The recent changes to COVID-19 within the United Kingdom and the number of cases on a steady rise throughout the country have lead to an impact on the provisional QuidditchUK 2020/2021 season and tournaments. Wherever possible, QuidditchUK need to put the health and safety of their members first, and adjustments to planned events and timelines have been made accordingly to reflect this.

Everything listed below is pending on continuous recovery and review of COVID-19, and that any return to play timeline is both safe and viable for our clubs and members. We are constantly reviewing the situation both nationally and internationally, and reviewing official advice from Sport England and the UK Government.

Club Training

European Quidditch Cup

Updated Policies and Player Caps

Finally, and most importantly, with a rise in reported COVID-19 cases across the United Kingdom, QuidditchUK have made the decision to not host any tournaments or fixtures for the remainder of 2020.

This does, unfortunately, mean that there will be no Community Fixture in October and no University Cup in November. While this is disappointing and not an easy decision to make, we need to put the wellbeing of our community ahead of all else, and hosting hundreds of individuals in a close quarters contact sport puts too many people at risk.

When the new season had been drafted, all information had been pointing towards a steady decline in cases, and we believed there was a enough time between late June (when the events were drafted) and mid-October for the worst of COVID-19 to have passed and to for us safely host a tournament at the national or regional scale required. However, with numbers again on the rise, it would be irresponsible and unreasonable of us to ask and expect several hundred athletes and volunteers to travel to a singular area to compete in the current circumstances.

We are reviewing the situation and whether we can allow small club matches to take place within given regions over the course of the coming months on an unofficial level, but with the current number of growing cases this is not looking likely, as we are not planning to reintroduce contact to trainings in the near future.

We still intend to host official events in the second half of the year where possible, but the nature and scale of these events is still to be determined and will depend on the development of COVID-19 going forward. At this stage it is not out of the question that QuidditchUK hosts 1-3 events next year that would encompass the BQC and Development Cup aspects of our regular season, but QuidditchUK's Executive Management Team will take on this decision when there is more information available to determine whether this would be a safe plan of action.

Any developments in this planning process will be communicated with clubs and community members.

COVID-19 September Updates

COVID-19 Updates and Impacts on 20/21 Season

As we gear up towards slowly reopening the sport in the coming  months, we want to call attention to a few updates taking place within  QuidditchUK.

Everything listed below is pending on continuous recovery of  COVID-19, and that return to play is both safe and viable for our clubs  and members. We are constantly reviewing the situation both nationally  and internationally, and reviewing official advice from Sport England  and the UK Government. Essentially, the following dates/events are  subject to change, and should we no longer believe the dates for  tournaments are practical or safe, we will adjust and/or cancel  accordingly.

Please note, all following announcements will be open for discussion  at the upcoming General Forum this Monday 29th June. Please ensure your  club representatives are able to attend, including any brand new clubs  set to start next year. You can do so by emailing teams@quidditchuk.org.

QuidditchUK underwent several stages of community consultation in designing the 2020/2021 season. These included:

Community round-tables on 3rd and 10th March

Publicly released survey at the beginning of May, closed at the end of that same month. (219 respondents)

The proposals given here, including our commitment to a  university/community split, were informed by the feedback received at  every stage of this consultation. Some decisions, such as the size of  regional tournaments, were carried through multiple stages of  consultation to ensure that the final decision reflects the wishes of as  many players as possible. Many thanks to all our players who committed  their time and energy to guiding our decision-making.


A summary of the findings from these consultations can be found in  the Annexe of this document. A brief explanation of how these informed  our decision-making is given below. Please note that data from the  General Forum and round-tables was gathered prior to the lockdown in  response to the pandemic, and that this has prevented or postponed the  implementation of some suggestions. The public minutes from these consultations can be found in our Documents and Policies page.


General Forum raised concerns about whether a  divisional split would be more appropriate for teams to play those  ranked at a similar competitive level. Two divisional fixtures have been  introduced for community teams, but a mixed university-community  divisional structure has considerable practical impediments which are discussed here.  US Quidditch also advised that a university/community split provided  specific opportunities which could not be accommodated with a divisional  split. Concern was raised about how the status of individual players,  such as postgraduate students, would be handled. This issue was also  raised in discussion between QuidditchUK and US Quidditch. Some useful  suggestions for managing this concern were raised at the round-tables,  including geographical exemptions for players who cannot access a  community team; a “student minimum” cap rather than a “community  maximum”; and a phased approach over multiple seasons, rather than  implementing strict distinctions immediately. Some teams, particularly  those in Scotland and the Midlands, were concerned about a lack of  variety in opponents incurred by smaller regions. This question was  pursued in further consultations. Concern was expressed about the  proposed fee structure. It was agreed that this would be revisited, and  at this General Forum we are presenting a very different approach.


The round-tables followed up on General Forum by  raising discussion about the appropriate size of regionals;  opportunities for university and community teams to play each other; and  interest among community teams in summer play. There was mixed feedback  about appropriate regionals size, as smaller regionals are cheaper but  mean that teams play a less diverse range of opponents. This was  included in the survey to obtain further feedback. The response to  interest in a summer season for community teams was initially to move  community fixtures into late summer/early autumn, with a mid-season  break until spring. However, this has not been possible to propose for  the 2020/2021 season due to the COVID-19 outbreak preventing summer  training. We will review this when the pandemic is no longer a  complicating factor.


The community survey provided some clear-cut answers  to some of the issues raised above. The balance between smaller, more  affordable events and large, more competitively valuable events fell in  favour of larger events: 59% of respondents indicated a preference for  larger events. 63% of university respondents voted for larger regionals,  compared to 53% of community respondents. This is reflected in our  decision to provide larger regionals for university teams, and  divisional fixtures for community teams. A larger (32-team) BQC received  106 votes, while a smaller (24-team) BQC received 110 votes. University  players indicated greater interest in a larger (32-team) BQC. Due to  the very close divide in player base opinion, the following factors were  decisive in our delivery of a 24-team BQC:

It is cheaper both for QuidditchUK and for teams, in particular due to venue expense;

The  reported number of teams for the upcoming season indicates that a  32-team BQC may mean we cannot run a full Development Cup, of which the  importance is widely acknowledged by attendees;

A  smaller BQC makes a greater number of people available to volunteer,  either in tournament committee roles or as on-the-day volunteers, which  raises the quality of the event for everyone.

This allows us to run two high-quality, cheaper tournaments, rather  than investing more resources in running a larger, lower-quality  tournament, accompanied by a very small Development Cup or none at all.


The original projected timeline for consultation included a document  commentary, where a full draft of the season would be released for free  comment. Due to diverted volunteer resourcing in adjustments prompted by  the COVID-19 outbreak, this has not been possible. However, we hope  that the release of these documents, and the concomitant discussion at  General Forum, will provide sufficient opportunity to give feedback on  these proposals without a formal process.

Community Consultation and University/Community Split

The Executive Team and Events/Gameplay department have agreed upon a  final calendar of what the next QuidditchUK season will look like for 2020/2021.


As noted earlier, these dates are subject to change based on advice  surrounding COVID-19, and are yet to be discussed with club leaders at  the upcoming general forum.

Specific formats, including how seeding will be allocated, is under  review by QuidditchUK. Clubs will be updated when final decisions have  been reached and this calendar has been rolled out.

We are also updating our website, creating a tool that will make  quidditch easier to find for new people, and also streamline the  membership/event registration process for both players and club leadership. We’re on track for an early August launch.

Postcode Finder - Will inform anyone of their nearest club or event in the UK based on an input postcode

Quote Builder - A system that will allow clubs to automatically generate quotations for  tournaments and membership, specifically for clubs requiring funding  from their student unions or sponsors.

Full pages with contact details, club history, results, photos, and related news for each club.

Registration Fixes - Moving away from Google Forms entirely so we have a manageable system on the  QUK side, that also gives instant access to club leadership who has  registered for a team/tournament.

Easier access to grants, policies, minutes, programmes etc.

If you’re interested in assisting with development, please email technology@quidditchuk.org or media@quidditchuk.org

Part of this process is creating more informative pages that direct  new players towards your clubs. A form was sent out to existing clubs on  both email and social media in the last week. If your leadership has  not yet filled it out then please do so as soon as possible. Likewise,  if you did not receive it, please email teams@quidditchuk.org to request the form – particularly if you are a new club.

Finally, we are still recruiting two new Executive Volunteers to join  the QuidditchUK Executive Team: the Teams Director and Volunteers  Director.
For anyone interested in learning more about these roles or where/if you can step in, you can get in touch with president@quidditchuk.org or vicepresident@quidditchuk.org.

Table 2: Findings from community round-tables

Please note that only areas directly relevant to this proposal are  included. A full report of responses will be released separately.

Table 3: Findings from community consultation survey

Updates for the upcoming 2020/2021 season

Season 2020/2021 News

COVID-19 Updates and Impacts on 20/21 Season

General Forum, 2020/21 Season Updates, New Website, Director Roles