"Coach" Pye
November 12, 2016 10:50 PM
Quidditch Match 1: Aladren v. Pecari by "Coach" Pye
The conditions for the first match of the year were just satisfactory. When Alfie got out off bed that morning and looked out to the sun shining, he had thought it would be a lovely day. However the air was chilly and a slight breeze blew through his open window, reminding me that it was, indeed, late fall. Aladren was playing Pecari, and Alfie was looking forward to a relaxing morning of spectating.Unfortunately, it seemed that the universe had other plans because at breakfast, Alfie was rather hastily asked to referee the day’s match. He was a fair-minded professor who didn’t play favourites in class despite having a younger sibling to grade amongst other students plus he had been one of the first faculty members to the breakfast table and so he assumed that was why he had been asked.
Referring a Quidditch match he’d been planning on just watching wasn’t top on Alfie’s list of things he wanted to do with that morning, but he still took it as a compliment that he was well-known for his fair judgement that he’d been asked to referee when his house was one of the teams playing.
He smiled to himself, congratulating that small success, as he walked over to the Pitch, leaves crunching beneath his feet. And he was smiling still as he tossed the Quaffle up in the air and blew the whistle after having the captains shake hands. “Ready, steady, go!” he shouted as he launched the mishappen red ball. And then, he retreated to a wooden chair he’d transfigured into a slightly more comfortable sofa-armchair so that he could at lest have something cushy beneath his butt as he watched.
OOC: Regular posting rules apply + regular Quidditch rules (both IC and OOC). Have fun!
Subthreads: Start as you mean to go on. by <font color='tan'>Captain J Curtis, Chaser</font> with <font color=tan>Ben The Hippo, Beater</font>, <font color=blue>Kit Reid, Chaser</font>, <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>, <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>, <font color='tan'>Luke Powell, Keeper</font>
New tricks by <font color=blue>Captain Clark Dill, Seeker</font>
Ain't no rest for the wicked. by <font color="Tan">AC Sammy Meeks, Beater</font> with <font color=blue>Captain Clark Dill, Seeker</font>, <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>, <font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>
Watching and Waiting by <font color=blue>Lena Westley, Keeper</font color> with <font color='tan'>Luke Powell, Keeper</font>
Watching and waiting. by <font color="blue">Amelia Layne, Reserve</font>
Watch and wait no longer by <font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker </font>
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"Coach" Pye
Quidditch Match 1: Aladren v. Pecari
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"Coach" Pye
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<font color='tan'>Captain J Curtis, Chaser</font>
November 13, 2016 1:13 PM
Start as you mean to go on. by <font color='tan'>Captain J Curtis, Chaser</font>
This was it. Her chance to prove herself. Joella had waited so long for her time and now it was here. She’d worked her team as hard as they would let her in the run up to their first match of the year and she hoped that it would show in their performance today. Although she was serious about winning for a number of reasons, the Pecari captain hadn’t let herself get so obsessive that practices became too much for everyone. At least she hoped she hadn’t. She was aware that most people weren’t using this as a stepping stone in their career and for that reason she had to cater for all levels of ability and competitiveness, alongside making sure they were unbeatable. Joella had thus made special efforts to maintain the fun element of training sessions because she didn’t want to turn into a tyrant who was far too concerned with their own aims to recognise that of the team.Hopefully her attempts at creating the fittest, best-skilled team would pay off and the game would be a good one. Despite simply having to win this match, Joella did hope that Aladrens’ loss of good players and influx of inexperienced ones in more recent years wouldn’t have made them suffer too greatly. She liked a challenge, and whilst she loved to win, she wasn’t looking for an easy win.
The weather didn’t look unfavourable when she woke up on the morning of the match, feeling excited at the thought of the competition that lay ahead. The sun was shining, which bode well for temperature, but when she stepped out to check, the air was cold and a breeze whipped through the fabric of her clothes. Joella was in her sixth year and had played enough matches by this point to be pretty smart when it came to dressing appropriately for the weather so she got changed according to the day’s climate.
The brown-robed captain greeted her teammates when they joined her on the pitch and didn’t hang about long before putting them to work with a good warm up. She began with a gentle jog as a pulse raiser before progressing onto stretches. There wasn’t much time for skill practices but she brought a few Quaffles with her for anyone who wished to use them before the game commenced.
“Alright guys, huddle in,” Joella called her teammates closer, putting her arms around the shoulders of two of them with the expectation that everyone else would do the same so they’d all be standing in a circle. “Come on, quick, we’ll be starting soon,” she added because she knew she wanted to address all positions individually.
“We beat Aladren last year, and we’re going to do it again,” Joella got straight to the point. “If you all do your best up in the air today, that will be more than enough to see us through to the finals. I’ve been really impressed by all of your progress in training so now’s your chance to show everyone else what you’ve got.”
Joella had gone through everyone’s roles for this first game and made sure they all knew what they were doing, as well as reminded them individually of key things they needed to bear in mind, at their last team practice but she still wanted to reiterate a few points to boost their confidence if nothing else.
“Chasers, that Quaffle is ours. We need to make sure we’re pushing up the Aladren end as much as possible - we want to be attacking at all times, no defensive playing if it can be helped. But if they do get into our half, you know what to do. So long as you remember all that we’ve done in training, we’ll be running the show.” There was so much more that Joella wanted to say to her Chasers but she knew to have faith that they would keep all advice she’d given them in training in mind. She loved having an all-girl Chaser trio and especially warmed to these two particular teammates. Since the Chaser position was her position, she had the most advice for them but as any good captain should do, Joella did know the other positions well so they could certainly benefit from her coaching and she was careful not to play favourites.
“Beaters,” Joella turned to Ben and Sammy to give them a brief run through of what she wanted them to be doing. “I trust you two know your jobs,” she smiled confidently. “But remember, even though you, Ben, have been assigned to the Chasers and Sammy to Jamie, you are a duo and if you communicate with one another, you’ll be unstoppable.” She spoke more to Ben than Sammy because this was his first year playing Beater for the team and she always kept Sammy informed of all tactical plans before making them known to the rest of the team anyway (so that she could give her own input), but she directed a grin and a nod at Sammy at the end.
It made sense to her to have Ben mark the Chasers, since he had played in the position alongside her and Ingrid in the past so knew their playing well. And Sammy was the senior Beater so it seemed logical to have her protect their precious (not to mention irreplaceable) Seeker, and surprisingly she and Jamie seemed to get on rather well. As she was assistant captain, as well as senior Beater, it seemed only appropriate not to be too controlling of Sammy and also not quite as much with Ben as she was with the other players, so that he could take more direct orders from his fellow Beater.
“Luke, you’re totally ready for this,” Joella gave her relative a light squeeze since he was beside her in the team huddle. “It’s pretty chilly today so just make sure you stay warm. If us Chasers are doing our job properly, you shouldn’t get too much action, I’m afraid,” she grinned jovially at her Chasers in an attempt to relieve any pressure her words might have on them. “But even so, you need to be prepared at all times - no turning your back on the match, got it?”
“And last but definitely not least,” the captain began to rap up her peptalk, aware that she didn’t have long. “Jamie, keep your head in the game and just do your thing. Sammy’s got your back. Clark’s not catching another snitch so long as you’re around.”
“Now, any questions?” Joella asked the team as a whole, specifically for the benefit of Luke and Lily as it was their first formal game and she didn’t want any last minute concerns to be left unaddressed.
“Okay, let’s do this,” she grinned once her team seemed prepared. “”Hands in,” she put her hand in the middle of the circle. “Pecari on three. One, two, three, PECARI!”
Joella couldn’t wipe the grin off her face as she made her way onto the pitch to shake Clark’s hand. She felt like she should make some sort of comment but she couldn’t think of anything to say to the Aladren captain without coming across as a bad sportswoman so she settled for “may the best team win” and left it at that.
She was disappointed that Coach Grase wouldn’t be witnessing the Pecari team’s first performance with her as captain but she refused to let this change her mood because if they did as well as she thought they could, Pecari would be playing in the championships at the end of the year.
Joella was up in the air after the Quaffle the moment it was released, her reaction time faster than ever. Her hand closed around the leather ball and she sharply changed her course from travelling upwards to heading in the direction of the Aladren hoops. She couldn’t wait to score a goal against Clark’s girlfriend - as easy as the task sounded, it was bound to be satisfying. But there was a lot of ground to be covered before that would happen, relying on a number of seamless passes.
Aware of a well-positioned teammate keeping up her fast pace, the blonde sent a firm pass their way. The Chaser position had always suited her well and from a young age she’d excelled with her ball skills so aim was no problem, especially since she added a little extra power to avoid the wind sending it off course. If it turned out to be unnecessary, the recipient of the pass might just find the catch a little sharp, but Ingrid and Lily had trained with her enough that she was more than confident they were capable of keeping a hold of it.
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<font color='tan'>Captain J Curtis, Chaser</font>
Start as you mean to go on.
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<font color='tan'>Captain J Curtis, Chaser</font>
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<font color=tan>Ben The Hippo, Beater</font>
November 18, 2016 9:36 AM
The Hippo attacks! by <font color=tan>Ben The Hippo, Beater</font>
Ben was ready for this. So ready. Sammy was an awesome person and beating partner and he felt he had learned a lot under her leadership over the last couple of months. Sure his dad and uncle had both been beaters, so he imagined he had awesome beating blood flowing though his veins, but Dad and Uncle Four never really actually played Quidditch with him much (took him to watch games, yes, absolutely, but there wasn't really a great spot for any kind of broom flying near their muggle neighborhood), so their contributions to his training were mostly moral support and anecdotal accounts on how they handled some in-game situations.Ben's practical experience was all either on baseball diamonds (a cross training sport that should not be underestimated for beaters) and under Sammy's tutelage. Still, he'd been working and training hard, and having been a chaser would no doubt help him know how to best mess with the Aladrens trying to mess with Pecari's mission to score goals.
A mission Joella was clearly very keen on and in a good position to carry out as she got the Quaffle first, claiming it before the echoes of the starting whistle had faded. Ben flew off in search of a Bludger to aid in this mission. It looked like Sammy had found one really fast and he grinned and shot her a thumbs up as she whacked it towards Dill then hurried on his quest to find the other one for Pecari. There!
Ben pushed his broom into high gear, hoping to reach it before Louis did. The fourth year Aladren had many of the same advantages and the same lack of previous games as a beater that Ben did. And while Louis might not have the same quality Beater blood pumping through his heart that Ben did, Louis did have and extra year's worth of growing and an additional year of experience playing Quidditch in general. Ben felt this made them pretty close to perfectly matched and he was excited about seeing how they actually played against each other.
*And the first victory goes to Benjamin the Hippo Pierce!* the announcer in his head crowed! The thirteen year old Pecari grinned and tapped his bat against the second bludger, gaining control of it enough to set up for a good hit. He surveyed his options and chose an Aladren chaser who looked like they might be thinking about trying to intercept Joella's pass.
Ben wound up and cracked his bat hard against the metal ball, sending it screaming, straight and true, toward his chosen target. Yes!
*And The Hippo attacks!*
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<font color=tan>Ben The Hippo, Beater</font>
The Hippo attacks!
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<font color=tan>Ben The Hippo, Beater</font>
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<font color=blue>Kit Reid, Chaser</font>
November 19, 2016 12:35 AM
Hippos don't fly. by <font color=blue>Kit Reid, Chaser</font>
Excitement was not a strong enough word for this day. Today was the first day that Kit would be playing her first real competitive Quidditch game. She had worked hard to learn all of the plays and moves. She was ready. Well, at least, that’s what she told herself until she got on the Quidditch field. If she had been simply competing against other first years, then she would have been full of confidence that she would win. However, she was going up against players that were older and more experienced.She took a deep breath. Kit just had to remember that there were Aladren players who were equally older and more experienced. Two of them she was counting on to keep her safe, because regardless of how old, big, experienced, or anything else one was, those bludgers were scary. Some of the players that were in control of them were equally scary. She was just hoping that the other players didn’t try aiming those things at her too much!
Kit clutched her broom. She had gotten it right after she had made the Quidditch team. It was a much better model than the school broom had been. It had a decent amount of speed to it with good control. She also liked that she had been able to customize the model to have pink accents, which matched the pink ribbon that she continued to tie on her broom for luck.
Once they were up in the air, Kit was disappointed to see that the Pecari Quidditch Captain had possession of the quaffed almost immediately. She tightened her grip on her broom and leaned forward. She didn’t follow Joella. She knew that she had no chance to get the quaffle directly away from the girl and even if the Pecari tried to make the pass, she would be able to push past her. No, the best thing to do was to follow one of the other Chasers in the hopes that she could intercept the eventual pass. With this in mind, Kit went after one of the Pecari chasers, tagging behind them as much as she could without obviously blocking them.
Part of her was hoping the Joella would make the pass to this particular Chaser and part of her hoped, she wouldn’t, because Jack was a more experienced Chaser and if he was able to intercept the pass, he had a better shot of making it to the goals. Of course, her tiny frame allowed for her to weave in and out of the others more easily. She loved the feel of the wind on her face, as she urged her broom forward faster. She needed to get closer. The Chaser was definitely moving with a mission. She was edging closer and closer. She was in the perfect position to get the pass when all of a sudden she heard a terrifying sound.
It seemed to happen all at once. Her head turned, her blue eyes widened, and without a second thought, she pulled back just missing the whirling bludger. Oh, no! She lost the Chaser that she had been following. Oh, please, please, she hoped that someone else from the Aladren team had been close enough to get the pass and that it hadn’t gone to the Pecari Chaser. If it had, it meant that the opposing team was that much closer to scoring.
That just couldn’t happen, but realistically she knew there was a good possibility that the Pecari team would win. Having two new first year Chasers on a team was probably hurting the Aladren team, but she had hoped and determination. It was always those that were the underdogs that the crowd sympathized with. So, even if they lost, they would be winners of popular vote. She held onto that, because Kit Reid was in absolutely no way a loser.
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<font color=blue>Kit Reid, Chaser</font>
Hippos don't fly.
363
<font color=blue>Kit Reid, Chaser</font>
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
November 21, 2016 3:13 PM
But hawks definitely do! by <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
Waking up and glaring disbelievingly at his alarm clock, Louis was just about to roll over and make proper use of his Saturday by going straight back to sleep when he realised that it wasn’t just a Saturday, it was the Saturday! He immediately sat bolt upright and threw off the covers, stretching his arms up into the air and then tumbling slightly dramatically out of bed. He wasn’t going to miss the Saturday by sleeping in!A quick shower later (approximately the length of Ugly Heart, a muggle song he’d discovered over the summer) and he was dried, dressed, and heading down to the Cascade Hall to fuel up for the first Quidditch match of the year!
Truth be told, Louis had been a little disappointed when the team roster had gone up on the Aladren noticeboard. Offering to change position had been a calculated decision, and he still didn’t regret it, but he was going to miss being part of the chaser trio with Arianna and Jack. He enjoyed spending time with them, and was going to have to make sure to see them outside of practice more. Jack was in his classes, so that was easier, but he’d have to make a special effort to spend more time with Arianna. After their summer adventure, he felt closer to the younger girl, and wanted to continue their friendship.
Slight disappointments aside, there were definitely positives to being a beater. It was refreshing to play a different position in the sport, and John was pretty cool, and very helpful with showing Louis the ropes. He’d gratefully read everything on the reading list given to him (Louis liked to do his research, especially seeing as he hadn’t played beater before!). Luckily, his flying ability and hand-eye coordination gained from chasing transferred well to being a beater, and Louis was in pretty good shape so strength wasn’t much of an issue. He’d spent a lot of time enthusiastically training, both with John and with the chaser team. All in all, he felt well-prepared for today’s game.
As well as feeling good about himself, Louis was confident in the Aladren team. He’d done the comparisons with the Pecari team, and didn’t think the Aladrens came off too unfavourably. Their chasing team was a little weaker (although Arianna had more experience than Lily Spencer, and Jack had more experience than Ingrid), but their beaters were well-matched. The seekers were well-matched too, although Clark did have many more wins to his name than Jamie did, so the evidence suggested Clark being the better seeker. Both keepers were new, even if both could already fly, and Lena had the advantage of being older, bigger, and stronger, whilst Luke was only a little first year. Yes, Aladren were back in with a chance, and with even more determination after their narrow defeat last year.
Louis nodded along to Clark’s pre-game speech. Taking out Joella Curtis was definitely high on his list, and Ingrid too if he got the opportunity. He wasn’t letting whatever was going on between them affect the game. Right now, she was just an opposing chaser, and a dangerous one at that. John’s last-minute advice was much appreciated, and made Louis even more confident. They had trained long and hard, they had (hopefully) prepared for any eventuality. They were Aladren, and they were going to win!
Joella started off with the Quaffle and, whilst this might seem bad, it did increase the chance of a chaser interception. Having no Joella on the other end of the pass was a good thing. But chasing wasn’t his job anymore, so Louis pushed those tactics to the back of his mind and went on a bludger hunt. Annoyingly Ben got there first, and the other bludger was in use. Narrowing his eyes, Louis tried to think tactically. Who would Ben send the bludger at? Kit was rather close to a Pecari chaser and- yes, Ben was aiming at Kit. Louis shot after the bludger, not quite fast enough to deflect it from Kit, but luckily she managed to dodge (he sent her a mental apology), and now he had control of a bludger! Wheeling round, he managed to get in front of the bludger, his bat the only thing between him and the ugly ball of metal. Joella started to pass, and Louis grinned. An adrenaline-driven thwack sent the bludger straight and hard towards the chaser Joella was aiming at. See how they liked that!
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
But hawks definitely do!
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
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<font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>
November 26, 2016 4:06 AM
Better late than never by <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>
Match day was always exciting. Ingrid had always been driven to do her best for Liliana because she admired the older girl, and things hadn’t changed with the passing of the torch. But as well as admiring her as a player, Joella was rapidly becoming one of her closest friends at Sonora. It was a different dynamic than she’d had with Liliana, who was friendly but so much older than her that they rarely hung out outside of Quidditch-related activities. She had maybe also had Liliana up on a tiny bit of a pedestal… With Joella, she had admiration and determination to win for her as her captain, but she could picture partying with her afterwards and sharing the victory as friends, and that was a new and different sort of driving force.If they won. Ingrid didn’t want to take that for granted. She always tried to tread the side of the line that was positive and showing team spirit but without being cocky. Firstly, there was the notion that pride came before a fall, which rarely made it a good idea, but she also didn’t think Pecari had much to brag about. They’d only just wrestled the trophy off Aladren after their long winning streak, and she couldn’t help but think that might have been more fluke than anything. She certainly still felt that Clark Dill was the more consistent Seeker, and all it took was a microsecond of distraction on Jamie’s part for their dreams to go up in smoke. She would be quite glad when he graduated, even if they had to put a rookie first year in his place. She just didn’t trust him not to let his ego or some pretty girl get in the way of what he was meant to be doing. And not having faith in your Seeker was a pretty demoralising place to be…
After a hearty breakfast with the rest of the team and the warm up on the pitch, Ingrid was champing at the bit… She couldn’t wait to get into the air again and actually play for real. She often did Quidditch camps over the summer, though they were getting less fun the older she got… There had always been more boys than girls, but as they got older they were getting more vocal about whether women belonged on the pitch. Some had even thrown out suggestions of what should be done to girls who didn’t know their place, and they were not in the least bit pleasant… It made her see what a political safe haven Sonora really was. It was a strange little bubble, but one she was very grateful for.
She kicked off as the whistle blew, heading up front early on as Joella dived into the scrum. There were a few strong cracks of Beaters’ bats in the early minutes of the match, and things seemed to be taking off fast, although as many of the hits were defence as attack, and no one got taken out. The rookie Aladren Chaser had been marking one of their players but the Bludger sent her flying. Still, it was a lot of action in a small space, and unsurprisingly, Joella turned instead to her to receive the pass.
It seemed, however, that Louis had caught up with the Bludger that Kit had managed to dodge, and was intent on sending it her way. She tried not to read into that. She was the Chaser most open for the Quaffle and a logical target. At first, she’d been glad that they wouldn’t be face to face any more, as she thought that had the potential to be awkward, for all that they’d reached a tentative sort of neutrality at the very least, but apparently him having the power to aim metal balls at her head was also not a very comfortable situation.
She caught the pass from Joella just in time to do a barrell roll that took her out of the path of the bludger, before starting forward to the Aladren goals. Dodging the metal ball had slowed her down though, as she wouldn’t have been surprised if she had a Pecari tail, or another Bludger with her name on it. It made it risky to pass but she couldn’t see herself getting uninterrupted to the scoring zone either. Better to do it earlier, she reasoned, so that anyone who had had to manoeuvre to catch up with her had had less time to see the fruits of their labours.
She tried to draw close to another Pecari, aiming to make the throw short and sharp but without going so near that it made it a dead give away that she was getting ready to pass to them. She sent the ball their way.
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<font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>
Better late than never
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<font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>
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<font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Beater</font>
November 26, 2016 2:17 PM
Glad you think so by <font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Beater</font>
Ben watched as his bludger successfully scare the smallest of the Aladren chasers off course, opening up a passing opportunity. He didn't watch to see if it was taken, but instead followed the passage of the bludger, which was going right to Louis. Ben went to guard Joella, as she was their strongest player as well as the one currently holding the Quaffle, but Louis went for Ingrid, once it became obvious that was who Joella was passing to. Ben didn't get there in time, but Ingrid managed a nice barrel roll to protect herself and Ben caught possession of the bludger before it could try for her again.He batted it around for a little bit, waiting to see if there was going to be a good chance to protect Ingrid's pass, but it looked like she was going short and he didn't want to risk hitting either of the Pecaris in there, so instead he swung his bat around hard and smacked the bludger out toward a blue-clad chaser who didn't seem to be too dangerously close to anybody else and therefore a relatively easy target.
Ben wasn't really expecting this one to connect, as presumably the target chaser would see (and hear) it coming, but he was trying to time it so that the sound of the bat cracking against metal might potentially scare any Aladren trying to intercept Ingrid's pass, hopefully making them look around at that critical moment instead of going for the Quaffle.
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<font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Beater</font>
Glad you think so
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<font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Beater</font>
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
November 26, 2016 5:01 PM
If a Pecari, better never by <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
Ingrid managed to neatly avoid Louis’s bludger and, whilst he was glad not to cause any injuries, this was Quidditch and Louis could be a rather competitive player. Ingrid’s barrel-roll meant his attempt at sabotage by bludger had failed and, even worse, that Ben had possession once more. Getting into a rally of sorts like was really the worst part of beating (this was meant to be Quidditch, not swivenhodge!), and the problem was only exacerbated by the allocation of beater roles that was popular in Sonora Quidditch. Still, Ben couldn’t hang on to the bludger forever, despite his attempts to seemingly do so, and therefore Louis would soon be able to have another crack (pun intended) at the Pecari chasers.As soon as he’d hit the bludger, Louis had followed along behind its general course. As such, he was in a good position when Ben hit it, and was ready for action. Keeping ready for Ben’s hit meant that he managed to swerve in time to get between the bludger and the Aladren chaser who was in need of protection. A grin came to his face. He knew what his next move was, and with all of his strength and determination he hit the ball straight at Joella Curtis. There were no Quaffle politics behind this, simply the fact that Joella was by far the strongest of the Pecari chasers. He might be confident that Clark would catch the snitch, but the Aladrens weren’t as strong on the chaser front. With Joella out of the game – or at least distracted, he wasn’t going to get ahead of himself – it would give the Aladren chasers an advantage. Mind already moving on to think of his next play, he willed the bludger to catch her by surprise.
Now he was bludgerless once more, the temptation was to have a look at the seekers and other beaters, to see how they were doing, but he resisted. His three years as a chaser had reinforced the importance of focussing solely on his aspect of the game, and he wasn’t going to drop that habit now his role had changed. Of course, he did have to keep an eye on the other bludger (if given the perfect opportunity, he would definitely have a go at Park), but he didn’t let the battle for the snitch distract him. Noting the current position of both bludgers, he moved once more into a fairly central position, so as to be ready to protect all his chasers and respond to Ben’s next move.
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
If a Pecari, better never
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
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<font color='tan'>Cpt Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>
November 26, 2016 7:29 PM
Never underestimate a Pecari. by <font color='tan'>Cpt Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>
Joella could breathe again once Ingrid was safely on her way with the Quaffle. The younger girl did a good job of making the catch and dodging a bludger pretty much simultaneously.The captain sped forward so that she was ready to back up her teammate whenever she needed it. Joella always made sure she had the best broom about and she never forgot to include flying drills in her training. There were a number of aspects of flying and skills that could be built upon and built upon to improve speed, control and all-round efficiency, to name but a few key elements of flying as a Chaser.
As it turned, right now that was all very important because the sound of a bludger whistling through the wind alerted her that it was headed her way. Joella made a split-second decision and directed her broom towards the ground way beneath her, shooting downwards at a steep angle.
Travelling fast, she switched her flight direction again by sharply heading back up higher in the air with the hopes that the speed of the bludger would cause it to plummet into the ground. With any luck, Ben would have noticed and be ready to redirect it on the rebound. Joella’s next move was to whizz right underneath one of the Aladren Chasers on her way to higher altitude for extra measures, so that if she hadn’t already lost the bludger she would now have tricked it into changing target.
Joella’s bludger-dodging circus act seemed to have done the trick but she was in no position to receive Ingrid’s pass. She didn’t lose location of the Quaffle, however, and hoped that it would land swiftly in Lily’s arms, only for Joella to snatch it up right before entering the scoring area… which would actually work out rather well. But right now that was getting ahead of herself and she pushed forward to get in a prime position to be ready to support her teammates, keeping herself on the lookout for anymore of those pesky bludgers (not that they were so much pesky as challenging and exciting).
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<font color='tan'>Cpt Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>
Never underestimate a Pecari.
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<font color='tan'>Cpt Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>
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<font color='tan'>Luke Powell, Keeper</font>
November 26, 2016 7:43 PM
Yeah, what she said. by <font color='tan'>Luke Powell, Keeper</font>
Luke weaved through his hoops with ease, handling his broom so casually and confidently. He was a natural sportsman and he liked training hard so Quidditch worked out nicely for him.The first year kept a good eye on the game as instructed, whilst he ensured that he didn’t get cold waiting around at his end of the pitch. Lena was certainly going to get all the action, but the thing he was most envious about was the bludgers flying about and those loud smacks against the Beaters’ bats.
“Oh yeah! Go Pecari!” he whooped, momentarily hovering still and punching the air with his fist as he watched two of the Chasers dodge enemy bludgers. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to be so vocal, especially since they were so far away and the effect of the wind meant they probably wouldn’t hear, but perhaps he wanted to remind those pretty girls in the stands that he was still here and very much part of the Pecari team even if he was going to have to be patient about having his turn in the spotlight.
Luke rubbed his gloved hands together and then grabbed hold of his broom and returned to his method of maintaining a comfortable body temperature. He spun around and upside-down and switched directions going through his hoops, putting on a little show of his own because the adrenaline of being in his first match needed to be exerted some way or other.
The rookie knew he was supposed to be focusing on the match but the Quaffle was safely in Pecari possession in the Aladren half of the pitch now and he’d have plenty of time to position himself if that suddenly changed. There was no harm in having a little fun to pass the time. The last thing Luke wanted this game to be was boring.
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<font color='tan'>Luke Powell, Keeper</font>
Yeah, what she said.
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<font color='tan'>Luke Powell, Keeper</font>
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
November 26, 2016 8:09 PM
I beg to differ by <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
Annoyingly, Joella had manoeuvred her way out of a nasty bludger accident (well, not that he was actually wishing bodily harm upon the older chaser), but at least Louis’s actions had made sure she couldn’t be the recipient of Ingrid’s pass. That left Lily Spencer, the youngest and most inexperienced Pecari chaser, as the only possible option for Ingrid to pass to, thus increasing the chances of Aladren gaining possession. Kit might be new to the game, but both Jack and Arianna were experienced (Jack much more so, but Louis had confidence in both of his old chaser buddies), and there was a high chance that they would manage to successfully intercept either this pass or Lily’s following one. Hopefully that would mean Aladren would regain possession of the Quaffle before it got near the goal hoops. Louis didn’t doubt Lena’s ability, but it was always much less stressful if the Quaffle didn’t make it within scoring range.But the interception hadn’t quite happened yet, and at no point could Louis afford to relax. He was not going to give Pecari the upper hand if he could help it! He considered diving after his bludger, but knew that would be both unsuccessful and a waste of time. Despite his confidence and experience on a broom, he wasn’t faster than a ball of metal falling quickly to the ground, especially when it had such a head start whilst he was still at the initial point of its trajectory. Let Ben do the running around for now, which would hopefully tire the younger boy out a little. Louis was ready to defend his chasers and take back possession of the bludger, which would maybe lead to another shot at Joella, or Ingrid. If he could just take one of them out, that would be perfect…
Come on, Aladren! he thought to himself, grinning a little as he mentally urged the Aladren chasers on. It was great to be in the air again, playing a match. He always forgot quite how much he loved Quidditch, and training was no substitute for a real game.
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
I beg to differ
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<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Beater</font>
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