- Jesus Green will host Quidditch Premier League fixture from 9am to 5pm
- This will be attended by local team Eastern Mermaids, as well as the London Monarchs, Southwest Broadside, Southeast Knights and Welsh Dragons.
- Quidditch is a competitive, inclusive sport with thousands of players worldwide. The fixture is one of six culminating in the Championship on August 25th in Cardiff
This event will be attended by:
- Eastern Mermaids
- London Monarchs
- Southwest Broadside
- Southeast Knights
- Welsh Dragons
Quidditch Premier League (QPL) is an elite quidditch league that represents the sport in the United Kingdom. The league is composed of ten teams - five in the Northern Division, and four in the Southern Division. The QPL season runs from June to August, with each team playing three divisional fixtures. The playoffs include all ten teams competing in QPL Championship fixture in late August, with the winning team being named as the QPL Champions for that season.
Last season, the West Midlands Revolution won the inaugural Championship, claiming the trophy and holding the title for now. During the celebrations, J.K. Rowling congratulated the team for their efforts.
‘Our expectations for the Cambridge fixture this weekend are to show everyone exactly what the Mermaids can do,’ said Georgie Rumney, Team Manager of the Eastern MErmaids. ‘Since our performance at the London fixture we have been training on our weaker areas and team cohesion. Having been so close to a SWIM match against the Southeast Knights has motivated the team to push ourselves for a win in Cambridge. We will continue to surprise people as we massively up our game from last year, so everyone had better watch out for the rising tide!’
A quidditch team consists of 21 athletes with 7 players per team on the field at any one time. Each player has a broom between their legs. The four maximum rule of quidditch states that at most there can be four players of the same gender on pitch at one time. This ensures that the game is mixed gender and inclusive to all. Inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, quidditch has developed into its own sport, with 20,000 competing international players, 40 competing countries, and an international rulebook.
The “four maximum rule” of quidditch states that at most there can be four players of the same gender on pitch at one time. This ensures that the game is mixed gender, and inclusive to all. Quidditch has been labelled as the ‘world’s most progressive sport’ by VICE for this reason.
About the Quidditch Premier League
The Quidditch Premier League (QPL) brings a fresh level of competitive play to the summer months of the sport in the United Kingdom. The league begins in mid-June 2018, and ends in late August and runs throughout the UK. The QPL has regional divisions with teams competing against each other in regular fixtures. Each fixture comprises of four matches, where each team plays the other four teams in the division. The QPL season concludes this year in a scintillating championship held at Cardiff Arms Park, bringing the top teams from each division together to crown a UK champion.
@quidpremleague
How does quidditch work?
A quidditch team consists of 21 athletes with 7 players per team on the field at any one time. Each player has a broom between their legs. The four maximum rule of quidditch states that at most there can be four players of the same gender on pitch at one time. This ensures that the game is mixed gender and inclusive to all.
A team of seven will have 1 keeper, 3 chasers, 2 beaters and 1 seeker:
- Chasers: throw the quaffle through the opposite team’s hoops to score goals, worth 10 points.
- Keepers: guard the hoops from opposing chasers, and become a fourth chaser on offense.
- Beaters: throw bludgers at the opposing team to temporarily ‘knock them out’ of the game, and make them return to hoops.
- Seekers: catch the snitch, worth 30 points, to end the game.
A game of quidditch involves three three types of balls:
- Quaffle: a semi-deflated volleyball thrown through the hoops by chasers and keepers. There is one quaffle on pitch.
- Bludgers: dodgeballs thrown at other players by beaters. There are three bludgers on pitch.
- Snitch: a sock with a tennis ball in it, attached to the snitch runner’s shorts. When caught by either team’s seeker, the game ends.
The following teams form the league for the 2018 season:
- London Monarchs
- Southwest Broadside
- Southeast Knights
- Eastern Mermaids
- Welsh Dragons
- Northern Watch
- Yorkshire Roses
- East Midland Archers
- West Midland Revolution
- Scottish Thistles