Welsh national quidditch team launched to compete in the Quidditch Premier League

Welsh national quidditch team launched to compete in the Quidditch Premier League

• Wales’ first national quidditch team, the Welsh Dragons, has been launched to compete in the Quidditch Premier League (QPL)

• This follows QPL’s highly successful inaugural season, where the West Midlands Revolution won the 2017 Championship. Try-outs for the Welsh Dragons will take place in the spring.

• The Welsh Dragons will enter the southern division of the League, competing in divisional fixtures against the London Monarchs, the Eastern Mermaids, the Southwest Broadside and the Southeast Knights before heading to the 2018 Championship.

• Quidditch is a competitive, inclusive sport with thousands of players worldwide. Many players play in university teams with a growing number of community teams in the UK. The sport is mixed gender and emphasises LGBT+ inclusivity.

• Photos of the QPL can be found here, credited to Jessica Cornelius

September 22, Cardiff: Wales’ first national quidditch team, the Welsh Dragons, 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 before being congratulated upon by JK Rowling.

Try-outs for the team being held in Spring 2018 and will be open to anyone who will be residing in Wales during the summer of 2018 or of Welsh birth, with both new and experienced players expected to compete for a spot on the team. The Welsh Dragons will be entering the Southern Division of the League, competing in multiple divisional fixtures before attending the 2018 Championship in August. The four other teams in the southern division are the London Monarchs, the Eastern Mermaids, the Southwest Broadside and the Southeast Knights.

Alongside the Welsh Dragons, Scotland’s first national quidditch team, the Scottish Thistles, will also be entering the league. The Scottish Thistles will be entering the Northern Division, competing against the West Midlands Revolution, the East Midlands Archers, the Northern Watch, and the Yorkshire Roses 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 Welsh Dragons and the Scottish Thistles 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 for the same reason.

To find out more about the Quidditch Premier League and the Welsh Dragons you can visit quidditchpremierleague.com and their Facebook page.