As if a handful of NESCAC championships were not enough, this past weekend, Middlebury snatched up another victory at the 2010 Quidditch World Cup in New York City. Middlebury’s Quidditch players, who recently returned from the first off-campus World Cup event, are an unusual bunch indeed.
This year’s squad is largely a fusion of members of last year’s top teams, the Purebloods and the Mudblood Rebellion. After earning the top spot in the 2009 Middlebury Cup, the Purebloods went on to represent Middlebury as World Cup Champions. Despite last year’s rivalry, the newly formed team had little difficulty in bonding this fall.
To begin with, many players already knew their former opponents, some through Quidditch in past years.
“A lot of us were working on Midd Cup stuff in general,” Leah Nagel ’12 said.
Most importantly, a common drive has united the team since its formation. “We’re all in it to win, and I think that brings us together,” Matt Engel ’11 said.
With a clear focus, the lines between former teams are easily blurred.
“I don’t really think of them as a new group,” Kathryn Nagel ’12 said. “When you fuse the two together, it’s like we’re a new team.”
With fresh resolve and a new name that was sure to have novice players quaking in their cleats, members of Constant Vigilance took to the pitch on Saturday, Oct. 30 ready to claim the Middlebury Cup. The watchful eyeball emblazoned on the back of each cape was surely disconcerting, but opponents truly had to worry about the combination of the players’ athletic prowess and sure, yet flexible, strategy.
“We played really well together during the Cup,” Leah Nagel said. With new lines of chasers and beaters, players had to get to know each other’s strengths and styles quickly. With some specialized players and others who excel in a variety of positions (all seekers, for example, double as chasers), Constant Vigilance was able to earn the top seed in the Cup, and then take down the other five teams in a double elimination tournament for the win.
Though the team did not hold official practice in preparation for the World Cup, games against UVM and Green Mountain College on Saturday, Nov. 6 provided valuable experience, especially in developing versatility.
“When you come up against new schools, you come up against different strategies,” Kathryn Nagel said. While the team was satisfied with handy victories over both UVM and GMC, she looks forward to the benefits of greater challenges. “Coming up against stronger competition will only help us,” she said.
Led by captains Kathryn Nagel and Adrienne Losch ’12, players met last week to discuss strategy. While it would have been unwise to reveal specifics, Leah Nagel emphasized “sound beating and keeping and good passing.”
According to Engel, representing the birthplace of Muggle Quidditch is an advantage in itself. “Just being Middlebury, we’re more intimidating right off the bat,” he said. From the moment the referee calls “Brooms up!,” “just going out there and being more aggressive” is of the utmost importance.
This year’s World Cup, held in New York City’s DeWitt Clinton Park, presented a challenge of unprecedented proportions. A total of 46 teams comprising 757 athletes competed in the Cup, many of whom Middlebury had never seen before. Despite nerves, players anticipated the event with excitement.
“The atmosphere there is going to be fantastic,” Leah Nagel said last week. Mentioning a blog post she had come across earlier that day, “It’s spreading virally,” she said. “It’s going to be ridiculous.” The enthusiasm was shared by a host of Midd Kids, as a fan bus with room for 55 students sold out promptly last week.
Still, the mood was slightly tempered by the game’s unpredictable nature.
“I strongly feel that we have the most skill going into New York,” Kathryn Nagel said, “but there is an element of chance.” With the ever-present possibility of a quick snatch of the snitch and a single-elimination tournament, “It only takes one little fluke to lose.”
Engel was energized by the prospect of heightened competition. “For me, as it gets more competitive, it turns into more of a real sport,” he said.
This recent explosion of new teams and publicity raises the question: What about the future of Quidditch?
“I don’t think it should be an NCAA sport, but I’d like to see it get bigger,” Engel said.
Similarly, Leah Nagel, whose former high school now has a Quidditch team in the works, believes that the sport will continue to grow but will still be deeply rooted here in Middlebury.
“It definitely will get more competitive on a national scene, and there will be some response here,” she said. Still, “I think a lot of people get really involved with Quidditch [at Middlebury], and I don’t see that changing.”
Kathryn Nagel expressed concerns about people taking the game too seriously.
“When a group of people go out there, run around and have fun — that’s the spirit of Quidditch in my view,” she said. “I would be sad if it got overly competitive and too structured and lost its spirit, but I think it still has room to grow and be a really popular game to play.”
For now, though, team members are thrilled to be a part of the transition from fledgling club to international phenomenon. “Any boy’s dream is to be on SportsCenter’s Top Ten,” Engel said before departing for New York. “That’s my goal for the weekend.”
Check out what Middlebury Quidditch Tri-Commissioners Kate Olen '11, Andy Hyatt '12 and Phil Palmer '12 have to say about the World Cup and the future of Quidditch by clicking here.
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