Happy New Year!

We are back for 2022 with a brand-new series of the Total Quidditch. Podcast to wrap your ears around.

Kicking us off, our first episode of series 4 is our latest look at the state of the game. Having previously discussed the new QuidditchUK Community League during last series, we now turn our attentions to the other side of the coin- university quidditch. The first Northern and Southern University league fixtures were played out in Manchester and London respectively back in November. Part of a new format for the 2021/2022 season which splits community and university teams into separate competitions.

For this episode, we are joined by Sheffield Quidditch Club’s President Amit Portnoy, Oxford University Quidditch Club’s Beater Coach Callum Brennan and Edinburgh Holyrood Hippogriffs’ President and Head Coach Hannah Glover. They share with us their thoughts on university quidditch including their experiences of the opening fixtures and opinions of the new league structure and gameplay rules. They also give us an insight into the struggles of running a university quidditch club during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As we return to competitive quidditch in the UK, it’s great to hear the thoughts of people across the community as the sport continues to evolve. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, we’d love to hear from you!

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For our series finale, we had the pleasure of a long chat with Augie Monroe. Widely considered as the greatest quidditch player of all-time, Augie talks us through his most recent MLQ title win with Austin Outlaws, how he spent the last year without quidditch getting invested in a new hobby, his quidditch journey through the University of Texas program and now with his own team (Texas Cavalry). We discuss the broader topics of leadership, tactical innovation and his reputation as the GOAT of quidditch as well as his adventures abroad with the US National team and also when he went to South America to play and coach there. 

Our longest episode to date but one with lots of interesting discussion with arguably the biggest name in the sport.

Thanks to everyone for their mailbag questions and support for these first 3 series. It's been a blast so far and we hope you're enjoying these episodes as much as we are.

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For this episode, we talk to our first Dutch guest, Annemieke Drost, and our second German guest, Toni Zimpel. Annemieke and Toni invite us into the world of live-streaming quidditch with Ruhr Phoenix TV (RPTV), their roles in the livestream team before, during and after a tournament as well as their views on the broadcasting of quidditch as a sport. We also discuss the topics of gender within commentating and analysis, volunteering and applying research to quidditch to help improve the experience for volunteers at future tournaments and events.

Big thanks to Annemieke & Toni for a really fun chat about an aspect of quidditch few have yet to come across during their time in the sport.

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We take a trip down memory lane with Bristol Quidditch Club founder Tom Ower, talking about his unconventional quidditch journey. From 'inventing' quidditch in a Reading cul-de-sac in 2002 to starting the Brizzlepuffs, creating a 'doss' culture and all the shenanigans that followed- Whiteknights, All-Star weekends, Double overtime victories, Nandos and a shoe box of hopes and dreams plus many other things. A delightful insight into the life of one of the UK's most likeable teams and people. 

Thanks as always to our listeners for their mailbag questions!

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For the first time on the Total Quidditch. Podcast, Fraser is joined by three guests, making this our biggest episode yet! Alex Carpenter from the West Country Rebels, Marianna Parroquin from Olympians QC and Seb Waters from London QC sat down with our host to talk about the state of UK Quidditch following the opening two QuidditchUK Community league fixtures including their tournament experiences at these events, a discussion on the new rules and gameplay plus a talk about the winter break and its value to the UK community. 

Thanks to Alex, Marianna & Seb for their time. We hope you enjoy the episode!

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Back in mid-September 2021, we had the chance to sit down with Emily Hickmott and talk about her involvement in quidditch through the years. We talk about the projects Emily has been involved with this year such as Quidcon and the running of the 2021 MLQ season. We look back through Emily's playing career starting with Tufts University and including her spells playing quidditch for some of the top USQ Club teams and MLQ teams in the North East and South West. We also talk about our shared appreciation of Austin, volunteering, the transition of graduating from college and joining a club team, the impact of quidditch when relocating for your personal and/or professional life plus many other topics.

Thanks as always to everyone who sent in their mailbag questions and thank you to our listeners for being patient with us while waiting for this episode to become available.

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*Note- Apologies for some technical issues with the recording. These were identified during the editing process and while parts of the content may be affected, hopefully the episode remains comprehensible as a whole.

In this episode, we talk with Norwegian star beater Mette Sundal. We talk about all kinds of different topics including Roundnet, Norwegian quidditch, Mette's background in football, her favourite matches and tournaments including Norway's win over France at the 2019 European Games, how she mentally approaches games, gaining recognition as a player, her playstyle as a beater and her role on her new team- Sagene IF Rumpeldunk.  

Thanks to our listeners for your patience. We unfortunately had some technical issues to sort out with episode which took longer to arrange than was originally anticipated. Hopefully we won't encounter similar issues with future episodes! 

Remember to 'like' the Total Quidditch. Facebook page if you wish to stay up to date with future episodes of the podcast and to send in your own mailbag questions for our guests.

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Following the return of quidditch to the UK after the lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, Jay Holmes and Alice Walker join us to talk about the state of the sport in the UK. We first talk about Jurassic Cup, the first tournament back from lockdown which took place in July, discussing the tournament as a whole and some of the new IQA and tournament specific rules and how they affected gameplay at the tournament. We then look ahead to first community league fixture taking place this weekend in Derby, talking about the format of the league and the Uni-Community split as well as making some tentative predictions for the fixture.

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For the third episode of series 3, we return to Australia to talk to star beater and Quidditch Australia President Luke Derrick. Luke tells us all about how he got thrown into the deep end when he started playing quidditch with his first tournament being QUAFL (the Australian national championship) with the University of Sydney Unspeakables and the journey he went on from that point. We talk about all kinds of topics from Luke's appreciation for American quidditch and playing over in the States, how he took on an ill-advised crash diet before playing on the 2016 World Cup winning Dropbears team and spent the whole tournament eating nothing but Chipotle, reflecting on the fortunes of his club team (the Sydney City Serpents) and his State Shield team (New South Wales Blue Tongued Wizards), all the way to becoming an NGB president and what challenges he has faced in the role.

Thanks to everyone for their mailbag questions in, was a fantastic variety in this episode!

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Our 2nd episode of the series is another double bill as we are joined by good friends Luke Twist and Jan Mikolajczak. The pair tell us about their early days starting out at Oxford playing for the Radcliffe Chimeras, reaching the top of the UK and European game with club and country, having fun on the Mighty and Amazing Quercs, moving to Werewolves of London and having further success in the British capital, making hoops and running Bluehawk Quidditch Supplies as well as telling us what they're currently up to with Jan having moved back to Poland and Luke stepping up his engagement with UK quidditch once more after taking a bit of a step back from the sport in recent years.

Big thanks as always to everyone for their mailbag questions! 

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