"Coach" Isis Carter
July 10, 2015 6:38 PM
Quidditch Match I: Aladren vs. Pecari by "Coach" Isis Carter
Isis was never the biggest fan of Quidditch, but she supposed that being the substitute made filling in for a Quidditch match her jurisdiction in addition to the work she did for classes.She was all for a little competition and athletics, but the dangers of the game in her opinion outweighed the positive benefits. She wasn’t sure why wizarding’s top sport was so brutal, but she supposed if the school was okay with sponsoring it, she would just go with it. And being the stand-in (stand-in) coach, she would just have to be as vigilant as possible.On the day the first match was scheduled, the weather was pretty ideal. It was maybe a bit colder than would be pleasant for the spectators (and prompted Isis to send memos to Aladren and Pecari captains Francesca Wolseithcrafte and Adam Spencer to have their team take precautions), but there was no troubling precipitation or heinous winds with which they would have to contend. All in all, not too bad a day to fly.
“Welcome, all, to the first match of the year!” Isis announced as the players came on the field. “Today we’ve got a fine matchup between Pecari, led by Captain Adam Spencer, and Aladren, led by Captain Francesca Wolseithcrafte.” Turning to the two captains, she added, “I’m looking forward to a nice, clean game. Please shake hands.” She wasn’t sure if that was necessarily a part of the pre-game routine followed by Coach Olivers, but it was important, she felt, as a part of sportsmanship. “As you know, once I blow the whistle, the game begins, and it will end only when the Snitch is caught by one of your Seekers.”
Isis paused to allow the fourteen players on the Pitch to get into position, saying a quick prayer for safety in her head as they moved. “Ready?” she asked rhetorically as she placed the whistle between her teeth. With a piercing chirp, she tossed the Quaffle into the air, and the game had begun. As she released the Bludgers, Isis only hoped the Beaters would falter in their arm for the duration of the match. Uneventful games were always the least painful.
OOC: Welcome, everyone! Make sure you stick to the site rules about realism, post-length, creativity, etc. as well as the Quidditch specific rules. Any OOC questions can be directed on the OOC board, where either I or Coach Olivers will get back to you in the most timely manner possible. Happy posting, and good luck to both teams!
Subthreads: I will not allow a loss. by <font color='tan'>Liliana Bannister, Keeper</font> with <font color='blue'>Theodore, Keeper</font>
Seeking again by <font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font> with <font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>, <font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
Destruction, pain, etc. [Bludger @ Aladren Chaser] by <font color='tan'>Sammy Meeks, Beater</font color>
Just getting started. by <font color=tan>Capt. Adam Spencer, Chaser</font> with <font color='blue'>Capt Francesca W, Chaser</font>, <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>, <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>
Finishing it off by <font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font> with Coach
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"Coach" Isis Carter
Quidditch Match I: Aladren vs. Pecari
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"Coach" Isis Carter
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<font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
July 13, 2015 11:29 AM
Seeking again by <font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
It had taken longer than he would have liked, but Clark had finally adjusted to the extra inches on both his broom and his person that hadn't been there last game. Easily the tallest of the Seekers now, he was hoping his greater experience, longer reach, and brand new broom worked together to keep him and Aladren as the top ranked Seeker and team at Sonora. He knew remaining undefeated for his entire Sonora career was an unlikely possibility, but he didn't think this was the game his record would falter. He'd been putting in a lot of extra practice time to make sure he was back in top form for this match.Today, he was up against Jamie Park for the first time. The new Pecari Seeker was in the same year as Clark but he had never played in a competitive Sonora match before, having failed to usurp the position from Annabelle Pierce whom Clark had beat to the Snitch on multiple occasions. Theoretically, that meant - despite Park's more traditional Seeker build and apparent air of confidence - Clark had the advantage today. His greatest weakness previously had been the old school broom that he'd claimed as his own, but that weakness was much mitigated now by having bought a new one over the summer. His broom still wasn't top of the line (Clark couldn't afford anything that fancy) but it was new and fit more appropriately to his size. And now that he'd worked out the kinks of maneuvering it, he could fly better than he had ever been able to do before.
The weather was just about perfect, too. Chilly, sure, but the long sleeved tee under on his robes and an energetic flight pattern ought to counter that well enough. He'd rather be cold than hot on the pitch anyway, so long as his fingers weren't freezing to his broomstick, and it wasn't nearly that cold yet. Visibility was flawless, and the breeze negligible. All in all, it was maybe a little too nice for a game where experience was on his side. The pleasant meteorological conditions would certainly be easier on Clark this way, but it would also be easier on Jamie Park, and Clark felt he would have been able to handle inclement weather better than his opponent. Nothing could be done about that though, so he just decided to enjoy the good weather.
He listened to Francesca's speech and advice, then waited for Substitute Coach Carter's whistle to begin. He respected her too much to expect the interim coach to give him any special treatment just because she was now the adviser of his club, but he'd still given her a nod of greeting when he'd arrived on the Pitch that was maybe a little more cheerful than the polite one that he might have given to Professor/Coach Olivers.
Then the whistle blew and Clark kicked off into the air, flying up to his usual seeking height high enough above the goal hoops that he was unlikely to interfere with the Quaffle game. More to the point, they were unlikely to interfere with him, except for maybe blocking his view a little if they flew underneath him, but that couldn't be avoided. He took a moment to find where Jamie was, then set to following his tried and true cruising pattern for looking for the snitch, flying it just a little faster than normal to stay warm, but not so fast that he'd wear himself out before he needed to swiftly chase down the golden winged alien whenever that may choose to show itself.
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<font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
Seeking again
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<font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
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<font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
July 20, 2015 2:43 AM
Good luck by <font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
It hadn’t come as a surprise to Jamie to be selected for the starting line up this year, although it hurt his pride a little that people could say he’d got the place by default. Still, it wouldn’t be long before he showed them all - before they would have to eat their words, and would realise how foolish Pecari had been not having him play until now.He shouldered his broom, strutting out onto the pitch. The model he rode was light and nippy and, he had been sure to inform everyone, state of the art in Korea. Sometimes, his parents insistence on buying Korean was a pain but when it came to brooms it had its merits. Thankfully, there was actually a really decent racing broom industry there, but the products weren’t that popular in America. It meant he could lie about his several seasons out of date broomstick, and no one would be any the wiser. He also took a few liberties in translating the name. Literally translated, it was something like ‘magical golden lightning,’ words which sounded much more impressive and powerful to a Korean audience when strung together, but sounded severely weird when put into English. He had told everyone the broom was called ‘The Lightning Strike’ which, he was sure, inspired the level of awe the makers had been going for, which was the main thing.
He smirked at his rival. Sure, Clark had a bit of a record. Many might see Jamie as the underdog going into this match but it was, surely, only because Princeton had been too blind to give him a chance. Some kind of friends first, Pureblood-with-a-capital-P elitist or maybe even racist snobbery had had him continually choosing the losing Pierce girl over him. The fact that that boy had beaten her didn’t suggest that Clark was good, it suggested that there was no way she could Seek her way out of a paper bag. Everything about the boy just screamed nerd from the unfashionable haircut to the fact that he’d heard the guy did science for fun. Until this year, he’d even ridden a school broom. Whilst that handicap should possibly have told Jamie a little more about Clark’s Seeking abilities, all it did was make him even more of an object of pity and derision in the Pecari boy’s eyes. Even with a “new” broom, Clark didn’t worry him.
Jamie ran a hand through his hair, checking its positioning. He’d gone for a very gelled style today, partly to keep his hair out of his eyes and because he didn’t want to look like he’d been dragged through a hedge backwards by the end of the match. He wanted to look good when he caught the Snitch. He was quite under the delusion that most of Sonora’s ladies must be impressed with him already but that had still never given him any reason to stop trying. He liked looking good. Whether it was with his style, or with doing cool things, like catching the Snitch.
The whistle blew, and he faltered slightly, having been caught up in a daydream. He got going no more than a beat behind the others, just without quite as much flair as he’d been hoping. He put his broom through its paces. His vision of Clark eating his dust as he took off may have been shattered but he was sure he could easily outstrip the other boy in getting up to height. Once there, he did a few laps, close to the edge, grinning at the crowd. It was hard to see when going fast, but he was convinced a lot of the banners would have his name on. He threw a loop-the-loop in for fun, enjoying the feeling of being - as he was sure he must be - the centre of everyone’s attention.
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<font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
Good luck
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<font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
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<font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
July 21, 2015 6:07 PM
You're going to need it by <font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
Clark’s seemingly never-ending rate of growth was not a good thing from Leonidas’s perspective – part of the reason why Seekers were often small was because it made them more aerodynamic, but another benefit of it was that it made them smaller targets for the opposing Beaters to hit – but the more he considered the Pecari Seeker, the less he worried about it. The younger boy had been a reserve, after all, which meant one of two things: either the social networks had seriously worked in Annabelle Pierce’s favor or else her successor just didn’t have that much talent. Friendships might have played a role, but it seemed more likely that the new Seeker just wasn’t that good. Jamie Park might be a little luckier than Annabelle now that he had a chance, but Leo really doubted he would be substantially more talented. Pecari had lost too often to hide a secret genius on the bench.It was the Chasers he was worried about. Even if John’s school broom didn’t seize up because it was cold or something like that, they were still at a disadvantage there. Pecari had a first year too, but theirs was Francesca’s sister. Leo thought it was safe to assume that Ingrid Wolseithcrafte could outfly most people her age, something supported by Francesca’s own advice about how to handle her. Jack Spencer was also from a solid Quidditch family, but not the best member of that family. He just hoped Ingrid’s recklessness was enough to make her the least talented of the Wolseithcraftes.
She, though, was mostly John’s problem, as was the new Beater. John didn't seem perturbed. The confidence was a little surprising but good to see. "Have fun," Leo told him before kickoff. Knocking first and second year girls off brooms most likely wouldn't be fun unless John was secretly far more of a psychopath than everyone temporarily became on game day, so his tone wasn't serious. "Most of us can only dream of getting to annoy another Beater."
Annoying Seekers was work enough for him. Next year, he would have to give John some practice on Seekers, but today, Park was his. And, if the first minute was anything to go by, Park was going to be easy to work with. Leo shepherded a Bludger with short blows, staying behind the target, and as Park started his loop-the-loop, Leo hit the Bludger straight toward him with both hands on the bat, hoping to send him to the ground right off the bat. It might make the game duller as it went on, but it would be an impressive move for Leonidas to start the game with.
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<font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
You're going to need it
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<font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
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<font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
July 24, 2015 3:54 PM
Did you really just do that? by <font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
When Clark next looked over to see what Jamie Park was doing, he nearly dropped his jaw to his broomstick. Jamie was . . . grandstanding. That was the only word for it. And was that? Yes, he was doing flips. If Clark wasn't so sure the other seeker couldn't be looking for the snitch right now anymore than Clark was, he'd have suspected the Pecari of trying to distract him. (It was working - Clark couldn't look away, even though he knew he should.)But you can't do loop de loops and assess your surroundings thoroughly at the same time. It just wasn't possible. So that wasn't what Jamie was doing. Clark couldn't begin to imagine what he was doing, and he blamed his confusion and compulsive need to understand for his inability to get back on task.
Fortunately, just then, there was a crack of a bat against a bludger, and Clark's survival instincts made him look away from Jamie to see whether or not the bludger was a threat to his personal safety.
It wasn't. Leonidas had been the one to strike the metal ball, which meant Clark knew what Jamie was doing now. He was, if he was smart (not a given considering recent antics), running for his life and trying to avoid being slammed by a bludger.
The certainty of that allowed Clark to get back to his own task without bothering to see how Jamie fared with his escape. There was no reason to waste the opportunity to look for the snitch while his opponent was distracted after all.
He did keep a sharp ear out for the sound of a Pecari beater redirecting the bludger back at him, though. Of course, one only needed eyes to find the Snitch, so his ears were readily available for that task without compromising his current advantage.
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<font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
Did you really just do that?
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<font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
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<font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
July 25, 2015 12:55 AM
Jealous? by <font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
Jamie hadn’t really registered the crack of wood on metal, he was too busy listening out for whoops of admiration and delight from the crowd. He also had played in precious few enough real situations to have the requisite amount of fear a Seeker ought to have for that noise. He did, however, hear Liliana calling his name as he pulled out of his loop. He refrained from rolling his eyes. Jamie would, just about, take things from Adam - Adam was captain, after all, even if he had never played Seeker. But if Liliana thought it was her job to play backseat Seeker just because her own job didn’t have anything interesting- watch out. The rest of her call startled him into action. He glanced around too late, the Bludger knocking into the tail of his broom.The crowd whipped past at sickening speed, as he was spun by the impact. He held on tightly, glad that the Bludger hadn’t caught him when he was anything other than upright. As he slowed enough to regain control, he quickly darted forward, putting some space between himself and the offending ball, not totally sure where it was, but not wanting to risk being the nearest thing when it came on the rebound.
He was a little shaken, and part of him wanted to be annoyed with the Aladren Beater for making him look foolish. A small part of him managed it but mostly he knew that that was just the game. Jamie wasn’t used to not coming out on top. He wasn’t used to anything being his own fault, having constantly been pampered with ready made excuses to preserve his status as the precious boy of the family. The feelings were not pleasant ones. He scowled, directing as much of his annoyance as possible into Leonidas, for ruining his moment in the spotlight.
As he passed the hoops, he gave Liliana a little salute, in recognition of the head’s up she’d given him.
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<font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
Jealous?
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<font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
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<font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
July 25, 2015 11:16 AM
You don't really inspire envy by <font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
For a moment, Leo thought that Pecari had finally recruited a Seeker who was not only unskilled but also suicidally stupid and who might, therefore, be taken out with one hit within minutes of the starting whistle. Appreciation from the ladies for his brilliant play wasn’t likely – Aladren didn’t have that many of them, and the other Houses weren’t that crazy about his after all these years – but he might at least be considered the hero of the game in-House, and even the other Houses would have to admit that he and Park put on a good show if Leo knocked him out of the air right now. It wouldn’t be as good as if Leo had knocked him out of the air with his hand a centimeter from the Snitch, but knocking a show-off out at the very peak of his performance was still nothing to sneeze at.Unfortunately, though, Park had a few teammates who were a little smarter than he was and who had time to spare right now. The Pecari Keeper managed to get her Seeker’s attention and Park – just – managed to avoid taking a solid hit. His broom, though, did take a whack, and Leo watched him spiral out of control with mild satisfaction for a moment before flying after him.
He hadn’t taken him out, but he was sure he had him off-balance. Keeping Park hopping like a frog on the rim of a hot cauldron wouldn’t lead to glory, but it would give everyone else – except maybe the Pecaris – a good laugh and clear the field for Clark, at least as long as John kept the other Bludger and other Beater locked down. At least one of them, though, already seemed to have escaped him; glancing down at the main game, he saw John, saw the little Wolseithcrafte girl breaking away from an attempt to interrupt her sister's play, but didn’t see a very harassed second year right away.
He decided, almost to his own surprise, to trust that John had everything under control even if he couldn’t really see how at the moment. He had trained John. To doubt that John could handle it was to doubt his own abilities, and Leo didn’t do that very often. He knew his skills and limits, and knew John could do this. He had the necessary basic coordination and flying ability and had been taught to use them. He could handle the Chasers and Leo could make a complete fool of Park and then everyone – well, everyone who was here for Aladren, anyway – could go home happy.
Finding the Bludger, he swung his bat to turn it in the same direction Park was now moving and then aimed and hit at Park again. This time, though, he didn’t take a moment to admire his work. Instead, he began his pursuit right away to make it easier to cut off the Pecari Beaters if they tried to intervene. He had had his moment of early-game laziness, too, and now it was over and it was time to really get into the game.
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<font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
You don't really inspire envy
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<font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>
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