News
Event Locations for 2021-22 Season
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania will host US Quidditch Cup 15 in 2022. The sites and dates for 2021-22 regional championships are also now available.
US Quidditch is excited to announce the event locations and dates for the 2021-22 regional and national championships.
US QUIDDITCH CUP 15
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
The Proving Ground
Through Valley Forge Sports
April 9-10, 2022 or April 23-24, 2022
US Quidditch Cup 15 will be held at The Proving Grounds in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania in April 2022. This is Valley Forge’s first time hosting a USQ event.
A destination that’s rooted in the past and leading the future, Valley Forge and Montgomery County, PA are ideally located just 18 miles from Philadelphia, and home to Valley Forge National Historical Park and the iconic King of Prussia Mall. Montco also offers almost 100 miles of trails, 1,600 restaurants, family-friendly attractions, more than 30 award-winning breweries, wineries, and distilleries, and almost 200 arts and culture venues.
Attendees who fly in can use multiple airports. The closest major airport is the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), located just 30 minutes from The Proving Grounds. PHL serves 25 airlines with nearly 500 daily departures. Other major airports within reasonable driving distance are Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia Airport.
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
USQ hosts regional championships that crown regional champions and are typically part of the qualification process for teams attending the annual US Quidditch Cup. As part of membership benefits, all official teams may attend their regional championship with no event registration fee. The event dates and locations are available chronologically below. For all regional championships, the average driving team is based on the addresses for teams registered at the start of the 2019-20 season.
As stated in our announcement about event finalists, we are not planning to host a dedicated regional championship in the Northwest region. Those teams will be invited to attend the West Regional Championship in the 2021-22 season.
DATES
As in previous seasons our regional championships started the last weekend in October. Due to host cities’ availability, our first regional championship will be held a week earlier, on October 23-24.
There will be some overlap with regional championships in the fall. Event dates have been selected so that adjacent regions do not have overlapping events. Spring regional championships will not overlap in this way.
Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship
Richmond, Virginia
Glover Park
Through Richmond Region Tourism with Henrico County Recreation & Parks
October 23-24, 2021
Previously Hosted USQ Events: 2019 Pan-American Games
Average Driving Time: 3 Hours and 14 minutes
Synthetic Turf or Natural Grass: Synthetic turf
Field Lighting Available: Yes
Historical Weather: Average high: 65°F. Average low: 44°F
Northeast Regional Championship
Warwick, Rhode Island
Bend Street Field Complex
Through Rhode Island Sports Commission
October 30-31, 2021
Previously Hosted USQ Events: 2019 Northeast Regional Championship
Average Driving Time: 3 Hours and 22 minutes
Synthetic Turf or Natural Grass: Natural grass
Field Lighting Available: Yes
Historical Weather: Average high: 65°F. Average low: 50°F.
Midwest Regional Championship
Sarpy County, Nebraska
Papillion Landing (located in Papillion, Nebraska)
Through Sarpy County Tourism
October 30-31, 2021
Previously Hosted USQ Events: 2019 Midwest Regional Championship
Average Driving Time: 6 hours and 48 minutes
Synthetic Turf or Natural Grass: Indoor and outdoor fields are synthetic turf
Field Lighting Available: Yes
Historical Weather: Average high: 54°F. Average low: 32°F.
Great Lakes Regional Championship
Butler County, Ohio
Voice of America Athletic Complex (located in West Chester, Ohio)
Through Butler County Visitors Bureau
November 6-7, 2021
Previously Hosted USQ Events: 2015 and 2019 Great Lakes Regional Championship
Average Driving Time: 3 hours and 10 minutes
Synthetic Turf or Natural Grass: Synthetic turf and natural grass
Field Lighting Available: Yes
Historical Weather: Average high: 65°F. Average low: 32°F.
South Regional Championship
Columbia County, Florida
Southside Sports Complex (located in Lake City, FL)
Through Columbia County Sports Commission
February 12-13, 2022
Previously Hosted USQ Events: None
Average Driving Time: 3 hours and 3 minutes
Synthetic Turf or Natural Grass: Natural grass
Field Lighting Available: Yes
Historical Weather: Average high: 68°F. Average low: 45°F
Southwest Regional Championship
Lubbock, Texas
Berl Huffman Athletic Complex
Through Lubbock Sports
February 19-20, 2022
Previously Hosted USQ Events: None
Average Driving Time: 6 hours and 42 minutes
Synthetic Turf or Natural Grass: Synthetic Turf
Field Lighting Available: Yes
Historical Weather: Average high: 59°F. Average low: 30°F.
West Regional Championship
Tucson, Arizona
Naranja Park (located in Oro Valley, AZ)
Through Visit Tucson
February 26-27, 2022
Previously Hosted USQ Events: None
Average Driving Time: 10 Hours and 50 minutes
Synthetic Turf or Natural Grass: Synthetic turf
Field Lighting Available: Yes
Historical Weather: Average high: 68°F. Average low: 41°F.
VOLUNTEER, TICKETS, AND MORE
Want to get more information about our events? Click here to fill out the interest form and we will email you when more information is available for officials, volunteers and spectators.
THE BID PROCESS
Executive Director Mary Kimball and Director of Events & Partnership Laura Porth took the lead on managing the bid process. They attended various sports tourism trade shows in 2019 and 2020, and handled direct outreach with destinations interested in hosting a USQ event. In conjunction with others on USQ staff, they chose finalists, conducted virtual site visits, and selected the final locations.
Another major part of the bid process was the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) committee’s research for each event location finalist. USQ staff did an analysis on each event location finalist in three categories: recent protection laws for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and LGBTQIA+ communities, cities’ response to protests within the last year, and SPLC’s hate group locations. USQ recognizes that BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ attendees often have not felt safe in the communities where USQ has hosted previous events, and have experienced unsafe situations when traveling between their homes and the host city. Player safety in all forms is our number one priority for USQ events and programs.
The next full bid manual will be released later in October. It will cover events in the 2022-23 season. Preliminary information on what cities can expect is available here. Questions about bidding on USQ events should be directed to bidding@usquidditch.org.
US QUIDDITCH CUP BID COMPARISON
We solicited feedback from teams, spectators, officials, and volunteers. From the responses, the top considerations for potential hosts were:
- Proximity to a major airport
- Possible weather conditions
- Safety for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ players as they travel to and attend these events
- New location/city
The three finalists, Broward County, Round Rock, and Valley Forge, all had the following in common:
- Field lighting on all fields
- Permanent indoor restrooms
- Indoor climate-controlled administrative spaces
- Free parking adjacent to the fields
- Option for teams village location that is close to gameplay fields
Here is a breakdown of amenities and details for each facility and city:
|
Broward County, FL |
Round Rock, TX |
Valley Forge, PA |
|
Southeast region location |
Central location |
Northeast/Mid-Atlantic location |
|
Team/spectator experience: strong area amenities and attractions, large stadium |
Team/spectator experience: strong area amenities and attractions |
Team/spectator experience: everything is 10-15 minutes away; strong area amenities |
|
Transportation services from airport to hotels. |
Public transportation and shuttle service is available from the airport to hotels |
Transportation services from airport to hotels. Some hotels have shuttles to complex |
|
Warm to hot weather in spring |
Mild weather in spring |
Mild to cold climate in spring |
|
Access to the facility is restricted through fences, though the fencing surrounds the parking lot as well |
Access to the facility is restricted through fences |
Access to the facility: multiple entrances, each field is restricted through fences |
|
Facility has grass fields |
Facility has turf and grass fields |
Facility has turf fields |
|
Facility has field lights |
Facility has field lights |
Facility has field lights |
|
Permanent buildings on site featuring HQ space, bathrooms, and concession stand, and VIP space. |
Permanent building on site featuring HQ space, bathrooms, concession stand, and VIP space. |
Permanent buildings on site featuring HQ space, bathrooms, and concession stand, and VIP space. |
|
Shade available onsite. |
Minimal shade onsite |
Minimal shade onsite |
|
Wifi is available |
Hardline internet and wifi is available |
Hardline internet and wifi is available |
|
Hotels more on the expensive side |
Wide range of hotels available |
Wide range of hotels available |
|
Previous experience with host large scale events, no quidditch experience |
Previous experience with quidditch |
Previous experience with host large scale events, no quidditch experience |
We went with Valley Forge primarily for four reasons:
-
The facility is excellent. The Proving Grounds has all turf fields and is building new fields that will open in 2021. They also have multiple permanent buildings throughout the complex that provide space for staff, officials, and VIPs.
-
Valley Forge is a new location. One of our goals with events overall is having them in different places. Valley Forge is also very drivable for many of our teams and close to multiple major airports.
-
The local amenities are all within 10-15 minutes of the facility and hotels. There are a wide variety of local attractions that are either free or low cost.
-
Valley Forge’s bid provided financial and operational support needed to host a successful national championship level event.
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP REGISTRATION
Team registration for all regional championships will open in the fall of 2021. More information on the required steps and deadlines will be available next summer.
Questions
Please email Laura Porth at Laura.Porth@usquidditch.org with any questions.
