Quidditch Team Triumph
Posted by Bronnie Jeynes (Muggles) on
18 August 2014
In only their second year of competition, and the Monash Muggles Quidditch Team couldn’t be flying any higher!
With O-Week sign ups attracting around 40 members to come and check out this magical sport, the Monash Muggles Quidditch Team have been training twice a week since the beginning of the year in order to get all players into top form.
With finals in May, the Muggles were sat at the top of the Victoria Cup League, having only been defeated once by the Wrackspurts throughout the season, and were set to face the fearsome Blackburn Basilisks in the preliminary finals.
The show down that resulted at Fawkner Park won’t be forgotten for a long time. Both teams gave it their all, but the Muggles just couldn’t be faulted and their defence proved too tough for the Basilisks. The Basilisks finished on 70 with the Muggles on 180, who also managed to catch the snitch after a 40 minute battle. The loudest rendition of Happy Birthday ever heard followed, as the ecstatic Muggles carried seeker Nathan from the field shoulder high (long story short: Happy Birthday became the Muggle’s team song late last year, and they’ve been winning ever since).
This meant that the Muggles went straight into the grand-final, to face off against the victors of the semi-finals. A month later, the Muggles found themselves once again face to face with the Basilisks who had defeated the Melbourne Manticores. A huge turnout of spectators braved the freezing cold and wet weather to support the two teams to see who would be the first to take home the glimmering Victoria Cup.
A short but brutal match followed. The mud and cold resulted in both teams scrabbling for purchase and kept scoring low on both sides, with the Muggles trailing for the majority of the match. Finally, an opportunity presented itself as the snitch dived through the spectators with both seekers hot on his tail. Muggles seeker Anthony managed to make the catch giving the Muggles victory 80 to 50. The Muggles hug quickly turned into a mid-pitch pile of wet players and supporters all cheering the victory. The team was eventually untangled by Team Captain Georgia T to be presented with the cup and player medallions.
Victorian Quidditch enjoyed a well-earned break in the lead up to the Melbourne Mudbash held on the 28th - 29th June. Ten teams from across Australia met for two days of Quidditch in the largest tournament held in Victoria to date. Plenty of rain and persistent cold meant that Mudbash truly lived up to its name with both pitches quickly losing any resemblance they had to grassed fields.
The first day of competition saw the Muggles defeat the ANU Nargles, Welsh Green Mercenaries and the Northern Direwolves, but lose to a newly enhanced Melbourne Manticores team in what was probably the roughest game of the entire tournament. Day two saw the Muggles manage to turn their defeat the day before around and came away victorious in the semi-final against the Melbourne Manticores 80 to 20.
The Grand Final saw the Muggles facing off against the interstate mercenary team Stephen & Friends. An incredibly close game of wonderfully played Quidditch followed, with neither side really being able to get the upper hand of the game until the snitch was caught by new Muggles recruit Neil. The game finished with a 70 to 60 victory for the Muggles and gold medal winners of Melbourne Mudbash 2014.
Other highlights of Mudbash include Neil being awarded Best New Seeker, Maddie taking out Best New Chaser for the event, and of course the 14 people yellow carded for the group hug that occurred in the opening of the wooden spoon match between the Welsh Greens and the Northern Direwolves: truely a moment in Quidditch history.
The final highlight of Quidditch so far this year that has to be mentioned is the success of Australia’s team the Drop Bears at the recent global games in Canada. Six Victorian players were on the team, including the Muggles’ very own chaser/seeker/keeper Nathan. Excitement for this tournament had been mounting for months with the entirety of Australian Quidditch getting behind the representative team. When they managed to come home with silver from the tournament, the entire community was beside themselves. Never before have so many Quidkids flooded social media with stupidly tired 4am posts.
We can’t wait to see where the future of Quidditch will take us!
Find out more about the Monash Muggles