Ball State Quidditch advances to World Cup, falls to Louisiana State University

The Daily News

The Quidditch team poses for a team photo prior to the World Cup Tournament. The team placed 18th overall last weekend in Kissimmee, Fla. PHOTO PROVIDED BY SARA MAKEY
The Quidditch team poses for a team photo prior to the World Cup Tournament. The team placed 18th overall last weekend in Kissimmee, Fla. PHOTO PROVIDED BY SARA MAKEY





The Ball State Quidditch team returned Monday from its first experience at the Quidditch World Cup in Kissimmee Fla., with two wins and two losses. 

The team’s Saturday started at 5:30 a.m. and had to be at the field by 7:30 a.m. 

“It was really cool to just see all the different teams arriving and all of the camps getting set up and seeing all these teams from all over the country and even then teams from other countries there as well,” said Tyler Macy, a senior social work major and co-captain of the team.

The opening ceremony of the tournament included singing of the national anthems of each country represented by the teams. 

Ball State’s team played its first of four matches soon after against Tennessee Tech, whom they conquered. 

They went on to beat QC Carolinas and the Silver Phoenixes and then lost to Hofstra University, earning them passage to the second day of the tournament and a spot against Louisiana State University.

“They were a good team and we knew they were a good team going into it. They were ranked higher than us and we actually lost that match in overtime by one goal,” Macy said.

The team entered overtime after senior film and television studies major Anthony Ashford made a magical play, caught the golden snitch and earned the team an additional 30 points, locking them in a tie with LSU that was as heated as the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry.

Ashford was originally a back-up seeker and took the front after Macy rolled his ankle while catching the snitch in the prior play.

“I was a little apprehensive about it because I knew how important of a game this was, but at the same time, I knew I had to catch that snitch otherwise we wouldn’t advance,” Ashford said.

The pressure stayed on Ashford as they went into overtime play, but after being beaten out from LSU’s beaters, he was unable to catch the snitch again.

“That was the absolute lowest feeling during the whole tournament,” Ashford said. “I keep looking back on that one experience. Just that one instance getting beat could have changed the game. I know if I would have gotten close to that snitch, I would have caught it.”

The Ball State team ended up losing by 10 points, or a single quaffle goal, ending the game with a score of 80-90. Even so, not even a dementor could ruin the happiness and pride that the team felt after the game.

“It was kind of sad to lose in round one of bracket play, but everyone knew LSU was going to be a really hard team to play and I think everyone is really happy with how we did because we played incredibly well that game,” Macy said. 

Even though the team didn’t leave with a win, they left with an experience that seemed more important than winning.

“Everyone was just meeting new people and making new friends and it was a lot of fun,” Macy said. “We all had our heads up and we all were proud of what we had accomplished.”

The lessons and networking will carry on for the team, Ashford said.

“Even though we lost, we learned so much from other teams and watching other people play,” Ashford said. “All this defeat is going to do is make us come back a whole lot stronger than before.”

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