2015 IQA European Games

The 2015 IQA European Games, also known simply as the European Games, was the inaugural European championship for the sport of quidditch organized jointly by Sarteano2015, Quidditch Europe and the International Quidditch Association. The tournament was held the weekend of the 24–26 July 2015 in the city of Sarteano, Italy. France took first[2] against the United Kingdom with a final score of 90*–50,[3] and Norway came in third winning 150*–80[4] against Belgium.[5]

European Games
2015
Tournament information
SportQuidditch
LocationSarteano, Italy
Dates25–26 July 2015
Administrator(s)International Quidditch Association
Quidditch Europe
Tournament
format(s)
Pool play
Single elimination bracket
Host(s)Associazione Italiana Quidditch
Venue(s)Pian di Mengole
Teams12
Final positions
Champion France[1]
1st runner-up United Kingdom
2nd runner-up Norway
Tournament statistics
Matches played38

As these were the first European Games and since Quidditch is still expanding in Europe, the only requirement for teams wishing to compete was to have a national governing body. Planning is underway for the 2017 European Games. Quidditch Europe and the IQA will work together and start accepting bids in the 2015–2016 season.

Organization

After a bidding process released by Quidditch Europe and the IQA,[6] Sarteano was announced as the winner.[7] Building up to the events, Sarteano established several marketing campaigns across the country, across Europe and in the United States. Teams arrived to major airports within Italy with buses prepared to transport athletes to the site of the Games. The pitches themselves were maintained and organized to offer teams space to practise, to rest and to take shelter. Additionally, the town organized several entertainment events open to the public, from workshops to live concerts.[8]

Competing teams

The following twelve teams competed in the 2015 European Games:[9]

     Winner      Runner-up      Third place      Participant
TeamNumber of athletesNational governing bodyPrevious appearances in World Cup[lower-alpha 1]
 Belgium21Belgian Quidditch Federation1 (2014)
 Catalonia21Associació de Quidditch de Catalunya
 France21Fédération du quidditch français2 (2012, 2014)
 Germany14Deutscher Quidditchbund
 Ireland8Quidditch Ireland
 Italy (host)20Associazione Italiana Quidditch
 Netherlands13Muggle Quidditch Nederland
 Norway17Norges Rumpeldunkforbund
 Poland7Polska Liga Quidditcha
 Spain21Asociación Quidditch España
 Turkey14Quidditch Derneği
 United Kingdom21QuidditchUK2 (2012, 2014)

Broadcasting

Unlike many other quidditch events, there was no livestream available. However, volunteers updated a live Twitter account for online followers and several media outlets were present to report on the games.

Match officials

As the games happened during the off-season for most leagues, several officials came from the United States and Canada to referee and snitch events. Most teams supplied volunteer referees to fill in gaps where there was a lack of availability of non-playing officials. There were no player-snitches; in fact, the snitch with the most play time was Nicole Stone of QuidditchUK nicknamed "Little Snitch".

Marketing
Sarteano, Italy

The city of Sarteano established an aggressive marketing campaign that extended beyond the city's and country's borders. Importantly, craftspeople and artisans across the city started to sell European Games wares available for a limited amount of time such as pottery, wine and cheese. One of the most ambitious advertising campaigns run was for free bottles of specialty wine where adverts were places across European cities[10] and even in New York.[11]

Structure and results

The tournament structure consisted of an initial pool play where pools consisted of pots which were based on EQC rankings[12] and seasonal performance matched up.[13] The top four teams from each group then would proceed to bracket play, where brackets were decided using the following criteria: games won, head-to-head, QPD[note 1] and SWIM catches.[note 2] Finally, matches will end in semi-finals, third place final and the gold medal match.[13]

Notes
  1. QPD stands for "quaffle point differential" where the final score is tallied ignoring the 30 points given when the snitch is caught. QPD is capped at ±150 per game.
  2. SWIM stands for "snitch when it matters" coming into play when a team wins when within snitch range, i.e. ± 30 pts.

Group A
Pos Team W L QPD SWIM Qualification
1  France 5 0 +570 0 Qualify for knock-out phase 360*–10160*–10190*–30190*–60150*–50
2  Belgium 4 1 +380 0 150*–0140*–20190*–50140–50*
3  Turkey 3 2 −40 1 200*–0100*–30100*–80
4  Catalonia 2 3 −30 0 190*–0160*–70
5  Spain 1 4 −170 0 170*–0
6  Poland 0 5 −720 0

Group B
Pos Team W L QPD SWIM Qualification
1  United Kingdom 5 0 +500 0 Qualify for knock-out phase 260*–0200–30*120–30*110*–30100*–40
2  Norway 4 1 +370 0 280*–10220*–080–50*110*–40
3  Italy 3 2 +170 0 180*–0120*–20100*–30
4  Germany 2 3 −20 0 110–50*120–40*
5  Netherlands 1 4 −480 1 60*–30
6  Ireland 0 5 −540 0

Bracket phase
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
 France160
 
 
 
 Germany30*
 
 France110*
 
 
 
 Norway40
 
 Norway160*
 
 
 
 Turkey50
 
 France90*
 
 
 
 United Kingdom50
 
 United Kingdom190*
 
 
 
 Catalonia0
 
 United Kingdom80*
 
 
 
 Belgium40 Third place
 
 Belgium90
 
 
 
 Italy30*
 
 Norway150*
 
 
 Belgium80
 

Final rankings
RankTeam
 France
 United Kingdom
 Norway
4 Belgium
5 Italy
6 Turkey
7 Catalonia
8 Germany
9 Spain
10 Netherlands
11 Ireland
12 Poland

Prizes

The European Games offered two prizes in total: First Place and MVP. The first place prize was a handcrafted, metal sculpture created by a local artisan for this event,[14] which was awarded to Team France upon their win. The MVP award, a hand-painted artwork,[15] went to player Ollie Craig for his efforts within the tournament.[16]

See also

References
  1. Bold: winner, Italics: host.
  1. IQA European Games [@@IQAEuroGames] (26 July 2015). "France with the catch to win European Games" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 July 2015 – via Twitter.
  2. Marmer, Andrew (26 July 2015). "France Captures European Games Over UK". The Quidditch Post. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  3. IQA European Games [@@IQAEuroGames] (26 July 2015). "Final score 90*-50 France" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 July 2015 – via Twitter.
  4. IQA European Games [@@IQAEuroGames] (26 July 2015). "Belgium with a last minute goal and Norway with the snitch catch!!! Final score is 150*-80 with Norway winning the bronze!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 July 2015 – via Twitter.
  5. Scammell, Rosie (26 July 2015). "France beats Britain to win first European Quidditch Games". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  6. "Quidditch Europe Announces the Inaugural European Games". Quidditch Europe. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  7. Philipson, Alice (21 July 2015). "First Quidditch European Games to be held in Tuscany". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  8. Gigliotti, Mirco (13 July 2015). "Elethnica". Sarteano2015. Archived from the original on 2015-07-28. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  9. "Tournament and Teams". Sarteano2015, IQA, Quidditch Europe. Archived from the original on 2015-05-19. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  10. Sarteano2015 (8 July 2015). "Catch the Snitch". Facebook. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  11. Sarteano2015 (8 July 2015). "Catch the Snitch". Facebook. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  12. "EQC III Announcement". Quidditch Europe. Facebook. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  13. Sarteano, Quidditch Europe, International Quidditch Association (5 July 2015). "Tournament Structure". Archived from the original on 27 July 2015.
  14. Gigliotti, Mirco (21 July 2015). "European Quidditch Champion Cup". Sarteano2015. Archived from the original on 2015-07-27. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  15. Gigliotti, Mirco (21 July 2015). "Best Player Award". Sarteano2015. Archived from the original on 2015-07-28. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  16. Howat, Fiona K.T. (26 July 2015). "FYI - Ollie got awarded MVP of EG! #captainSuave". Facebook. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
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