IQA Board Members Farewell
Recently the IQA announced the addition of three new board members: Katie Stack, Dan Hanson, and Jacob Adlis, which closely followed on the heels of the addition of the new junior board member, Zach D'Amico.
However, one piece of news the IQA has been remiss in presenting recently and over the years is the departure of former board members, for no particular reason other than a full plate of other matters of business. I would like to take this time to publicly announce the departure of some of the IQA's founding board members, recently and in years past.
Peter Chen
Peter stepped down from the board last summer and has moved to an advisory role. While he always enjoyed quidditch, he joined the board primarily from an interest in helping to guide the business and financial side of the IQA, and felt that he could do so better from a more removed vantage point that was less embroiled in the matters of running and operating the league.
Peter was a co-founder of Purdue Quidditch, one of the first organized IQA teams in the Midwest, and helped spearhead the organization of tournaments in the area, as well as serving as the IQA's first Midwest regional director. He also pushed the IQA to join the Pepsi Refresh contest in the summer of 2011, which the league was doing quite well in (held a steady 4th place in the national vote for $25,000) until a licensing issue forced the IQA to withdraw before the contest was over.
For his next steps, Peter is focusing on graduating Purdue University this spring with a 4.0 GPA. He has recently made another big decision to switch from the pre-med track to business, and is currently an analyst for the Emerging Innovations Fund, a venture fund sponsored by Purdue that funds new companies with up to $250,000.
Max Kaplan
Max resigned from the IQA board this winter, shortly after taking on a major job as Social Media Manager for Adworthy Inc. in New York City. The job was a natural extension of the work he did at the IQA beyond his board capacities – Max was also the social media director here, until he handed off the position to the IQA's current social media manager, Meaghan Prenda. For at least two years the fans and followers of the IQA's Facebook page and @MuggleQuidditch Twitter account enjoyed Max's well-crafted quidditch snippets.
Max was the founder of Chestnut Hill College Quidditch, one of the first and only teams in the league to enjoy school-wide support, no doubt helped by Max's personable character. At the second World Cup, the Chestnut Hill team traveled to Vermont in an official school bus, along with another fan bus in tow, the school's official mascot, and several major administrators. He also started the Brotherly Love Cup, which has become a major event, not just on campus, but within the larger Chestnut Hill community. Max excelled as a board member thanks to his social media activities: by engaging directly with players and fans from all over the world, he brought a very informed perspective to the table at every meeting.
Jared Kowalczyk
Viewers of the “Brooms Up!” documentary may remember Jared, in vest and bow-tie, with a walkie mic in his ear, explaining on camera how the bracket was playing out during the 2010 World Cup, where he was the gameplay director. Jared went on to become the IQA's gameplay director for a period, and he also directed the film coverage of all of the games at the 2011 World Cup; you can see his work if you check out the World Cup V finals on the IQA Youtube channel, iqaquidditch.
Jared was the founder of the Emerson College quidditch team, a team that has not only endured fantastically but continues to excel competitively. The club boasts over half-a-dozen intramural teams as well as a World Cup team that trains separately year-round on the Boston Common. Emerson first made waves in the IQA community when they showed up at the third World Cup with every player sporting mohawks, capes attached by buckles to leather harnesses worn under their jerseys, and a coach wearing a full suit (not to mention a fan bus).
Kate Olen
Kate started playing quidditch in the intramural tournament at the first World Cup in 2007 as part of a team called BAMF (Bad-Ass Muggle Flyers), and didn't recover from the bite of the quidditch bug until four years later, when she resigned in the spring of 2011. During that time, Kate was mostly focused on the player perspective of quidditch, and was in good company with Jared Kowalczyk, as the two often agreed on most points in board meetings.
Kate was one of the three chief organizers of the 2009 World Cup, and took over as captain of the Middlebury team in 2010, leading the team to its fourth victory there. While she was a fierce player, perhaps her best skill on the team was recruitment – Kate was a social butterfly on Middlebury's campus and was able to draw friends from all backgrounds to the team, including several varsity athletes from NCAA teams.
Kate has taken perhaps one of the most unique tracks of any of the IQA board members – she now lives back on her native West Coast, working at the St. Helena Montessori School, where she runs the school's adolescent program in the organic garden, and is enjoying it very much.
My top hat is off to these four – they were all key figures in getting quidditch established and organized and put in countless hours to make it what it is today. We all wish them the best in their future endeavors, and hope to see them back at any of the many World Cups to come.
