Preview
Why Yes, I Do Want To Be a Princess
Another smaller-end Mid-Atlantic tournament, the I Want to be a Princess Fantasy Tournament will take place this weekend.
The I Want to be a Princess Fantasy Tournament will take place this weekend at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
To be honest, after a couple fantasy tournaments last summer and an incredibly exhausting season, I was planning to focus on training without involving myself in many fantasy tournaments beyond the random-assignment Champagne Cup. Then Andrew McGregor, of Virginia Tech quidditch, decided to host a tournament revolving around Disney princesses – and then revealed that it would be located right in my backyard, on the campus of George Mason University (GMU). I couldn’t say no. I signed up to play, and told McGregor that I would also be a general manager (GM) if he came up short.
After a lot of players dropped between signing up and reconfirming and GM’s were shuffled around a little, I found myself with the fourth pick in a snake-style draft of six teams, picking from a pool of 80 players – making for teams of 13-14, so every pick had to hit in the marathon pick-as-you’re-able 70-hour snake draft.
General Managers
Anthony Rieger (Christopher Newport University [CNU], beater) – Mulan
Erik Morlock (University of Virginia [UVA], keeper) – Kairi
James Hicks (formerly NYDC Capitalists, keeper – non-playing GM) – Leia
Steve Minnich (District of Columbia [DC] community team*, chaser/seeker) – Vanellope
Robby May (DC community team, beater) – Pocahontas
Nathan Love (Quidditch Club Carolinas [QCC], chaser) – Rapunzel
Rounds One and Two
Rieger started things off with a solid pick in University of Richmond (UR) chaser Brennen Lutz, an aggressive point defender, despite being undersized, and a viable scorer. With scorers hard to come by in the small pool, I expect Lutz to step up and show that he has what it takes to get some consistent buckets. What really makes this pick pop though is Lutz’s ability to hybrid as a seeker, something he showed as a new weapon in his arsenal this past season and something that will be useful with teams topping out around 14 players. Since Hicks has retired and will not be playing at this tournament, he insured himself the best pure scorer in the draft by selecting Max Miceli, a chaser from the University of North Carolina (UNC). With the third pick, Morlock selected Chris Champitto, chaser/seeker hybrid from UNC and the second of the two top-level chaser/seekers available; I was obviously being optimistic in thinking I could get either player with the fourth overall pick. I selected GMU keeper Ryan Martin–a skilled distributor with great vision and the confidence to drive and score if the defense presents an opening. May selected former McGill University beater and future DC community team member Diana-Marie Martin. She was both the first female and first beater selected in a pool where both will be scarce. Love followed with the first double-selection, taking a dynamic scorer with point-defending capabilities in UNC’s Lee Hodge and pairing him with an intelligent, quick beater in Michael Musatow, formerly of NYDC. May didn’t think twice about taking Hofstra University beater Mike Iadevaia, giving himself the best starting beater pair in the tournament and a solid defense. This left me in a tight spot, as Musatow and Iadevaia were where I was looking after Diana-Marie Martin was off the board. I knew I still needed a beater to protect Ryan Martin and myself, but the most intriguing prospect left was a player I knew little about, the Silicon Valley Skrewts’ Frank Gao. I may have panicked a little in making the first surprise pick of the draft, but I’m excited to see what Gao can bring to the table and the prospect of learning from Silicon Valley’s success at World Cup VII. The round finished with UVA beater Devon Rea to Morlock, former NYDC chaser/beater Katryna Fernandez to Hicks and UR chaser Austin Nuckols to Rieger. Nuckols might be the best off-ball chaser at the tournament, with great hands and a fine finishing touch. Rea was the last in a run of beaters and should hope to prove his worth there working with his teammate Morlock in what will likely be a familiar system. Hicks taking Fernandez was predictable, but a great pick at value.
Rounds Three and Four
When my pick rolled around, I jumped at the bit to take Virginia Commonwealth University keeper/chaser Sam Rosenberg, an odd pick given I already have myself and Ryan Martin to headline those positions, but I couldn’t pass up Rosenberg’s combination of speed and strength and his clear confidence as a finisher. At this point, I had four strong, male players and needed female players; there were two chasers I had in mind to help put together a combination of high-flying offense and tight defense. May beat me to the punch, taking Emily Pertz, of the DC community team, and her strong-armed defense. Love followed, picking up veteran defensive keeper Pierson Geyer, a stalwart in the Richmond, VA area. At this point, Hicks, as the only non-playing GM, was given a compensatory pick with which he took the tournament’s host, Virginia Tech’s keeper Andrew McGregor, a pure scorer to complement Reid’s defense and support Miceli’s offense.. Love picked Katie Rothert, who emerged as UR’s top beater this past season. May followed with MaKensie Dodd, chaser from VCU, giving him a stable of talented females from a very shallow pool in Martin, Pertz and Dodd. I hadn’t anticipated May’s stockpiling female players, but the group he’s putting together looks to be able to score enough between himself and Dodd to support a very strong defense. My team, at this point, was going in a very different direction, as I just needed enough defense to support my dynamic offense of Martin, Rosenberg and myself, so I went with UR beater Esther Bow, who, although less experienced, shows a little more aggression than her counterpart Rothert. Morlock followed with Macaulay Honor’s College beater Paula Garcia, a veteran I had considered drafting instead of Bow before deciding to take an opportunity to coach a young player from my alma mater. Hicks took Kyle Bullins, an intriguing pick with his sheer athleticism and aggression as a beater from UNC, though a risk due to his tendency to take cards. Still, with Hicks starting to put solid beaters in front of his hero-scoring quaffle players, I saw an exciting transition-based lineup forming. Rieger finished this snake-turn with a selection of Sarah Staatz, continuing his run of drafting chaser/seeker hybrids. Perhaps a bit earlier than her value warrants, Rieger opted to secure her on the turn rather than hoping she lasted two more rounds.
Rounds Five and Six
Rieger began round five by adding to his chaser size with the pickup of a big pusher from his own CNU in Dan McMahon. Hicks’ next pick of Carlos Metz gave him a great 1-2 punch of beaters and ruined my plans of doing the same, as he paired the UR cannon with the aggressive Bullins. The next pick of Steel City Quidditch Club beater/chaser Rita Patel by Morlock did nothing again to change my new plan, as I had to yet again adapt. Instead of reaching into the next group of beaters, I decided to add to my quaffle weaponry by selecting GMU chaser Jonathan Milan, an athletic point defender with excellent offensive instincts. After a promising rookie season, Milan has shown a lack of confidence finishing that has held him back from blossoming into a star. I know he works well with Martin and if he can score early, then his confidence might drive him to be the steal of the draft. May followed with another strong chaser from GMU coming off his rookie season in Dylan Bynon, whose improved tackling over the summer could prove crucial. Love finished the round with a sly selection of UVA’s Shawn Zamperini, a quick chaser who can fly under a defense’s radar. Love then selected Chris Coleman at the turn, a beater/seeker from VT who should bring good balance to the dynamic theatrics of Musatow, while also offering some flexibility with the snitch on pitch. May followed by selecting GMU co-captain Ben Mertens, a rangy chaser/seeker who had a standout performance at the former position at the Gotta Catch Them All: Mid-Atlantic League tournament. He has shown confidence and steady improvement after only a semester in the sport and already knows how to use his length as an advantage. Though I was disappointed in missing out on adding another chaser brimming with talent about to bloom, I made a heady selection of Laurel Mahoney, a conservative but athletic beater from GMU who has also shown some natural talent at chaser. Morlock followed with Miami University of Ohio’s Michael March, a more conservative beater/chaser.
Rounds Seven to 14 Highlights
In the ninth round, Hicks chose Lisa Revette, a chaser for VCU who adds some offensive positioning and receiving ability to a team so far dominated by aggressive beating and hero-style attackers. If his handlers can work with each other and figure to use the off-ball skills of Revette and sixth-round selection of Kayla Fitzgerald (formerly University of Maryland), Hicks has put together a versatile team that can run transition or work the half-pitch. I took my first female chaser in Olivia Bascle of GMU, whose skill certainly warranted a higher selection, though she seemed to have slipped after most teams went for more size.
By the later rounds, the bottom of the pool was beginning to show as GMs repeatedly tried to select players who were no longer available either through previous selection or lack of reconfirmation. Still, we were desperate to fill our small rosters with some good players to provide comfortable depth in a tournament that looked sure to involve full efforts from everyone on the roster. With this in mind during the final two rounds, Rieger selected a third female beater in Sam Thompson of North Carolina–Greensboro (he later traded this selection to Morlock for an undrafted player, keeper Jesse Mayer [DC community team]). Hicks seemed to then get a lead from his selected UNC players on the unknown Jeffrey Monroe, a chaser/beater who looks to be an inexperienced athlete traveling with his friends from UNC to try his hand in a competition.
Coming out of the draft, I felt pretty confident with the team I compiled. While I’d like to consider my Schweetzlickers a favorite, I have to say Hicks has the advantage there with a non-playing manager to run things from the sidelines and his ability to compile a roster of scorers behind solid beating. Still, with five round-robin games and a guaranteed playoff game for everyone, the day will really be a test of endurance for the small rosters. Such a marathon might slow Hicks’ transition game a bit, though his roster looks like it’s built to allow chasers to catch their breath a little on defense while beaters should be able to sit back a little more on offense. This build could keep his scorers fresh enough for a long run at the end of the day, though I’m looking at a team for myself that might be able to work in a little better unity to fire on all cylinders and keep defenses guessing, which could prove powerful over the focused attack of Hicks’ Princess Leia team.
*The District of Columbia community team has yet to be named.
