Strategy
US Quidditch Backs Global Warming as Part of Strategic Plan
USQ is thrilled to announce that it will be officially adopting a carbon-supportive stance for the foreseeable future as part of the league’s 30-year strategic planning process.
As part of the strategy, the league will do whatever it can to help accelerate the continued, uninhibited manmade release of 30 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere, unbalancing nature’s checkbook cumulatively year after year, in amounts greater than the oceans, forests, and soil can naturally absorb.
The long term goal is to increase the trend of early, warmer springs across the nation and enable more regional championships to take place toward the end of the season.
Currently half of next year’s eight regional championships are scheduled to take place in the fall because cold February weather prohibits outdoor events in the northern regions. However, melting icecaps, and accelerated greenhouse effects due to increased carbon in the atmosphere will change that for good. Allowing all regional championships to take place in the spring will give teams more time to train and prepare. It also has the benefit of more reliably warm and dry weather for event organizers, players, and spectators alike, for greater enjoyment and simpler logistics. Warmer weather in general will also, and perhaps most importantly, equalize the amount of outdoor time that each team has for practice leading up to the World Cup and thereby level the playing field.
“We realize for the short term that global warming is likely to produce more unstable weather, with wild fluctuations, unpredictable precipitation, hurricanes, droughts, etc., but as the directors of the organization, we have to be committed to the long term outlook of the league. A warmer, drier climate is much more conducive overall to outdoor sporting events,” said CEO Alex Benepe.
Events Director Sarah Woolsey was one of the strongest supporters of the league’s move to be carbon-supportive, citing that one Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship that was the coldest anyone has ever been, ever.
“It sure is hard to be accurate and useful in my role as Events Director with naturally cold or wet weather in the fall. I’m really excited for what the sport looks like in 10 or 20 years when we shut down the gulf stream and it’s 70 degrees in February up and down the eastern seaboard, and we don’t have to worry about snow or ice.”
The Midwest Region is particularly excited about this plan as the rising sea levels will put a lot of coastal city’s venues underwater, and make the center of the country even more attractive for a Midwest World Cup bid.
“I hope it doesn’t take that long for World Cup to come to the Midwest, but it’s so exciting to know that we may be the best—and only—option in a few decades or so,” said the new Great Lakes Regional Coordinator Alex Scheer.
Conversely the Southwest is likely to face northern teams at the World Cup who have more practice time under their belts. However the local teams there seem excited to take on the challenge.
“We plan to manufacture over 50 Clonestar teams by 2030 so I think we’ll be ready,” said Lonestar Quidditch Club player Kody Marshall.
With the aim of bringing brooms up and carbon in the atmosphere up, US Quidditch surely has a warm and bright future ahead.
