Beater one, reporting for duty on Cascade Hall

The Coach

December 18, 2022 12:03 AM

Quidditch Sign Ups by The Coach

Last year, Quidditch had played second fiddle to the Challenges. It had still been on, and Sonora had still competed just as much against other schools, but it had been far from the main event on everyone’s mind, and they hadn’t made any extra exhibition events at school. Still, the coach hoped that this year would be a stable one for the team—they’d only had one player graduate out, so there weren’t a huge number of spots to fill. Maybe it could even be a good year for growth, depending on the enthusiasm of the incoming first years.

There was only one way to find out, and that was to put up the sign up sheet. It was up promptly, in time for the first breakfast of term, along with notices giving explanations of the different positions. The notice was large, and eye-catching without being an eye-sore. It was written in Sonora green for neutrality, with some gold stars which twinkled gently, and some small animated figures zooming about on brooms.

Join the Sonora Quidditch Team!
Open to players of all ages and experiences levels.
Sign up below with your name, year, house and preferred position(s) if known.
Any questions, speak to the coach or a senior player.

Tryouts will be held on Saturday Xth at 9am on the Pitch

OOC: Hi. I know in the past few years we've combined sign ups with try outs. I figured just having a sign up might be a bit of a lower impact task for people to get done, as I'm not sure I have a totally clear idea of everyone who's involved, or what they'd be up for playing.

Hopefully, if we get clear sign up info, we can make a reasonable guess about positions and maybe post some other fun events later in the year.

Subthreads:

Beater one, reporting for duty by Oz Spellman with Billy Cobb, Cole Pierce, Yaniel Ayala Velez

Just what I've been Seeking! by Valentine Duell with Alexander Pierce

Chasing my dreams! by Leo Lyons with Fortune Ardovini, Donovan Peters, Quillan Arcadius

Let's play this! by Xarryn Bavol

Overthinking things. by Nicholas Pierce

I should probably do this by Ida Stanford

13 The Coach Quidditch Sign Ups 0 The Coach 1 5

Oz Spellman

December 18, 2022 1:16 AM

Beater one, reporting for duty by Oz Spellman

Oz was hyped for Quidditch. It was still totally weird to think of himself as one of the oldest in general school terms. Sure, when he saw the first years, they seemed like tiny little children, but he also kept expecting someone older and more experienced than him to be telling him what to do all the time. And right now, there were the seventh years, so that still held true, but that was it. It was a rapidly shrinking margin between him and being some kind of actual kinda “adult” which definitely sounded fake. In Quidditch though, he could believe it. He was bigger, stronger, more experienced. He knew what he was doing, and felt good doing it. The format of the team meant they’d always had to take a lot of responsibility for the younger players, and the Beater squad had been a pretty steady group of them for a few years now, so Oz really felt in his stride with it. He was pretty sure he’d even got Yarielis to actually smile last year, so he was crushing it.

He got his name on the list at the absolute earliest opportunity. Which was the first day, but not the very start of breakfast, as he was not a morning person, even if school in general and Quidditch were probably going to start trying to force that habit back into him.

Oz Spellman, 6th year Pecari, Beater.

13 Oz Spellman Beater one, reporting for duty 1514 0 5

Billy Cobb

December 18, 2022 8:58 AM

The other beater I guess by Billy Cobb

Billy was watching for the Qudditch sign up sheet to get posted. Once he spotted it, he hurried over to be the first one on the list. Dang it! Oz had beat him, just 'cause he'd been a little slower getting out the door this morning, and may have gotten a little distracted in the halls as well. Well, he'd just have to.... hmm... no there wasn't enough room to put his name above Oz's. Oh well. He scrawled his information just under his roommate's.

Billy Cobb, 6th year, Pecari, Beater

This was going to be a good year, he just knew it. He'd actually been able to get some flying practice in over the summer. The house had some (fairly old) brooms that he'd been able to use. Even though they'd been kinda old, they had been good brooms. Ulrich hadn't had any other Quidditch gear though, and he'd had to stay close to the house, but it'd still been worlds better than nothing.

Now he was back and ready to play properly again. He hadn't been able to bring one of the brooms from home. He hadn't wanted to try and explain to anyone where he'd gotten it from. At least not yet, plus Ulrich hadn't let him. However, once he got back there over winter break... all of that would change.

2 Billy Cobb The other beater I guess 1519 0 5

Cole Pierce

December 19, 2022 4:50 PM

Beater Three, reporting for duty! by Cole Pierce

Cole headed down to breakfast the day after the feast with plenty of time to spare before class. This early in the year, he was always up much earlier than he needed to be, with his body attuned to Eastern Standard Time. Cole had already been awake for almost an hour before the Hall even started serving breakfast and Lenny - a Californian - was still out cold so he’d had to be quiet and bored all by himself.

The thing he really did like about this adjustment period, though, was how leisurely he could walk on his way down for breakfast, he could take his time enjoying his meal, even with classes starting at 7:30, and, on this particular day, get his name near the top of the Quidditch Sign-Ups.

He wasn’t expecting to be first string. That would be Billy and Oz. But he enjoyed training with them and Yarielis so he’d be good and ready to take over from them when they graduated. Plus, their training group of beaters numbered four, so they all got to play their preferred position during the practice scrimmages and the intraschool matches. It worked out quite well in Cole’s opinion, with the two sixth year Pecaris on first string and him and Yarielis as their third year back-ups.

Cole Pierce, 3rd Year Teppenpaw, Beater

1 Cole Pierce Beater Three, reporting for duty! 1546 0 5

Valentine Duell

December 19, 2022 5:30 PM

Just what I've been Seeking! by Valentine Duell

Valentine did not miss the sign up sheet on the bulletin board. She couldn't, she wasn't allowed to, she'd claimed the title of Quidditch Captain after all. That was at least one more thing she could say she got to match her parents' accomplishments. She'd just missed the one. That was fine though, it was. She really didn't need the extra things to do. Someday she might even convince herself of that.

The sign-up sheet was fairly standard, and it would be her last time writing her information upon it. She had worked so hard to claim the Seeker position, and held it for (hopefully) two years now. With luck she would have a good final year of playing and training her replacement. She wrote her name on the list.

Valentine Duell, 7th year, Teppenpaw, Seeker

With a flick of her wand, her agenda book floated up out of her bag and made sure to note when the try-outs were taking place. She wished the agenda book wasn't necessary, but it was. The year had barely started and there was already a lot in it.

Another swish and the book settled back into her bag along with her quill. Now she wondered how many teammates she would have this year. Would they have enough for two teams again? That was nice and everyone could get in some good practice. Time would tell. She picked up her bag and headed off to find some breakfast.

2 Valentine Duell Just what I've been Seeking! 1490 0 5

Yaniel Ayala Velez

December 19, 2022 6:37 PM

...just eating breakfast by Yaniel Ayala Velez

The timing of breakfast on the first day was a delicate thing. It was probably going to remain delicate for a while. The risk of running into Cole, with the sign up sheet right there, when ‘Oh yeah! I’ll do it next time I’m in the hall!’ wouldn’t fly was going to be at its peak during meal times. Lunch would probably be the worst, seeing as they all got released from class together, and it was natural to go eat together… There was probably no way Yarielis was going to be able to avoid this forever.

Right now, as Cole bounced into the hall when Yarielis was only halfway done eating, falling at the first hurdle seemed increasingly likely. The Crotalus had considered skipping breakfast entirely for this reason, but had woken up far too hungry for that to be a real option. At least being invisible was something Yarielis had perfected over the years, even if it felt increasingly impossible the older they all got. Still, the third year channelled every scrap of a lifetime of practice into sinking down and blending into the background, zeroing in focus on the eggs and toast on the bright red plate, and hoping Cole would find some of his other many friends to sit with.

13 Yaniel Ayala Velez ...just eating breakfast 1554 0 5

Leo Lyons

December 22, 2022 1:58 AM

Chasing my dreams! by Leo Lyons

Leo wasn't normally a morning person, but sleep never comes easily in a new place. By the time the sun had come up, Leo was ready to give up on sleep, hoping that he could tire himself out enough on the first day of classes that his body wouldn't notice that he was in a different bed, in a different bedroom, with different nighttime noises. Hopefully he would acclimate quickly.

It was unfortunate that Donovan had gone to a different House, but if Leo couldn't share a room with Donovan, he'd rather it be the way it ended up, that is, with a private dorm. He hadn't had a chance to talk to his friend after the feast, before everyone had gotten whisked away to their specific Houses, but he hoped breakfast would be a good rendezvous point, because he was getting hungry.

The first thing he noticed when he walked into the dining hall was the notice board. He took the time to peruse the notices, sparse as they were, perking up when he saw the Quidditch sign-ups. The illustrations that whizzed across the paper made him smile. This was the sort of thing that Muggles missed out on. Leo was glad that he was in a magical school now, where he didn't have to hide who he was or the things he could do.

One of those things happened to be riding a broom, which had to be learned on the north forty, away from prying eyes. Once he'd learned the basics, he'd gotten a Quaffle for practicing. An old wind sock that had lost it's sock long ago served as a goalpost. It was smaller than a regulation Quidditch hoop, but Leo figured that only gave him an advantage when it came to scoring points. He was confident that he could be a star Chaser, given a couple of years to grow into it.

Leo Lyons, first year Teppenpaw, Chaser

64 Leo Lyons Chasing my dreams! 1568 0 5

Fortune Ardovini

December 22, 2022 12:18 PM

Right there with you! by Fortune Ardovini

Whoo! The Quidditch sign-up sheet was posted! Fortune didn't hesitate to root through his things, dig out a quill and write his name on the sheet as instructed.

Fortune Ardovini, 3rd year, Pecari, Chaser

With that minor task out of the way, he then scanned over the rest of the list. Most of them didn't surprise him, they were mostly returning people from last year. Ha! He did spot a new name on the list though, Leo Lyons! Excellent! From his talk with Donovan at the Opening Feast, he'd known that there was a good chance that Donovan would sign up, and he'd mentioned his friend Leo probably would as well. That was great! It didn't look like Donovan had made it to the sheet yet, but that was fine, there was plenty of time. Plus the coach usually took walk-ins at the time of the tryouts anyway, so it was fine even if he never got signed up. He'd just have to make sure if that happened, that Donovan knew when try-outs were happening. No problem.

Only Mab had graduated out of the team last year, if they got a few new folks signed up, they should easily have enough for a full back-up team and they could play some proper games this year! That was the one thing that he didn't much like about the smaller school, not enough Quidditch players. He'd heard stories that in the past there had been enough for each house to have it's own team. That would be awesome! Well, he'd just have to try and drum up some more interest again and see who else he could convince to join in.

2 Fortune Ardovini Right there with you! 1549 0 5

Alexander Pierce

December 22, 2022 5:50 PM

I seek to follow your path by Alexander Pierce

Alexander was eager to join the Quidditch team, not so much for the game itself, but for the connections and the glory. Their father had been a Quidditch player and Captain, which he credited as a large part of how he had won Head Boy, as he'd missed out on Prefect. Alexander intended to get both, though he feared Ida was going to be tough competition for Prefect in their House, which made Quidditch all the more important.

Seeker was obviously the position that earned the most attention and glory, so it was there that he set his sights.

Alexander Pierce, Crotalus 1st Year, Seeker

He debated adding Chaser to hedge his bets, especially since a seventh year appeared to already have dibs on the seeker position, so he doubted he was going to earn that position this year, at least, not as first string anyway. He could still be her understudy and alternate though, get the training and practice he needed to take over next year.

Yes, he decided, that was how he would do it. It was probably better to get in a year of practice before trying to play a position in front of everybody anyway. He left his sign up as it was.

1 Alexander Pierce I seek to follow your path 1566 0 5

Xarryn Bavol

December 23, 2022 7:47 PM

Let's play this! by Xarryn Bavol

Xarryn had heard of Quidditch before arriving at Sonora last year, but in that vague sort of way people hear about hiking. It's something that people do, it's supposed to fun and cool, but it happens over there and not here. It had sounded like a big game of Treasure Hunting, and he'd been all in.

Whether because of graduations the year before, or maybe the challenges made people decide not to rejoin, but it had been a low turnout year for Quidditch last year, and he'd somehow ended up on the team as one of the first string Chasers, despite not having flown on a broom before arriving at Sonora. But it was cool and he'd had tons of fun, and he had good balance and spatial awareness, so he'd actually been pretty good at it!

This year was going to be awesome, too, and he wasted no time in signing up again.

Xarryn Bavol, Yeer 2, Peckari, Chayzer!

He looked up at the other names that preceded his and crossed out the k in Peckari because that wasn't how other people were spelling it, and he trusted their spelling over his own. Chaser was also spelled wrong, he discovered, but that was not so easily fixed so he left it. In heavy strokes, he fixed 'year' by drawing a darker a overtop the existing second e.

1 Xarryn Bavol Let's play this! 1560 0 5

Donovan Peters

December 23, 2022 10:36 PM

Wait up, you guys! by Donovan Peters

Donovan had woken up on the wrong side of the bed- that is, with his head at the foot, and his feet up on his pillows. He didn't remember falling asleep like that, but it wasn't out of the ordinary. He used to sleepwalk when he was little; his mom used to find him in the barn, curled up with the cows. Luckily, he'd outgrown that particular habit, and just shuffled around on his bed anymore.

He was one of the last to get to breakfast, and Leo immediately pointed out the Quidditch signups. Donovan skimmed the other names before taking Leo's quill to write his own.

He wasn't sure what position he wanted to play. They all sounded like fun, and he figured even if he started as one thing, he could change it later if what he picked ended up not suiting him. He had initially leaned towards Beater, but it seemed like there were a few signed up already, and they only needed two per team. Besides, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be responsible for protecting the team from what were essentially flying cannonballs. They had two Seekers signed up already, too. Donovan hadn't been sure if there were going to be enough students for two teams to play each other, seeing how small the school was, but it seemed like there actually weren't too many slots missing.

So, it came down to Keeper or Chaser, and Donovan wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be the only Keeper signed up, and besides, if he was Chaser, they'd have four, and although it wouldn't necessarily be regulation, they could make do with two Chasers per team.

Fortune had put himself down as a Chaser, which Donovan remembered him explaining as the ones who score points. That was cool, and he was in Donovan's House, besides. Maybe he could get the older boy to give him some pointers. Leo had also put himself down as as Chaser, which was another potential person to run drills with. However, that also meant that unless they got a couple more people signed up, he'd be playing against either Fortune or Leo in any given game. Donovan shrugged it off, though. It wasn't like he'd never played against Leo in gym class, anyway.

Donovan Peters, First year Pecari, Chaser.

64 Donovan Peters Wait up, you guys! 1569 0 5

Quillan Arcadius

January 01, 2023 2:23 AM

Room for one more? by Quillan Arcadius

The Quidditch sign up sheet was looking healthy. That was both a reason for and against signing up… On the one hand, Quillan’s main reason for doing so was to socialise and to be a well-rounded individual. The more people who did it, the more necessary it made that, both for the networking and to be as equally well-rounded as his peers. On the other hand, it meant that they didn’t really need him, and it was possible no one would really notice if he didn’t join. However, Sonora didn’t have any other sports. And, if Quidditch was the place to be, he worried about missing out.

It wouldn’t hurt to try. It didn’t seem like the most highly competitive team, which again could be a blessing or a curse… It wasn’t like it gave him elite bragging rights, but it also wasn’t something where he wanted to have to try too hard. If he could show up a couple of times a week, fly around with the guys and have something good to put on his college applications—whilst actually focussing his real energy on homework, chess and debating—then that sounded better than a team that was really gung-ho. That kind of team could take over your life.

Feeling reassured that Sonora’s team most likely wasn’t like that, but would be social and fun, he added his name.

Quillan Arcadius, First Year Aladren, Chaser/Any

13 Quillan Arcadius Room for one more? 1570 0 5

Nicholas Pierce

January 13, 2023 6:49 PM

Overthinking things. by Nicholas Pierce

Nicholas had always thought he was a reasonably organized and methodical person. Spending a little time at school, however, had made him…question this assumption he’d always made about himself.

Most things were, admittedly, still in order. He showed up to class on time (because he followed various combinations of his brother and their new friends around all the time) and had yet to quite miss curfew. He got his lessons done and submitted on time. He had yet to show up at breakfast with his shoes on his head, and had only forgotten his glasses once (though it had been a dreadful once – he’d left them in a classroom, which had necessitated a lot of backtracking and considering praying until he located them again). However, he had never before considered just how much he’d relied on some combination of Alexander always being right there, usually being more responsible than him, and his mother having a virtual sixth sense for when he was daydreaming instead of working….

Or maybe it was just something to do with how, at home, it was not only always the same routine, but also the same people. He knew everyone so well that they…really weren’t terribly interesting to him. This was very unlike school, where Alexander was the only exception to the rule that everyone was a person he didn’t know, and therefore was easily distracted by. In any case, though it was when he ended up with a purely individual task that he seemed to run into trouble. It was, he supposed, lucky that he was the one with roommates, otherwise homework might have been a problem; so far, he had answered letters fast enough to not earn any comments on worrying anyone, but he thought that might be why he kept forgetting about the Quidditch sign-ups. Unless that was just because he wasn’t too sure what to do about them. Which was also a possibility.

Obviously, Seeker wasn’t an option. Alexander wanted that, and there was only one of those per team, so. Obvious. Being one of the Beaters would allow for helping Alexander…in theory. The problem, though, was…effort might make up for a lot of things, and he’d usually been the most willing of the family members to get dragged along on Mom’s long, rapid walks up and down the mountain, so he supposed he was fairly strong for what he was, but what he was happened to be Barely Eleven. Which meant he might not do a very good job of it. Which would be a problem. Of course, neither of them would be in the leading line-up this year…probably…which meant it might all be irrelevant. The one exception might be if he volunteered to try out Keeper for some reason, since nobody else appeared to want to do that, but then that opened up a whole pot of Devil’s Snare – if he did somehow end up in such a position, what would people think of that? It was bad enough that he was worried about what everyone else might be thinking about Alexander without him drawing attention to himself!

Finally, recollection of what he was supposed to do happened, by sheer dumb luck, to combine with one of his moments of what felt like smart thinking. He ended up signing himself up as Nicholas Pierce, 1st Year, Any. That way, it wasn’t exactly his fault whatever happened! Probably….

16 Nicholas Pierce Overthinking things. 1565 0 5

Ida Stanford

January 13, 2023 7:47 PM

I should probably do this by Ida Stanford

Ida had passed by the Quidditch sign-up sheet more than a few times. Each time she wondered if she should sign up for the team or not. Time was running out, Try-outs would be happening soon and she'd have to decide before that happened. Just showing up on the field without signing up first when there was a perfectly good sign-up sheet just seemed wrong to her. By this time, there were a fair amount of people signed up for the team, she wasn't sure if the team really needed another player, but as it had been pointed out to her, more people meant better chances of forming two proper teams to play against each other.

Qudditch certainly wasn't a passion for her, but it would be good to get out, get more flying practice and have some fun with some of her school mates. As she scanned the list, she noticed something. It didn't look like anyone had signed up for the keeper position yet. Could she play keeper? Probably, it wouldn't have the same type of flying practice as some of the other positions, but it would still be good, and she might be more likely to get on the team. If she didn't like it, after try-outs, she could always just not actually join the team. This was just for try-outs, not for actually joining the team after all. At the bottom of the sheet, Ida wrote her information.

Ida Standford, 1st year, Crotalus, Keeper

2 Ida Stanford I should probably do this 1571 0 5