World Cup Diary: Clare Hutchinson
Editor's Note: The IQA is pleased to publish another World Cup diary, where players from around the world tell us their story. If you want to share your tale, send it to editorial@internationalquidditch.org and you could see it in this space.
“So that's it, then?” a voice crackled over Skype. “We're not going.” In July 2012, a week after QuidCon, when the dates and location of the sixth annual Quidditch World Cup were confirmed, the exec of uOttawa Quidditch decided it was most likely out of the question for uOttawa to participate. My heart sank during that meeting, but I knew it was the logical call to make. World Cup VI fell on April 13-14 during the examination period of most Canadian universities, including the University of Ottawa. A university where exams were deferred or moved only in the case of personal sickness or family death would never, we knew, allow a huge group of students to move or change their exams in order to play quidditch. Even if by some lucky strike a group of 9 or 12 students did not have exams the weekend of World Cup, to perform at anything less than our best would not be worth the financial and academic sacrifices we would have to make.
Nevertheless, we were determined to have a successful season. The summer had brought the departure of several players integral to uOttawa's inaugural year, including original keeper Colin Ellis, seeker Francois Cuningham, and beater captain Cynthia Loutfi. We made recruitment plans (we wanted basketball and water polo players; we wanted team diversity; we wanted new blood) and budgets and scouted possible tournaments.
Then, tragedy struck. I received a phone call in August from former uOttawa player Benjamin Baron informing me that Maggie White-Harder, one of our chasers at World Cup V, had died of an epileptic seizure. Maggie was well-known and well-liked: the previous year, she had hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for those quidditch players unable to go home for the weekend, and although she did not originally make the competitive team, she was ever-present at practice working hard and contributing to drills to earn her spot. The team felt immense sadness and anger at the news. We were sad and angry to lose Maggie's kind and generous soul; we were sad and angry not to have had more time with her; and we were sad and angry in the naked and vulnerable realization that any of us, in all our youth and health and positions of karmic goodness, can be taken away at a moment's unfair notice. A bad car crash of uOttawa and Carleton players returning from the Zombie Race later that month further shook and bound our fierce little tribe. That summer scared us; it scared me, all my protective fury rendered helpless.
Maggie at the first Canadian Cup. Photo by: Tegan Bridge
Fall came and chilled the hurt, bringing with it scores of first years and new people eager to try their hands at quidditch and join our now-stronger tribe. Standing on the burm in Strathcona Park looking over the 100 people who attended our first practice circling through drills was, while also akin to a scene from an as-yet-unmade computer game “Quidditch Team Tycoon,” intensely gratifying and exciting for the possibilities it held.
One of the first practices of 2012 on Tabaret Lawn. Photo by: Tegan Bridge
We gave the new recruits their trial by fire in Montreal against McGill. Upon seeing McGill warming up, new keeper Alex Goudreault piped up “They look like a real sports team!” After our rousing defeat to McGill's more experienced and supremely talented squad, the following day's rainy practice full of frustration and determination was (and still is) the best practice I have attended to date.
uOttawa (and McGill) in Montreal in autumn 2012. Photo by: Brian Wong
McGill's talent and experience saw them out on much-deserved top in the finals at Canadian Cup, but we had done it: with our second-place finish in the new regional qualification system, we had earned a bid for World Cup VI. Despite our summertime decision, hope sprung again that we might somehow be able to attend, and in January, we decided to at least try. We drafted emails to deans and solicited letters from the IQA and WCOT for our school explaining the opportunity before us to represent Canada on the world stage. Exam schedules came out in February, and we met with professors and TAs, wrote letters, and went to office hours; with the help of generous support from the School Spirit Council, the Office of the President, and the SFUO at uOttawa, we had not only a shot at attending, but a team to bring with us.
uOttawa's beaters huddle up before the finals at Canadian Cup, the Canadian Regional Championships. Photo by: Erin Novodvorsky
Unfortunately neither of the other qualifying teams shared in our fate, and thus it fell to uOttawa to bear the awkward mantle of representing the talent of Canadian quidditch at World Cup VI alongside Fleming College and the University of Toronto, who would also be attending.
Practice took on a new level of intensity, with 4-6 practices per week in addition to gym sessions, group runs, and intramural dodgeball. Our challenge lay not only in having faced a dearth of truly international competition, but in climate: right up until the World Cup we were playing on ice and in deep snow. “Resistance quidditch,” however, provided us with strength, cardio, and the kind of icy resolve that comes from cold fingers shaking with pain gripping a bludger in -25 degree weather on the dark of Tabaret Lawn.
Five members of uOttawa Quidditch arrived in Orlando on April 10th – walking without jackets, scarves, boots, or our phones in the warm and fragrant Florida night felt almost indecently delicious. We attended a media session with the Silicon Valley Skrewts at the pitch on April 12th both to put on a show for the various reporters gathered and to test the effects of Florida's heat and humidity on our northern bodies. We worried that a mid-April ice storm might keep most of our team (who had stayed to write an organic chemistry exam on Friday morning) grounded, but they arrived safely in the affectionately-dubbed House of Strays (uOttawa in addition to players for UofT, snitches from the Utah Crimson Fliers, photographers, and the IQA's international director) in the wee hours of April 13th – World Cup day.
O Canada: the successful exam-writers at Ottawa International Airport on Friday. Photo by: Erin McCrady
The Canadian teams set up their tents together in the Athletes' Village (“It looks like our tent puked,” we joked of the detritus of oranges and sunscreen bottles spewed out in front of the tent) and marched to the opening ceremonies, where we had been asked to perform the Canadian national anthem. We smiled proudly at uOttawa Quidditch president and IQA Canadian Director Tegan Bridge waving our regional flag from the middle of the Championship Pitch.
Karen Kumaki, International Director, and Tegan Bridge, Canadian Director. Photo by: Kevin Freeman
Our first game of the day was against the NAU Narwhals. As a team who thrives off of momentum, uOttawa suffers from a pronounced first-game curse, and we struggled to regain bludger control against NAU. Slowly, our quaffle game recovered and we gained on NAU, but when the incredibly talented NAU seeker Porter Marsh returned to the pitch and the third bludger was nowhere to be seen, the game was quickly over, 70*-50. Despite our loss and frustration at having taken too long to spring back from our early unsettlement, the game was fun and we were full of respect for NAU's squad and their evident skill. Our second game was against Boston Riot, and although we were nervous that our early loss would hamper our momentum, the game went well.
Adam Robillard's snitch snatch against Boston Riot. Photo by: Emily Oliver
Our next game, however, was the worrisome one. Throughout the leadup to World Cup, various outlets had not predicted much success for uOttawa in our pool, particularly against Midwestern champions Marquette. Analysts admitted they were unsure of our roster and speculated whether our exams would allow us to bring a full roster or our main talent, and Marquette were, with good reason, the favoured winners. However, their defeat earlier in the day to poolmates FSU brought us hope, and with advice gleaned from teams who were familiar with Marquette's strategy, we put together our own. Never ones to shy away from embracing stereotypes, we passed around a flask of Canadian maple syrup before the game to whet the tips of our tongues with a taste of the homeland. Maple fortification in place, we began.
The Marquette game was fast: uOttawa's strength lies in our speed, and Marquette matched us. However, with an employment of a more physical beater strategy, we were able to best their offense. A few clutch goals (including a half-pitch beauty by chaser Matthew “Bunny” Bunn) put us in the lead, and beater Mathew McVeigh's tenacious seeker-beating allowed our seekers time to themselves with the snitch. We finished the game victorious at 110*-50 in a game most (ourselves included, to be honest) had expected to be lopsided in the other direction. We were officially in the race.
Our game against FSU Saturday evening was even tougher, and quickly turned scrappy, with cards on both sides and a near-collision with a golf cart behind one of the hoops. In the dark Florida air, we found renewed strength in our speed and ultimately won the game and advanced to bracket play, leading coach Chris Radojewski and experienced chaser Steven Kimball (two of our team's original players) to choke back tears.
Post-FSU game in Florida. Manly tears not pictured. Photo by: Mary Warner
However, our early loss to NAU would pit us against a higher seed in bracket play than we would have preferred. As our players fell into their beds on Saturday night clutching aloe, I refreshed my inbox in the dark to see that we would face another regional champion – Baylor, the kings and queens of the Southwest – first thing in the morning.Gulp.
Despite some late-night research on Baylor and speaking to a few people familiar with their style, the following morning saw us unable to crack Baylor's unique defense. We were down 80-0 when the snitch arrived back on the pitch, and despite several scrums near the net, no closer to scoring a goal. Baylor had played an excellent game, so seeker/Chaser Captain Adam Robillard ended the game with a snitch snatch. Despite our disappointment at not making it further in bracket play and thus ending not only our World Cup dreams but World Cup VI's international and Canadian representation (a yoke we bore with both pride and discomfort throughout the weekend), we felt no shame. Baylor was a great team who played a wonderful game, and we hugged them off into the Sweet Sixteen.
Instead of scattering ourselves off immediately to our various duties and cheering squads, we gathered to the side of the pitch in a circle to allow the coaches to give some last notes and for everyone on the team to share their favourite moments and call each other out on excellent plays. Although most of the uOttawa team is in their first year of university or their first year of playing quidditch, World Cup was the last tournament where myself and coach Chris Radojewski would represent uOttawa. Our sweaty-socked toes curling into the grass, we all shared memories and giggled and yelped at each other (“Remember when Marc, like, TOOK ERIN OUT at the first practice?” “Yes! OMG, and we told him he HAD to come out to tryouts.” “Why do all our first memories of each other involve violence?!” “Somebody give Marisa a hug, I think we broke her!”) for a last half-hour as teammates.
We distributed gifts of Canadian maple syrup to Baylor and our poolmates (except Marquette, who we couldn't find. Marquette! We have maple syrup for you! Call me!) and spent the rest of our Sunday hydrating, swapping trading cards, and watching our friends and competitors play excellent games of quidditch.
The true north strong and free! uOttawa singing “O Canada” at the opening ceremonies. Photo by: Kat Ignatova/IQA Photo Editor
I wound my way back to the Athletes' Village after our final game, thinking back to that summer Skype call and how an event that was so logistically difficult for my team to attend ultimately, after a lot of hard work, came to fruition and bound us further together.
As I walked, cleats swinging in hand, I also thought of World Cup V and Maggie. I love these people; I love them fiercely. I would keep them all bound in that post-game circle of teary laughter forever if I could. But alongside teaching me how to regain bludger control, how to give a hit and take one, and how to negotiate group car rental discounts, uOttawa Quidditch has also taught me, at great cost, that you cannot always protect the ones you love. All you can do is love them, cheer for them, and give them hugs and sunscreen for as long as you are blessed to share a pitch with them.
uOttawa at World Cup V. Photo by: Tegan Bridge
