for by players still. It's not like we haven't gotten any media coverage, for example. Last EQC D1 was in Belgium and we had enormous media coverage and people knew about it, but we still struggled to find any kind of funding for the event.

We're starting to reach a point where we are going to need some kind of funding or sponsoring to keep on growing, but that requires some other steps beforehand and those steps are not something I can control, sadly.

CONFIRMED_IT7 karma

What are your thoughts on Quidditch Uganda still not having received their money?

qeurope6 karma

To be honest, I joined quidditch after all of this happened. I honestly don't have an opinion on it because it feels wrong making an opinion on something I don't know the full story about.

But what I can say is that I think IQA has been making a lot of efforts to become a better and more transparent organization and I have full faith in what they are doing right now.

LordBlacKhiin6 karma

Who are your favorite players in each position of the game?

qeurope13 karma

Me, personally? That's a very hard question because I don't know every player in Europe. But I'll always be available for a shout-out to King Louis, who is good at every position in the game.

FireflaresAndOrchids7 karma

I the 2018 world cup final, when king Louis knocked a quaffle out of the air with his bludger it was my favourite quidditch moment ever XD

qeurope4 karma

Hahaha! Another fabulous moment is Tim from Belgium catching the bludger with his knees! :)

FireflaresAndOrchids2 karma

I remember that! The commentator was like "Excuuuuuuse me?!" 😅

qeurope2 karma

Hahaha, exactly! I think it blew a lot of people their mind.

ecoeurvisse5 karma

When you were still new to the sport, do you remember a tipping point that made you want to stay?

qeurope8 karma

Ah, yes. I wrote my thesis about quidditch, so I wasn't actually joining the sport as a player, I however stayed to implement the changes I had suggested in my thesis. However, I was following Ghent Gargoyles to European Quidditch Cup in Bamberg and even though I wasn't a player or anything, they invited me to the group photo! :)

From that moment, the community started to pick up on my marketing skills and I guess I never left after that. I like organising and this gives me a great window to such things.

Skuldur14 karma

What convinced you to try quidditch and why did you keep playing? As opposed to playing more traditional sports such as football or basketball?

qeurope2 karma

I answered this just below too, but I wrote my thesis on quidditch. I wanted to write about something that was still geeky but would be interesting to write a thesis on. Afterwards, I just stayed because of the community and the opportunity to grow in marketing and event management.

Also: tackles. Tackles are great.

ecoeurvisse3 karma

In a memewar involving norwegian teams, The Art of Beating, Quidbitch Memes, and The Only Boundary, who do you think would win?

qeurope2 karma

You're forgetting a contestant! Quidditch Memes Esp. Otherwise, I think The Only Boundary.

ecoeurvisse2 karma

So do I! I'll go look into Quidditch Memes ESP :)

qeurope2 karma

Spanish memes though, so it might be a little difficult!

qeurope2 karma

Have to be honest that I've never seen Norwegian memes though. So perhaps I'm a little biased.

ac--353 karma

Is there anything you are doing within Quidditch Europe as an organization to try to close the gap between your national teams the US and Australian national teams (or in general the overall average level of play across all teams compared to the ones in those countries) and if so how do you feel it is going?

qeurope3 karma

Interesting question. I hadn't thought about this, no. I think it could be an interesting to do, actually. Since the start of this year, we have been mostly focussed on getting EQC back on track.

However, it's something we could consider looking into! Thanks!

Connor1492 karma

So most sports separate Male and female sport leagues for a plethora of reasons. How do you, and/or players deal with this? Watching some of the tackles in quidditch, it involves a lot of physical contact, heck I think I saw some suplexing in there. Wouldnt a female seeker have advantages against, for example a guy who feels uneasy about grabbing a girl that way? Also what about intentional groping with the game being used as an excuse, has something like this ever come up?

On a different note, how often do guys brooms catch on something and just straight smash them in the groin. This would be my biggest concern if I was running around with a stick between my legs

qeurope1 karma

I have received your question and I will reply to it later today because this requires a longer reply.

But about the broom: not at all, haha. Maybe I've heard about it once or twice? But not that many.

bryman222 karma

Are you an advocate from changing from one arm tackling to two arm tackling? Played in MLQ and found it was a big difference. Is there a general though in Europe about one arm vs two arm?

qeurope1 karma

Is it bad to say that I have no opinion? I need to read more about that to make one, to be perfectly honest. I'll come back to you.

Espresso45452 karma

What is the most memorable match that has taken place?

qeurope1 karma

Definitely the one Belgium against France at World Cup in Firenze. I was there as Team Manager for Belgium and it was my first ever "big tournament". That was amazing to watch for me because I could feel the importance of those two games.

abbynicolee2 karma

Hi! I play quidditch too... what’s your house and position?? I’m trying to see if there’s a correlation. I’m a ravenclaw (with a minor in slytherin) and a beater.

qeurope1 karma

I'm a keeper and a chaser, but I don't really know that much about Harry Potter.

Haliax122 karma

Do you hold tournaments? If so , do ppl dress up as characters or just plain clothes?

qeurope8 karma

Yes, we (Quidditch Europe) hold two tournaments every year. There is European Quidditch Cup Division One, and Division Two.

The IQA (International Quidditch Association) holds tournaments too, but the ones of relevance in Europe are World Cup and European Games. They switch every year. Last World Cup there were 29 countries present.

People don't dress up as characters, no. Every team has their own jerseys and branding such as in football or any other sport. You can find an example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po71feb9iUM

h2g2_researcher2 karma

How do I find my nearest club and start playing?

qeurope6 karma

That depends on where you are located. Member NGBs are located on our website: http://quidditcheurope.org - You can easily reach out to them and ask for the available clubs. :)

Cheers!

reigningarrow2 karma

Which kit is your favourite?

qeurope3 karma

Oh, damn. That's difficult.

I really like ours (Qwaffles) but that would be a biased answer. I would also say the Spanish national team jersey but that would also be biased.. hmm.

I really like Hinkypunks Bologna their new jerseys. I think that will be my favourite outside my biased ones, hahaha.

qeurope2 karma

What's your favourite, u/reigningarrow?

reigningarrow3 karma

l really like last year's Megalodons kit, or the Olympians kit. The team France kit is also very good,

qeurope3 karma

A definite agree on the team France kit. It's really gorgeous.

tpffiske2 karma

Why did you join Quidditch Europe?

qeurope3 karma

Because it gives me a great opportunity to gain experience on many fields!

DocBlondi2 karma

Hi!
What are your plans for the future of EQF?

qeurope2 karma

In what way do you mean?

In general, we are working on how to develop things more. Mostly, have been thinking and discussing ways how we can play a bigger role as the European federation. Think about regulating international transfers, having more information about the NGBs, etc. However none of these are concrete yet!

Lastly, the plan is to incorporate as a non-profit so we do more on a supportive field.

mikkemack2 karma

Who is your favourite for EQC1 this year? And who do you think is an underrated team which might surprise some people?

qeurope2 karma

Actually, my own club is participating in D1 (Qwaffles) and imho we are a very underrated team! I think we can surprise a lot of people. Also, Danube Direwolves is a team that I think will surprise a lot of people at D1 this year.

Otherwise, I'm very excited to see Unicorns, Antwerp and Titans take it on against each other again. I don't specifically have a favorite but I'm very excited to see what the ranking will look like for these three!

play_quidditch2 karma

I'm sure Europe would love to have World Cup return for 2022 (meanwhile Asian/Australian countries might also want a go at a bid)!
It's far enough away, but any rumors on potential hosts (even countries) for WC 2022 or closer yet, Euro Games 2021?

qeurope2 karma

Hmm, World Cup and Euro Games are hosted by the IQA, so about that, no idea.

On a personal level, I've been looking at some potential locations to submit a bid for EG 21. However, that doesn't mean it's tied to any place in particular (I'm everywhere). ;)

Potential hosts tend to stay quiet until they are in the final rounds.

Norgeroff2 karma

What color is your toothbrush?

qeurope2 karma

Why is this giving me performance anxiety? It's purple!

Norgeroff2 karma

No need, I live the color purple, it's my favorite.

I know that this question for some reason do make people get performance anxiety. It's nothing bad tho lol

qeurope3 karma

Hahahaha! Purple is a great color.

Thanks for your question though! I hope you have a wonderful day!

lespaulstrat22 karma

Question: Why do I get a Firefox security message if I try to access your link?

[deleted]1 karma

[removed]

qeurope2 karma

If not, I'm assuming it's because of the redirect settings. Otherwise.. no clue. It's the first I hear about it! But I will look into it for sure, thanks!

NazingerZ2 karma

What is the biggest misconception about quidditch?

qeurope8 karma

Definitely that we are all very big Harry Potter fans. Me personally, I'm not a fan of Harry Potter. I've seen the movies, but I can't remember.

A big portion of our players are people who used to play other sports but came to play quidditch because it's something new. Also, playing quidditch it's very easy to get international, high-level and high intensity play because it's not as heavily populated as other sports.

Whilst some of our players are Harry Potter fans, most of them aren't. We are actively trying to get rid of the connection to Harry Potter, although of course it's not the easiest. On the one hand, using the connection to HP is a very good way to get us media coverage, but on the other hand it's not good for the image we're trying to portray.

Another misconception is that the sport is easy. A lot of times people think that because of the link with HP, but it's really not that easy at all. However, the sport is open to anyone and allows everyone to find their own place at their own rate. This means that even if you haven't played a lot of sports before, you can still play a very important role in the game.

Just in case anyone is interested, here is a video of tackles in quidditch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yo8e0-TqOU

pumodi2 karma

pumodi49m
Hi! I used to play for New York University up until 2012 and I worked as Snitch Director for the IQA up until 2014ish.

I don't know when you started playing but I was curious what you think about the current state of snitches in the sport? I came from the time of off pitch seeking and immediate seeker release

qeurope1 karma

Hi! I joined exactly two years ago, so already with Snitch always on Pitch, haha. I like the way it works right now, tbf. I haven't actually given it much thought if it should be any different.

Do you think it should be different? Do you like it in this way?

Kaskagues2 karma

What do these tournaments look like? How are they organised?

qeurope5 karma

I'm glad you asked!

So, we have two tournaments. We have European Quidditch Cup Division One and European Quidditch Cup Division Two.

Both divisions have their own spot distribution algorithm, based on the theme and purpose of the two divisions. This way of deciding which NGBs get to send how many teams to the event allows us to focus on both the highest levels of competitiveness for the most competitive teams and NGBs, and the importance of inclusivity and fostering of growth for the smaller and newer NGBs.

EQC Division One focuses on the highest levels of gameplay. EQC Division Two focuses on inclusivity and giving each NGB a fair share of international tournament exposure.

These tournaments have teams from over 13 different countries playing in a weekend. The location of the tournament is decided by a thorough selections process.

People/NGBs/Cities can submit their bid. Afterwards, Quidditch Europe and the European Committee (a committee made up by representatives of NGBs) go through the bids and select the best one. Afterwards, we select an organising committee that will take care of the tournament.

This means we are really focused on getting volunteers involved. We are a non-profit and mostly aren't paid (sometimes volunteers get paid, referees are also paid). People who help organize, are people who are really passionate.

Both EQC D1 and D2 have their own gameplay. This year EQC D1 has 32 teams and D2 has 24 teams. In one weekend, we go through many many games, back-to back from 8 am to 7 pm.

If you have more questions concerning gameplay and such, I can go deeper into the matter.

Cheers!

Kaskagues1 karma

That is huge! More than gameplay I wonder how you manage to get every team in the same weekend in the same place (sleeping, playing ...). How many people do those tournaments bring? I mean players, referees and all that you mentioned.

qeurope2 karma

We try to announce the location asap. If a team cannot come to the event, it's really sad, but we cannot take everyone's availability into account. However, we have some indicated weekends (a time period) in where these tournaments are supposed to fall, so people can already keep those weekends free (It's a period of 5 weeks, I think).

D1 usually brings around 800 players but in total we have about 2000 people in total passing by on the event. For D1, this is those same numbers divided by two.

TalibanMaster1 karma

Will there be another Harry Potter movie?

qeurope2 karma

No idea.

USB-Compatable1 karma

Are there already plans for eqc 2021?

qeurope3 karma

In what sense? Bid packages have been released, so that's as far as we can go. However, as far as plans go: we would be really excited to host both D1 and D2 at the same location at the same date, but I guess that might be only a dream for a few more years!

USB-Compatable3 karma

I was mostly curious what the next steps in development would be. But joining D1 and D2 together as one large tournament sounds really cool!

qeurope3 karma

Definitely something we have been thinking about, what we can do to keep on developing. We actually had some conversations about it yesterday. The second division is supposed to become a 32 team tournament too next year, but right now nothing is set in stone yet!

MisterBigweld1 karma

Ever had a bludger in yer face?

qeurope2 karma

Yeah, as an assistant referee in Spain! lol!

msselima1 karma

How do you feel about us Russians?

qeurope2 karma

Good morning! No specific feelings, to be fair. It would be really cool to have you join us on the international scene!

Robertdigitalorgasm1 karma

Why not just play a little soccer?

qeurope1 karma

By that reasoning, there should be no other sports than soccer?

[deleted]0 karma

[removed]

Buskor0 karma

It’s legit, check out the Quidditch Europe Facebook group for proof:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/quidditch.europe/?ref=share

qeurope2 karma

Thanks! The problem is that I seem to be getting no reply at all even though I've submitted my proof through various channels :(

SmokeyAndTheBlunt0 karma

Excuse me, what?

qeurope2 karma

Yes?

[deleted]0 karma

[deleted]

qeurope0 karma

Interesting question. On what are you basing this?

Gunch_Bandit-1 karma

How does it feel to participate in a "sport" that most people would not be caught dead doing?

qeurope1 karma

I think that's a little bit overestimating to be fair. Most people are usually surprised to hear it, but really interested. I don't know about "not be caught dead doing", honestly.

Once they see how it actually works and what to do - and that there are no Harry Potter elements involved, people usually start coming around.

But otherwise: pretty cool. The European community is pretty tight because of it. We travel a lot. For example last september I was in Spain for 5 days, one day home, then to Italy and after that I went to France and just a week later I was in Austria, all to play tournaments. It's really fun.

foxguy1998-2 karma

How will you prepare for the virus?

And will you put your country on lockdown if it has the virus?

qeurope1 karma

Interesting question. We actually postponed our second division tournament because it took place in Italy this March. We postponed it to September because of the problems the virus were giving us.