Ditto! on Quidditch Pitch

Captain Jose Hernandez

January 27, 2011 11:29 AM

Pecari Try-Outs/Practice by Captain Jose Hernandez

After a few days passed and no additional names were put up onto the sign-up sheet, Jose arranged for Pecari to have the Pitch the next Sunday afternoon and put up a notice on the bulletin board saying as much. That would give enough time for people to rearrange their schedules if necessary (though it probably wasn't this early in the year) or for anyone who missed the first notice but saw the second to get their name up (he wasn't really expecting that either, though - he already had eight names and the new Pecari class wasn't very big).

So as the hour of 2pm rolled around, Jose was waiting out on the Pitch for his new team to arrive. He'd brought out a few extra school brooms when he picked up one for himself, and he had the box of Quidditch balls beside him as well.

Once everyone had arrived, he clapped his hands to get their attention, and said with a grin, "Hello, Pecari Team. Congratulations, you all made it on. I am Captain Jose Hernandez, for those who don't know me, and Demelza Eagle is our Assistant Captain," he pointed out Mel.

"We've got eight players but Dana," he nodded at the only person on the pitch older than he was, "just wants to be an alternate, so that's what she is. Thanks, Dana." He grinned gratefully at the sixth year girl, because it was good to know he had a back-up player if anyone got sick. Crotalus had needed to pull a completely untrained person onto their team for the final when that happened to them. Jose had gotten lucky that he hadn't run into that problem when he'd only had a seven person team.

"Starbuck Gregory," he continued around with the introductions, since Demetra certainly didn't and Dana might not know everybody, "is our Keeper. For Beaters, we're going to have Demetra and Mel," he nodded first to the new first year (recognizable by being the only person Jose didn't know already), and then back at the assistant captain.

"Unfortunately, we've got four people signed up for Chaser and nobody for Seeker, so for Chasers we'll keep last year's line-up," he pointed at each person as he named them, "Delilah Kerrigan, Neal Padrig, and Sophie Jamison. I'll take Seeker this year," he'd tried Beater last year when they were down one of those, and he was kind of looking forward to trying out Elly's old spot for a year until someone else laid claim to it, "unless anybody else really wants it." He looked mostly at the three Chasers as he made that offer, since that was his primary position and he knew Starbuck and Mel definitely didn't want it.

Once that was settled, he nodded up toward the sky. "I guess now were just in a normal practice. It's been a summer for some of us since we got to really fly much," he certainly didn't have an opportunity to do so over break and he knew Starbuck hadn't either, "so we'll start with just a few laps." It would give him a chance to see how well Detmetra handled a broom as well. He picked up the Quaffle and threw it toward the nearest player. "Just for fun and practice, we'll throw around a Quaffle while we fly, too. Okay, everybody in the air. Fly that way!" He gestured in a clockwise circle to demonstrate which way around the pitch they were going to be flying.

He mounted his own broom and headed up into the sky.

OOC: Walk-ons are welcome. Just give a call out that you're here during the 'Anybody want to be Seeker?' pause and I'll retrofit the try-out as necessary. Anyone who wants the seeker spot, speak up, and Jose will trade with you. Otherwise, post and have fun.

Subthreads:

I was born for this! by Demelza Eagle with Sophie Jamison, Delilah Kerrigan

Hey Jose! I have a proposition to make! by Neal Padrig with Cap'n Jose, Neal

0 Captain Jose Hernandez Pecari Try-Outs/Practice 0 Captain Jose Hernandez 1 5

Demelza Eagle

February 03, 2011 11:07 PM

I was born for this! by Demelza Eagle

All Sunday morning Demelza had to resist the temptation to run down to the Quidditch pitch and start flying. She was so excited for practice! She tried sleeping in, doing homework, playing her guitar, and running around the school to see if she could do it in under 5 minutes, but none of it helped pass time like she wanted it to. Her ADD made her get bored of doing one thing too long and get distracted from it easily. However, her ADHD was making her want to jump up and down. The combination was not good.

When it was 1:30, Demelza just couldn't stand to wait any longer. She put down her half-eaten hamburger and then left the Cascade hall to grab her broom, bat and gloves, and then skipped down to the Quidditch Pitch. She went up to Jose and gave him a high-five when she saw him, grinning widely. She looked around at everyone else who came and was glad to see that she knew most of them except the first year and a girl who she recognized as a sixth year.

"Hello, Pecari Team. Congratulations, you all made it on. I am Captain Jose Hernandez, for those who don't know me, and Demelza Eagle is our Assistant Captain," Jose introduced her to everyone, and Mel waved, mainly to the first year she didn't know. Starbuck and Delilah were her roommates, so of course she knew them, and Neal and Sophie were on the team last year. Mel was a bit surprised and disappointed when he announced that Demetra would play the beater position along with Mel. Jose had done a pretty good ob as beater last year. Besides that, who would play seeker? Shouldn't the smallest and lightest player have the honor to play that position? She shrugged. When she was captain, she would check first to see if the newcomer could actually play the position they signed up for.

"I'll take seeker this year, unless anyone else wants it." Mel didn't say anything. She just crossed her muscular arms across her body and kept her mouth shut. It wasn't like she was going to volunteer for that spot. She couldn't play seeker! She was too tall (5'9") and weighed too much. Far from graceful, she could barely even focus on finding the little golden ball for such a long time anyway. No, beater was her position and she wouldn't change that. The fifteen-year-old was impressed by how flexible Jose was with what position he wanted to play. Still…she preferred to have him by her side as beater. At least then she knew that she would be with someone dependable.

With her brown tee-shirt and yellow short-shorts on and long, chocolate brown hair in a high ponytail, the Pecari mounted her broom and kicked off the ground, breathing in deeply. She loved the feeling right when she was ascending into the air and a gust of wind knocked gently into her face, especially on a hot day. She opened her green eyes and then started to take laps around the pitch, moving as fast as she could on her two-year-old broom that she got as a present from her dad. Not the best broom in speed, but Demelza was pretty good at controlling her broom. After all, she had to be the very best if she wanted to make it as a professional one day. Her body jolted slightly forward as she tried to make the broom obey her and move faster.

About 2 or 3 years ago, Demelza wouldn’t have cared about how fast she was moving. She would probably have thrown her hands into the air and ride her broom with no hands. But she had learned that being reckless on a broom led to injuries, and sometimes injuries lead to serious damage, like amnesia. Mel couldn’t afford to have any more injuries. She had to be safer, even if she didn’t like it, so both her hands were gripping her broom.

After she finished three laps, she glided through the air and caught the quaffle when Jose passed it to her. Admittedly, she wanted to whack a few bludgers (which did a whole lotta good for Mel than just train her), but she wasn’t going to start defying Jose’s orders. He was captain and all. She supposed she would have to smack a few bludgers with Demetra later to determine how well she could play. For now, however, she turned to the person flying on her right and threw the quaffle to them with probably more force than necessary and passed it to them with her left hand. Demelza had good accuracy and could take some really nasty shorts on goal, but she couldn’t regulate her strength. This was why she wasn’t a chaser. Sure, she could aim it directly toward someone, but it’d probably go flying over them because she wasn’t used to regulating her force applied to her throws. When she was a beater she just hit the ball with as much force as possible every time. The same didn’t apply for chaser, which was a bummer because thy usually got the most credit for winning the game, right next to the seeker. Defense got nowhere near as much recognition, not that Demelza cared a whole lot. Quidditch wasn’t something she did for attention; Quidditch was a hobby, her favorite activity. Mel hoped that whoever she passed the ballot knew that she tended to throw harder than necessary so that they wouldn’t be mad at her or something when it jammed their finger.

0 Demelza Eagle I was born for this! 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Sophie Jamison

February 04, 2011 9:30 PM

Ditto! by Sophie Jamison

Today’s the day! Today’s the day! These were the words that shot threw Sophie’s mind as she awoke, the letters that appeared in her head as her blue eyes snapped open. Quidditch practice was today, and so the blonde was eager to get her day going. She discovered the time; unfortunately, it was still only six in the morning, and practice wasn’t until two in the afternoon!

A groan escaped her. What was she supposed to do for six hours?! Her homework? Feh! Instead, she popped out of bed--as quiet as she could, not wanting to disturb her possibly-sleeping roommate, although she still wasn’t all that quiet--and shuffled through her clothes. What should she wear for practice? Digging through, she settled on a silver skirt--trimmed with pink and reading brightly on her left hip Jamison--with shorts attached underneath. Quidditch plus regular skirt would equal bad. On top she donned a nice pink tee-shirt that said in bold grey letters on the back her last name, just like the skirt did. After lacing up her black high tops, Sophie was ready for practice.

But it had only been twenty minutes. Again, the twelve year old groaned. Glancing around, she found nothing to keep herself entertained, so she went down for breakfast. Food was consumed, and then it was seven. I’ll just die! she thought bitterly.

Sophie was nearly bored to tears, and, having nothing else to do, she headed off to the Quidditch pitch. So what practice wasn’t for five hours? She could wait.

That was just what she did. Her breakfast had been large--larger than usual, in any case--so hunger around lunchtime did not disturb her. In fact, around eight-thirty, she fell asleep in the grass. The next thing she knew, she pried her eyelids open and saw her team beginning to gather. Hastily, she ran over.

Captain Jose spoke for a while, giving virtually the same information as the try-outs the term before but with minor alterations. Sophie didn’t really listen that well, still somewhat asleep. Eventually it was flight time, and the second year hopped on her broom and was off.

Flying around, she watched Jose toss the Quaffle to Mel. The Quaffle was then coming to her via Mel, and she caught it, but not without some degree of difficulty. Mel was a strong girl, so she had of coursed braced herself, but it had not been enough to ease the catch. Grinning, Sophie passed the Quaffle off to a near flyer. She wasn’t that big, but her arms were stronger than they looked, so she hoped the person was on their guard.

12 Sophie Jamison Ditto! 34 Sophie Jamison 0 5

Delilah Kerrigan

February 04, 2011 9:35 PM

I was born. by Delilah Kerrigan

Another year, another tryout. This would be her fourth tryout. Though, in her second year, she had served as just an alternate due to academic discipline from her father. Seriously, was she already a fourth year? It was hard to believe that so much time had passed so quickly. She remembered when she had been the eager first year, wanting so much to prove how well she could play. Now, she didn’t have to prove that she could play well just prove that she was still the best person for the job and she knew she was. She might never be a professional Quidditch player, and now she was questioning what she wanted to do at all, but she knew she was still strong enough to help Pecari and hopefully, this year, they would win.

Of course, that all started here with the tryout. She leaned on her broom while Captain Jose made his speech to introduce everyone, which was mainly for the first year’s benefit. She was a little surprise when he decided to put the girl into the beater spot. It wasn’t like they had never had first years in the spot before. Heck, Demelza had been in that spot right off the bat, but it was more concern for the girl. Mel could be harsh. It’s what made her good at the job, but would the younger girl be able to keep up? She supposed they would find out today and Jose would make any necessary adjustments. After all, it was about the good of the team, not the individual. The brunette always tried to remember that.

Though, she was more surprised by the fact that Jose was willing to take the Seeker spot. She wondered if he was sacrificing himself since he looked at the Chasers when he asked about it. Honestly, she had considered it. She had nearly opened her mouth to volunteer for the position. She had the build for it. She was thin and on the smaller side. Unfortunately, she would never be able to see the blasted thing and really she didn’t want that much responsibility resting on her shoulders. She would feel horrible if she let her team down by not catching the golden ball. No, it was just too much. So, she let it go. Jose would be much better at it anyhow. He never seemed to let anything get to him the way she did.

When it was time to do laps, Delilah kicked off the ground and joined the group. Mel’s throw was hard. She guessed part of the territory that came with being a Beater. Thankfully, she had dealt with her fellow quidditch player long enough to know her and could adjust for it. Still smarted though. She flew a quarter lap before passing it along to the next in line. Hers was an easy pass. She wasn’t trying to maim anyone. As a chaser, she wanted her teammates to be able to catch and maintain the quaffle.

0 Delilah Kerrigan I was born. 158 Delilah Kerrigan 0 5

Delilah

February 05, 2011 12:25 PM

Logicstics OOC by Delilah

Since I didn't see Sophie's post go up five minutes before mine and was unaware that she was posting, not to mention it doesn't really work for Mel to pass to both players, let's just assume that Mel passed to Sophie and then Delilah got it. So, whoever goes next, Delilah is the one who passed to them. Thanks!

0 Delilah Logicstics OOC 0 Delilah 0 5

Neal Padrig

February 07, 2011 12:25 AM

Hey Jose! I have a proposition to make! by Neal Padrig

Having been counting on Quidditch to be every bit as awesome as it had been his first two years, Neal had showed up to try-outs looking much more confident in himself than he had previous years. His first year he had applied because he was into Muggle sports, but his lack of experience when juxtaposed to all the other players left him feeling like he wasn’t as useful of a player as he’d like to be. His second year was just him firmly cementing his spot on the team while feeling like he was more helpful than detrimental to play with. By now he was familiar with the sport and his team enough to expect that they were not only going to have a good season this year, but that he was going to have fun. He was determined to see these things happen anyways.

It helped that today was a good day so far. Whatever inexplicable mood swings that left him forlorn one moment and just fine the next were getting on his last nerve. Though he wasn’t about to complain, because Merlin knows he had enough obvious issues and he didn’t want to get any more. He wasn’t about to broadcast any sorts of problems he had with anyone anytime soon. He just didn’t feel close enough to do that with anyone and didn’t want to deal with their opinions on him on top of his opinions on himself. It was just too much pressure, more than he cared to handle.

A few new players were introduced, but none of them bothered him in the slightest and he made sure to smile at them and let them know that he welcomed them to the team. What had him confused was where Dorian was. He hadn’t seen his name on the sign-up sheet, but he assumed his roommate would just do it after he had. Well then, what happened? Was he sick of playing or something? Slightly vexed by these sorts of thoughts, Neal sighed to himself and wondered if this was the start of a Bad Day. Both his roommates seemed to bail out on him with this, and he couldn’t help but feel bummed out over it.

He couldn’t imagine he was the only one feeling slightly out of sorts with himself. Jose had to change the position he played again. Maybe he liked to play all of those positions, in which case Neal couldn’t knock him, but it still seemed unfair. It seemed like Jose changed every year the team had, which was essentially what happened. Didn’t he want to be Chaser anymore, or did he really not care? Then there was Neal. He loved Chasing, but hadn’t he been berating himself over not instigating anything interesting in his life? Signing up to be Seeker might not be anything world changing, but it was at least a start.

Even up in the air, Neal was still debating the issue. Instead of flying right to get into things with Sophie and Delilah, he went off toward Jose. If there was anyone it’d be useful to talk about this with, it should be that guy. “Hey, Jose! Can I have a minute?” He stopped his broom slightly in front of his captain’s and tried to not look like he was thinking as much as he was. “I was sort of thinking – I mean, you didn’t even sign up for Seeker and you already were Beater, and I feel like I should be doing something different, and – “ he shook his head to clear his thought, guessing he wasn’t making any sense. It might have to do with the fact even his line of thinking somewhat evaded him at the moment. “Sorry, what I’m trying to say is that I don’t have a problem trying out for Seeker, unless you really want the spot.” Thinking that should pretty much convey his whole reason for coming over, Neal waited to hear what Jose had to say about it. He knew he should have said something earlier, but late was better than never.

0 Neal Padrig Hey Jose! I have a proposition to make! 0 Neal Padrig 0 5

Cap'n Jose

February 08, 2011 2:43 PM

Hey Neal! How 'bout a counter-proposal? by Cap'n Jose

When nobody spoke up immediately, Jose chalked up his roster mentally and settled himself comfortably into the Seeker slot. He flew around the pitch with the rest of his team, catching the ball when someone threw it to him and passing it on. It felt comfortable and easy, and he guessed it must be like riding a bike since he hadn't thrown a Quaffle since his third year.

After about the second lap, he noticed Neal come up alongside him. In a game, he would assume the younger player was trying to steal the Quaffle, but he didn't currently have it and they were on the same team besides, so he slowed his pace slightly to allow for a little more ease in conversation.

Eventually, Jose figured out what Neal was trying to get across and he couldn't help but feel a little bit of disappointment that he was either going to have turn down Neal's offer (which was clearly made for Jose's benefit and it felt kind of ungrateful to do so) or give up Seeker. And it was entirely possible that Neal was downplaying his interest in playing the position as much as Jose was and if Neal wanted it, he probably should get it.

Jose, after all, was two years older than Neal. While the Pecari captain was, unfortunately, entirely too short for his taste (Mel had several inches on him), he still thought he topped Neal in weight (if not by a lot) and Seekers were supposed to be light and quick.

"How's this," Jose said after a few seconds of consideration. "You take it this year, and next year, if we're still down a Seeker, I'll take it back if you still prefer Chaser." Another year would undoubtedly put Neal at Bigger Than Jose since it was unlikely Jose would ever be taller than 5'3" (Dad was 5'2" and Jose's greatest fear was that he wouldn't even best that) and Neal's year was catching up fast to him.

0 Cap'n Jose Hey Neal! How 'bout a counter-proposal? 0 Cap'n Jose 0 5

Neal

February 08, 2011 5:59 PM

It’s been nice doing business with you by Neal

Neal was expecting an answer along the lines of ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ He got neither. "You take it this year, and next year, if we're still down a Seeker, I'll take it back if you still prefer Chaser," Jose had said after thinking it over, which didn’t seem to like a straightforward answer. Or maybe Neal was just putting too much thought into it. After all, Jose wouldn’t have given him an opportunity to try it out if he didn’t want the third year to have it, right? Besides, like Jose had said, he could always give it back to Jose next year if things worked out well enough. It seemed like a fair trade-off.

Smiling because he had something different to look forward to now (even if it wasn’t anything too life-altering), he nodded toward his upperclassman. “And that’s why you’re captain. Sounds like a good deal. Thanks, Jose!”

Now he could go back to the scrimmage with a clear head, with enough direction to stop asking himself so many questions and work on brushing up Seeker-oriented skills. He would miss getting to work in a three-person cell, but the chance to do something new would be awesome. More than likely he’d go back to Chasing, but this year he felt like he needed to do things like this and see what he could do with himself besides the same ol’ same ol.’ Thank goodness he did get a shot like this early in the year. Now all he had to do was a decent job so he wouldn’t disappoint Jose for giving it to him and this could turn out to be a good thing.

0 Neal It’s been nice doing business with you 0 Neal 0 5

Demetra Mason

February 08, 2011 11:47 PM

I live and breath this stuff. by Demetra Mason

Demetra was nervous, and there were no other word for it. She knew she was good at Quidditch, and she was positive she was an excellent beater, but when she woke up, she felt like puking. This would determine her life for the next seven years. She needed to make a good impression. When she finally allowed herself to get out of her bed, she still had four hours left.

She took much longer than usual as she prepared for the day. After showering, she dug out an old grey t-shirt with a recreational team name across it. It was only a couple moths previously that she had played for them, but it felt like forever ago. She clothed herself in it and a simple pair of black sweatpants. She tamed her mess of frizz and curls into a ponytail. She added her purple high-tops, and grabbed her broom. She ended up sitting on her bed with her broom beside her, doodling, until it finally came time.

She sprinted down to the field, her excitement stretching as she advanced. Once all the team was together, the captain announced that they were all on the team and Demetra let out a sigh of relief. Now all she had to do was prove herself to six other students who were quite a bit bigger than her. Despite wanting nothing more than to grab her bat, she followed directions and took off for laps.

She pushed her broom faster and faster as she went, rejoicing in the feel of the wind. She sighed slightly in frustration as they began to throw the Quaffle. She was mediocre out of her positions and she would never prove herself this way. As it reached her, she caught it without difficulty, but nit very gracefully. She gave it a mighty toss to the next person. The other Beater had done the same, and she might as well show off her arm strength.

0 Demetra Mason I live and breath this stuff. 0 Demetra Mason 0 5