This past weekend, the SFU Quidditch team travelled to Victoria to compete in the Quidditch Western Regional Championship. The team enjoyed a great tournament, finishing third despite nearly two thirds of the team being rookies, “which is nearly unheard of right now in Quidditch,” according to team captain Nathan Ross in an email interview.
The team finished third behind champions Edmonton Aurors and runner-ups Vancouver Stormcrows. SFU faced the UVIC Valkyries in the bronze medal match, and absolutely dominated the game.
In what has been a major transition year for the team, with 20 new faces joining the club, the coaching staff was very impressed by how quickly the team adapted to its surroundings at the tournament. The team learned quickly from their losses at the beginning of the tournament, and they played better as the tournament went on. In a perfect example of this, the team lost to Quidditch powerhouse UBC Thunderbirds at the beginning of the tournament, only to beat them when it really mattered later in the competition.
One of the team’s standout players was seeker Jake Burgi. According to Ross, Burgi made many clutch snitch catches that won SFU some important games, and really propelled them to their bronze-medal finish. Owen Goodman also enjoyed a fine tournament, wreaking havoc on the opponents’ defence while scoring goals at will. Kier Lindsay was crucial as a beater for the club, and she was a fantastic presence for SFU once he cracked the starting lineup. What’s most incredible about these performances, however, were that all three players are rookies, and they can only be expected to get better for SFU Quidditch as time goes on.
Veteran Christina Jaehrlich also had a great tournament, and she made her presence felt in every game she played. Her commitment to the team and work ethic made a big difference on the field, and this was a huge reason SFU did as well as it did with such a young team.
The strong rookie class will be important for the SFU Quidditch team in the future, as the team is preparing to lose some core players in the near future. Getting experience like this for the young players is huge as the team will rely on them for upcoming seasons.
If you are interested in joining SFU Quidditch, the team will be accepting new recruits next semester. Practices are on Monday and Friday nights, and are open to all players.
“We proved to ourselves that we can take a group and give them ~10 quidditch practices and turn them into medallists, and we just want to keep building the program here,” said Ross.
