Summer Fantasy Tournaments, Part II

by Sarah Goad | June 7, 2013

Last week we took a look at the origins of fantasy tournaments, and the first few this summer. We continue with the remaining tournaments. For Facebook pages of this summer's events, see the bottom of this post.

Photo by Deanna Edmunds.

Firemercs Invitational was one of the most popular regional drafts to premiere last summer; although no official West regional tournament was held, Firemercs effectively filled this absence. Dyllan Fernandez of USC Quidditch (Los Angeles, CA) and Natalie Stottler, captain of Stanford Quidditch (Palo Alto, CA), organized the first tournament and have reunited to bring Firemercs back this summer. Firemercs Invitational 2! will take place the first weekend of July at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada Flintridge, CA. This is the same weekend and place the tournament was held last year; in fact, Stottler has said that not much is changing from 2012 to 2013, except for team selection. This year, Firemercs will be run more like a true fantasy tournament. “[Last] year the organizers created the teams based on who requested to play together and the general desire for evenness,” Stottler said. “This time, we're letting captains pick the teams, and even trade players. We want to give everyone a chance to play with a set of people they haven't necessarily had a chance to before.” The Firemercs organizers have not yet decided whether team leaders will be captains or general managers; attendees are encouraged to apply for a team leadership position before the spots are filled on June 17th, and to voice their opinion on whether they would prefer to be a general manager or a captain. Fernandez and Stottler have made the distinction between the two by describing a captain as someone who will attend the tournament and play with their team while leading. A general manager, on the other hand, would act as a coach, and may not even have to be present at the tournament. Team T-shirts will be provided, and limited housing might still be available for all those interested in signing up before player registration ends June 19th.

The Mid-Atlantic is hosting two fantasy tournaments this summer. In addition to their end-of-season tournament on June 29th, which was mentioned in Part 1,  they will also be partnering with the Carolina Quidditch Conference to host the Mid-Atlantic Region Presents: CQC Summer Fantasy Tournament! on July 20th. Alex Krall, Mid-Atlantic Regional Director, said that the decision to host two tournaments was made in order to include as many players in the region as possible. Organizers of the CQC tournament hope to mix up the proceedings by turning it into a charitable event. Each team will pick and play for a charity, and the winning team will earn a donation for their cause.  Krall said: “We hope that this can evolve into a series of similar [charity] events throughout the season. Quidditch already has a pretty awesome community, so why not give back while doing what we love with the people we love?” The tournament will feature an auction-style draft. General managers will bid for players using their allotted points, or “money,” over Skype on June 20th. The tournament itself will be held in Boone, North Carolina at Brookshire Park. There will be a $10 registration fee for all players, but event organizers have stated that parking will be free. Accommodation assistance is available through the event's Facebook page.

The Champagne Cup is a draft-style tournament held in Quogue, New York. It's organized by Jeff Sherman of the Rochester Institute of Technology Dark Marks (Rochester, NY), and is notably different from regional summer fantasy tournaments. There are no general managers or captains; here, Sherman arranges the teams. “[Everyone] who signs up is randomly placed on each of the eight different teams,” said Sherman. “I do this instead of the [general manager] system that the fantasy tournaments use [so we can] keep it focused on having fun and allowing people who haven't played before a chance to be treated as an equal.” Letting new players immerse themselves in quidditch is something Sherman values as an important aspect of Champagne Cup. He said that it's important to use every available opportunity to reach out to non-players: “I think that having an environment where people can show up, pick up a broom, and be welcomed into the arms of veteran players is a great way to sow more seeds of quidditch around the world.”

Compared to last year's event, the 2013 tourney will have a player pool twice the size. 40 participants attended in 2012, and almost 100 have already signed up for Champagne Cup 2: Quidditch Returns to the Hamptons, which will take place on July 27th at the baseball outfield of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5350. There is a player registration fee of $15, with all proceeds benefiting the Rochester Institute of Technology's quidditch team. Spectators get in free.

The Southwest was the first region to host a fantasy quidditch tournament last summer, and this year they're back again with a draft called THE Fantasy Tournament 2013. It will be hosted on July 27th and 28th at Zilker Park in Austin, TX, and the registration fee will be $10. “Last year's [tournament] came forth out of a conversation about getting together for a summer pickup tournament,” said Kody Marshall, organizer for last year's tournament and, along with Drew Wasikowski of Texas A&M University Quidditch (College Station, TX), one of the organizers for this year's draft.

Last year's Southwest fantasy tournament has inspired many others across North America and gained notoriety for its success. “I thought it was a total success. [It] was a great opportunity for players to adapt and work on their skills…in preparation for the coming season,” said Wasikowski, who was a general manager for last year's tournament. “The biggest difference this year is the player cap. Last year, we had about 75 players. This year we've got 192. We're so excited to see so many awesome people getting pumped for this event. All it'll take to handle so many players is keeping organized logistics and preparing enough ahead of time.” Wasikowski also said that there will team t-shirts and a trophy for MVP: “This trophy is amazing! And I really like it because in order to win it, you basically have to strive to be an awesome teammate [and] a fierce competitor, as well as meet and befriend as many players as you possibly can.” He hopes this MVP trophy will encourage the sense of goodwill and community during the tournament that already permeates the sport.

When asked about draft tournaments, Marshall had this to say: “As a player/spectator I realized quickly [that] a competition like this can bring players together. I was shocked to see how quickly the respective teams became unified in friendship. Last year's tourney set a precedence of excellence for all tournaments independent of [the] IQA. It was a great success and fun to boot! Who knows what else will come out of [the Southwest's] quidditch think tank?”

Jenna Jankowski, Northeast Regional Director and a player for the Macaulay Marauders (New York, NY), described last year's Northeast fantasy tournament - in which she competed - as having “definitely brought a whole new kind of experience to the Northeast.” Ultimately, though she assured it became a summer favorite, the venture turned out to be rather bittersweet. “Last year, all of the proceeds from the tournament were stolen the day of the event, so that was disappointing,” she said. “It was a great experience with an upsetting outcome.” Steve DiCarlo, chaser/seeker for the Lost Boys (Los Angeles, CA), organized last year's tournament; after discovering that the tournament dues had been stolen from where he'd stashed them in his blue boat shoes, he made a plea on the event's Facebook page that participants donate to a Fundly account he set up.

Aside from keeping the funds under lock and key, Jankowski and her fellow organizers plan to do a couple things differently with Northeast Fantasy 2013. “We [won't be allowing] co-[general managers] this year,” she said. “We also plan on doing something a little different with the draft, but that hasn't been revealed yet.” Not everything is changing, though – the tournament location again will be Randall's Island, the site of both last year's Northeast fantasy and World Cup V. Northeast Fantasy 2013 will take place August 3rd. Ref and snitch certification will be offered. “I always encourage my teammates to go to these [kinds of tournaments],” said Jankowski. “It's an excellent way to meet the community and learn from others' playing styles....Fantasy gives us a chance to play with people who we may not have [the opportunity to otherwise interact with], even if we do play on merc teams a lot....It's a completely different experience.”

If you are interested in participating in one of the summer quidditch fantasy tournaments covered in parts one or two of this article, see below for a list of the Facebook events. You are encouraged to check for registration deadlines and fees!

Midwest Fantasy Tournament 2013 (June 15th - Chicago, IL)

Mid-Atlantic Region End of Season Fantasy Tournament (June 29th - Lebanon, PA)

Canada Fantasy Tournament (June 30th - Ottawa, ON)

Firemercs Invitational 2! (July 6th & 7th - La Cañada Flintridge, CA)

Southern Regional Area Fantasy Tournament (July 13th - Tallahassee, FL)

Mid-Atlantic Region Presents: CQC Summer Fantasy Tournament! (July 20th - Boone, NC)

Champagne Cup 2: Quidditch Returns to the Hamptons (July 27th - Quogue, New York)

THE Fantasy Tournament 2013 (July 27th & 28th - Austin, TX)