Scotland’s first national quidditch team, the Scottish Thistles, has been launched to compete in the 2018 season of the Quidditch Premier League (QPL). This comes after the QPL’s highly successful inaugural season where the West Midlands Revolution won the 2017 Championship – and were congratulated by JK Rowling!
Try-outs for the team are being held in Spring 2018 and will be open to anyone residing in Scotland during the summer of 2018 or of Scottish birth, with both new and experienced players expected to compete for a spot on the team.
The Scottish Thistles will be entering the Northern Division of the League, competing in multiple divisional fixtures before attending the 2018 Championship in August. The four other teams in the Northern division are the Yorkshire Roses, the West Midlands revolution, the East Midlands Archers and the Northern Watch.
Alongside the Scottish Thistles, Wales’ first national quidditch team, the Welsh Dragons will also be entering the league. The Welsh Dragons will be entering the Southern Division, competing against the London Monarchs, the Eastern Mermaids, the Southwest Broadside and the Southeast Knights at their divisional fixtures. All 10 teams will attend the Championship.
The League’s Director, Jack Lennard, said: ‘I am so excited to be launching the Scottish Thistles and the Welsh Dragons within the Quidditch Premier League in 2018. When we started last year, we were disappointed at having to limit our reach; now we can finally do justice to the amazing communities of players in these countries.
“To now have Welsh and Scottish national teams is incredible, and I hope it really galvanises engagement with the sport there. We want as much local support as possible – including local businesses sponsoring the teams! So make sure you keep an eye out for the 2018 tryout and fixture dates so you can cheer your country on!”
The 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 North Division and five in the South Division. The QPL season runs from June to August, with each team playing multiple divisional fixtures in the regular season. The playoffs include all ten teams competing in the QPL Championship fixture in August 2018, with the winning team being named as the QPL Champions for that season.
Inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, quidditch has developed into its own sport, with 20,000 competing international players, 25 competing countries, and an international rulebook. 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. Quidditch has also been labelled as the ‘world’s most progressive sport’ by VICE.
To find out more about the Quidditch Premier League and the Scottish Thistles, visit quidditchpremierleague.com and their Facebook page.
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