Preview

West Wednesday: Northern California

by Chris Lock | October 1, 2014

Photo by Elizabeth Barbier

After the West Region’s dismal Sunday performance at World Cup VII, many players and teams are hoping to set the record straight this season. The region will boast a completely different look this year as many players have transferred, and new ambitious teams are joining the competition. Last season featured one juggernaut team, a surplus of World Cup bids, and a fall West Regional Championship that arguably established the West’s World Cup slots too early. The end result was that teams in the West didn’t have as much reason to train throughout the entire season, and the effects were apparent in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The West Regional Championship tournament this season will be in February, and the competition for World Cup VIII bids will be fierce.

Each team will be discussed in five installments of sub-areas within the region (Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles, Northern California, Arizona, and Utah). This week: a perennial powerhouse looking for a first regional championship, a trio of World Cup qualifiers looking to take the next step, and a new community team looking to get its feet wet. Four of these teams will begin their seasons on Saturday at the California Golden Broom Tournament, hosted by Cal Quidditch.

SILICON VALLEY SKREWTS/SKYFIGHTERS

By Andy Marmer

2013-14 Finish: Sweet 16, World Cup
Key Departures: Josh Vinson, Jason Winerip, Sam Fischgrund
Key Returners/Recruits: Alex Makk, Willis Miles IV, Chris Lock, Kyrie Timbrook
Strengths: Beating, experience, depth
Weaknesses: Scoring
Star Wars Character: "The giant thing that Jabba tries to throw Luke and Han and Leia into at the start of ‘Return of the Jedi.’ The Sarlacc! Because we're sitting there waiting for you to make a mistake so we can digest you over the next thousand years" - Kevin Oelze (captain)

The Silicon Valley Skrewts are one of the most established programs in the West, having attended the last three World Cups. Despite barely qualifying for World Cup VII, the Skrewts eked out qualification and advanced to the Sweet 16 at WCVII where they were knocked out by Boston University on an off-pitch snitch catch. The Skrewts play a distinctive style that relies on Team USA’s Kyrie Timbrook and her longtime beating partner Willis Miles IV. Those two have been the centerpieces for a low-scoring Skrewts team, but key recruits this year should up the team’s offensive output.

Keeper Chris Lock is the Skrewts’ big new addition, fresh off leading the Santa Barbara Blacktips to bracket play at WCVII. Lock, a physical keeper, should fit well into a distribution role for the Skrewts. He will look to combine with Alex Makk, who enters his first full season with the Skrewts after joining the team from Arizona State University last spring. Makk has proven himself to be a do-everything player, which will be of great use to the Skrewts. Lucy Miller, recently of New York University Nundu (NYU), will also be joining the Skrewts. As a physical off-ball chaser, she provides much needed depth to the Skrewts’ female chasing options.

On top of Lock, Makk, and Miller, the Skrewts have a number of talented quaffle players. Chinua Shaw turned in a strong performance at West Fantasy and will look to continue his emergence, while veterans Andrew Covel and Sam Harris add much needed depth to the quaffle game.

The big question for the Skrewts will be their ability to replace the depth that they lost. Josh Vinson, who backed up Miles at beater, Jason Winerip, and Sam Fischgrund were three of the many overlooked stars for the Skrewts who allowed the team to function. With them and the solid Chris Sauro gone, as well as Oelze out with an injury until the West Regional Championship, the Skrewts will need more individuals to step up to fill out their roster.

Will they Qualify for World Cup?

Absolutely. Although the Skrewts suffered a scare last year, the addition of Lock and Miller provide two starting caliber players that considerably boost the team’s ceiling. Last year at Western Cup IV, nearly everything that could go wrong went wrong for the Skrewts and they still found a way to make it to the World Cup. Expect smoother sailing this time around and possibly a regional championship challenge.

SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY

2013-14 Finish: Pool play, World Cup
Key Departures: Tristan West
Key Returners/Recruits: Kyle Campbell, Cody Gradone, Albert Ramos
Strengths: Male chasers, defense
Weaknesses: Scoring, athleticism, injuries
Star Wars Character: “Not really a single character, but we definitely see ourselves as the Rebel Alliance. Basically, we're a ragtag group of skilled individuals with the capability to blow up Death Stars.” – Kyle Campbell (captain)

Last year, San Jose State University (SJSU) attended its first ever World Cup after receiving a deferred bid. While San Jose State has been a lower-tier team in prior seasons, it has always been a more physical and athletic team than one would expect. After successful recruiting in 2013-14, SJSU seemed to be on the path to becoming a legitimate contender in the West Region. While it was never expected to outdo the better teams in the region, SJSU played well against many of the mid-tier teams, including a clutch snitch range victory in pool play against the Long Beach Funky Quaffles at the West Regional Championship. By a combination of SJSU trending upward and other Bay Area teams receiving huge losses, SJSU could become one of the upper-ranked teams from Northern California.

With seeker Tristan West being SJSU’s only loss, the team has great reason to be optimistic. While West will certainly be missed, this means that SJSU has a great foundation of World Cup experienced athletes to continue building its program. Utility player Kyle Campbell has been the team’s best athlete and will continue to play for SJSU this season despite graduating. Cody Gradone is another returning utility athlete who specializes in scoring at chaser. Both Campbell and Gradone made strong impacts on the successful Lime Green team at West Fantasy, which bodes well for the upcoming season. SJSU will also have a rookie full of potential in the physically imposing Dan Marovitch. Marovitch debuted at the 2nd Cinco de Mayo Cup, and he could be a threat if he learns how to effectively utilize his size. Spectators can expect SJSU to play strong defense—highlighted by surprising physicality—with many of its defenders working together to tackle a single target.

SJSU has some major concerns, however. First and foremost, SJSU will be suffering from plenty of injuries. Most notably, 6’7” keeper Albert Ramos injured his knee at West Fantasy after finishing his rookie season. Ramos injected life into the SJSU program last year with his size and accurate hits, and his absence will have a huge impact on SJSU. He is still with the team, but his return to the pitch is uncertain. Additionally, SJSU has four injured female players, notably chaser Lauren Mundell. While SJSU has some exceptional athletes, it really doesn’t have as much athleticism on its roster as the other West Region teams, which has been the key factor previously holding back SJSU’s development. Lastly, offense hasn’t been SJSU’s strong suit in the past two seasons; the offense is very strategic with passing and elongating possessions, but that doesn’t culminate in a goal nearly often enough. Campbell’s and Gradone’s improvement, however, may rectify that.

SJSU will be hosting its first tournament this season, the South Bay Spookfest, on Oct. 25-26. This will be the first major California tournament this season, as many competitive teams from both Northern and Southern California will be attending. The tournament will provide a great first look at how the West Region may shape up.

Will they qualify for World Cup?

SJSU just missed qualification at the West Regional Championship last season, losing to the University of Arizona as the Wildcats made a strong comeback. This season, SJSU will improve its current players, at a minimum, so it can be expected to be a better team. Whether or not SJSU qualifies will ultimately depend on if Ramos can return to the pitch.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

2013-14 Finish: Round of 48, World Cup
Key Departures: David Saltzman, Chris Kimes
Key Returners/Recruits: Dylan Liu, Nick Freybler, Kathryn Evans
Strengths: Pace control, seeking, beating
Weaknesses: Depth, chaser line
Star Wars Character: “Definitely Chewbacca. Lighthearted and funny, but more physical than most people realize.” - Hailey Clonts (captain)

Stanford University had an extremely successful World Cup performance after clawing into qualification at the 2013-14 West Regional Championship. The team stayed within snitch range of Louisiana State University, a team that advanced to the Sweet 16 and knocked out West Regional Champions the Lost Boys. However, the Stanford team this season will have a much different look. Only David Saltzman and Chris Kimes are departing, but on such a historically small team, those losses will stand out like a missing limb.

Stanford has always had a strong defense and has upset top-level teams in the past, such as the University of Southern California, when at its peak. This is due to its strategic clock management, where it prevents the other team from having quick successive possessions, and to having a strong defense fueled by intelligent beating. After former standout Natalie Stottler retired due to injury, the beating game briefly weakened until Saltzman converted to beater. Saltzman and Hailey Clonts combined to make a deceivingly impressive beater duo, which enabled Stanford to stand out compared to other Northern California teams. Stanford will still have reliable beaters even without Saltzman, but the beating corps won’t be as strong. Additionally, Saltzman’s muscular keeper replacement, Kimes, is leaving due to injury, so the offense will now be notably less physical. With these losses, it is hard to imagine whether Stanford’s team will be better—or even as good as—last year’s team.

However, Stanford still has promise. First and foremost, the team seems to always have good beaters despite departures. There’s a good chance Stanford will be able to turn returning players into strong beaters, as it has already successfully done with former chaser Kathryn Evans, or recruit new blood to do the job. More noticeably, Dylan Liu is returning at chaser and seeker. Liu is both fast and physical, and the veteran almost guarantees a goal on brooms up. Although he won’t have the support of Saltzman or Kimes anymore, he is used to displaying strong performances without much depth to help him. Nick Freybler, who is returning at chaser/keeper, will provide veteran experience to lessen the loss of Kimes and Saltzman. Lastly, Stanford seemed to have a disciplined offense last season, and the second year returners will only be better this season.

Will they qualify for World Cup?

It depends on how many bids become available. If the bids are in the double digits, Stanford has a chance to qualify for the second straight year. However, given the team’s present shape, it will have to rely on Liu too much. By the time qualification games are to be played, Liu may be too exhausted to lead the offense or make a game-winning snitch grab. Stanford’s discipline and promising returners could go a long way to lighten Liu’s load, and he’ll need the help.

CAL QUIDDITCH

2013-14 Finish: Pool play, World Cup
Key Departures: Salvador Sanchez, Dakota Bloom, Richelle Swarts
Key Returners/Recruits: Jake Stanton, Anne Goodman, Sergio Quinones
Strengths: Speed, male beating
Weaknesses: Offense, depth
Star Wars Character: “Grand Admiral Thrawn because for the last several years, many other teams have discounted us or not taken us seriously like the empire after the death of Palpatine. But this year, our team is going to come out of nowhere and defeat all those other teams, just like Thrawn did against the New Republic” – Nick Mertz (captain)

Last year, Cal Quidditch had a season with mixed results. The Golden Bears were certainly a competent team, and they were quite competitive at World Cup despite failing to qualify for bracket play. Cal displayed several strong outings throughout the season, including an overtime victory over the Thundercats at the West Regional Championship and a methodical blowout against San Jose State University at Sunshine Bowl. However, the team could not reach the World Cup without a deferred bid, and that was before star keeper/chaser Sam Harris transferred to the Skrewts. Cal didn’t live up to its potential or reputation last season, highlighting the end of the Sean Robbins era when the Golden Bears were one of the best teams in the West.

While Cal had an optimistic outlook on 2014-15 after its World Cup performance, the team was faced with departures at the close of the season. Captain Salvador Sanchez and chaser Dakota Bloom, the team’s physical and promising point defender, both left the team after graduation. Cal also lost its most able female beater in Richelle Swarts. In fact, Cal is reportedly only returning six players this season, so the Golden Bears will need a successful recruiting movement. Despite its turnover, the team is extremely confident it will have a strong season.

Captain Nick Mertz will provide size and scoring ability to the chaser line, while Sergio Quinones will bring stability to the beater line. Quinones is an aggressive and physical beater who plays a major role in helping to keep Cal in a competitive margin against tough teams. Quinones demonstrated his promise in a Sunshine Bowl game against the eventual champion Silicon Valley Skrewts, and the Golden Bears will have a great foundation in place with him at beater if he can avoid yellow cards. Asides from Mertz, not much is known about Cal’s chaser line other than its losses.

Will they qualify for World Cup?
Cal has a chance of being a top 11 team by the West Regional Championship. However, Cal is not a qualifying team right now: history is not in the team’s favor as it had to reach World Cup through deferred bids with stronger lineups in both of the past two seasons.

MISSION BLUES QUIDDITCH

2013-14 Finish: N/A
Key Departures: N/A
Key Returners/Recruits: Josh Vinson, Jason Winerip
Strengths: Discipline/strategy
Weaknesses: Depth
Star Wars Character: “HK-47, because we're all about having fun doing what we do.” – Josh Vinson (captain)

Mission Blues Quidditch is a new team currently made up of former Silicon Valley Skrewts and Skyfighters who are passionate about building a team from scratch. The team will prominently feature two skilled yet undervalued players: captain Josh Vinson and Jason Winerip. Both were key players who logged frequent and productive minutes for the Skrewts last season. Vinson is often overlooked due to his prior role as backup to star beater Willis Miles IV, but Vinson has always been a top notch understudy. He throws hard, fast, and accurately from distance, and has a better understanding of the beating game than a typical substitute. Winerip is an aggressive and physical defender who has no qualms about trying to rough up significantly larger players. He isn’t the flashiest scorer, nor is he someone who will typically lead a team in goals, but he is adept at recognizing and capitalizing on high percentage scoring opportunities. Sam Fischgrund also provides solid chasing depth while leading the seeker line.

Mission Blues will also be recruiting new talent to the quidditch community.

“This season will be about building up our inexperienced players so we can have a team where everyone can and does contribute,” said Vinson. “Our focus will be on getting everyone experience, even if it means we don't win as many games as we could in the beginning.”

Herein lies the team’s weakness: it is going to have to recruit and train almost all of its talent. As far as being competitive in the near future, Mission Blues will indeed have talented and experienced players, but they don’t have a superstar or enough experienced players to remain competitive for entire games. Still, Mission Blues’ founders will likely be able to utilize their knowledge to develop a strong foundation this season that should help the team rise through competitive ranks in future seasons.

Will they qualify for World Cup?

“I see our team as one that will have to fight to qualify, but it's definitely a possibility,” said Vinson.

Ultimately, there are probably other teams with more depth fighting for the last spots, but it will be interesting to watch Mission Blues’ first season.