Regional Tournaments Locations and Dates Announced
QuidditchUK are incredibly excited to announce that our regional tournaments for this season will take place at the following dates and venues:
NORTHERN CUP 2018
10th/11th NOVEMBER - (Sheffield Hallam Sports Park)
https://www.shu.ac.uk/current-students/sport
After a massively successful Northern Cup last year, we’re excited to return to Sheffield Hallam once again. With floodlights, artificial pitches, high quality fields, changing rooms, and ample space for our athletes to compete and spectate, Sheffield Hallam promises to provide yet another great weekend of quidditch.
SOUTHERN CUP 2018
24th/25th NOVEMBER - (Sevenoaks Knole Academy)
https://www.knoleacademy.org/
After some (read: a lot) of hunting, we’re happy to confirm that Southern will be hosted by Knole Academy this November. In line with our Northern tournament we will have access to floodlights, artificial pitches, high quality fields, and space for our athletes to compete, eat, and relax throughout the weekend.
This new season promises to be one of the most competitive QuidditchUK has ever seen, with regionals determining not only who will compete in the British Quidditch Cup next April, but also deciding who moves forward to compete at the European Qualifier Tournament, and ultimately represent us against the best Europe has to offer at the European Quidditch Cup next year.
With the rise of new teams across the United Kingdom, we cannot wait to see all of our clubs competing again this November.
The bidding process for regionals this year was handled more on the QuidditchUK side, though bidding packages were released to clubs as well should they wish to submit a venue to host us.
Initially, Northern was penned to be hosted in Manchester, however due to losing access to both artificial pitches and floodlights we could no longer host a tournament at the standard we were aiming for. We were then approached by Sheffield Hallam who offered to host us once again, providing their excellent facilities to our athletes.
Southern also came with it’s share of complications, November plays host to a range of sports that make use of many high-end sporting facilities. Initially we had lined up Wide Lane Sports Ground in Southampton, but due to block bookings that utilised their floodlit grounds by football and rugby clubs on our preferred dates, both parties deemed it impractical for an event as large as Southern. We also had Shaftesbury Park in Bristol lined up as our next option, however a home rugby game for their 1st XV women’s team meant that their floodlit facilities were also out of commission.
Oxford Brookes also placed a bid for Southern, however a lack of artificial pitches and floodlights meant it wouldn’t be suitable for the winter tournament.
Ultimately Knole Academy were able to provide the level of facility that QuidditchUK were happy to have host one of our flagship events, and we’re excited to see our athletes come together later this November.
We would like to apologise for the delay in providing confirmation, as we know there were frustrations expressed by our members while waiting for this announcement. The unexpected complications, brought on by our requirements for artificial pitches and floodlights, significantly reduced the potential venues we could draw on and brought on delays and cancellations with what would otherwise be great venues for our tournaments.
For QuidditchUK, sourcing these venues with a need for marked artificial pitches and floodlights has proven difficult with the popularity of high end sports grounds for more traditional sports. However with the outreach made by QuidditchUK, we have made contact with several venues that are excited to host future QuidditchUK events. To avoid delays like this in the future we will be releasing our 2019/2020 bids before summer, and approaching our new venue contacts to lock in our flagship tournaments.
We would also like to thank the volunteers who worked tirelessly in sourcing and finalising these venues for us. In particular Genevieve Tyrell and her entire events team; Tom Ower, Olly Nyugen, and Harry Smith are also greatly appreciated in their assistance in their venue search.
Regional Tournament Committee positions will be open for application shortly here:
