In episode 13, we talk to one of the more colourful characters within the European community- Bex McLaughlin. In this wide-ranging interview, we look back at how Bex began playing quidditch at the University of Southern Mississippi in southern USA, returning to the UK to play with Keele and multiple other teams, setting up their own team, moving to live in Catalonia and Austria, representing multiple national teams, playing Rugby, commentating and volunteering. We also talk about Bex's grievances with the sport, notably incidences of sexism, raising awareness of some important issues for quidditch to address as a sporting community. 

Thanks to everyone for submitting so many questions for the (fe)mail bag for this episode, it's great to see lots of engagement from our listeners!

Remember to stay up to date with future episodes of the podcast by following the Total Quidditch. Facebook page.

Note- There are some issues with the audio but we hope for the most part that you're able to enjoy the episode.

#LiveTheGame

In more of a personal episode for our host, we speak with Fraser's long time teammate Aaron Veale. Starting off as a plucky 5ft 7 kid rocking up to his first quidditch session at Southampton in a Portsmouth shirt, Aaron talks through his career progression including his early success winning BQC 2015 with the Anchors all the way through to his captaincy year in which he redefined himself as a short yet very capable shooting keeper that pushed the UK game in new directions. We also talk through his initial breakthrough with Team UK at European Games 2015, his self-doubt in terms of finding his role within a team, how his background in Basketball has transferred to quidditch as well as his experience playing with Werewolves of London.

Thanks as always to our listeners and to those submitting questions for the mailbag. Check out our Facebook page to see who's coming next on the podcast!

Note- there's a bit of echo on some of the speech but hopefully it doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the episode.

#LiveTheGame

Back for Series Two of the Total Quidditch. Podcast, we head to Turkey to talk to Kaan Bolat- an influential leader and coach within the METU Unicorns and Turkish national team. Kaan tells us about the early development of Turkish quidditch, the team culture of the Unicorns with an emphasis on building strength in depth for years to come, the struggles Turkish quidditch players face in order to attend tournaments, getting involved with working for quidditch apparel company 'Happening' and his story of the 2018 World Cup in which he and Turkey shocked the world to win the bronze medal against the odds. A real in-depth but fascinating conversation to start off the new Series of the pod.

Thanks to everyone who has followed us so far and to everyone for submitting their mailbag questions, plenty more great episodes to come!

#LiveTheGame

In the series finale for series 1 of the podcast, we head to the land down under to chat with Australia's Taya Rawson. We talk a lot about Taya's involvement with the Australian national team, the Dropbears, of course going into great depth on their incredible World Cup win in 2016 as well as talking about how she coped with a serious knee injury and how quidditch has helped Taya in her sporting and professional life post-quidditch.

We hope you enjoyed the first series of the podcast, it's been a lot of fun bringing this project to life. We'll probably have at least a week's break now before jumping into series 2 so, if you want to stay up to date for when we come back, head over to the Total Quidditch. facebook page and give it a 'like'.

Thanks

#LiveTheGame

Another in-depth interview in this 9th episode of the podcast. We talk to Jay Holmes, now former Head Coach of Team UK and former Captain of Velociraptors QC. We take a real honest and reflective look into Jay's rise through the ranks of the UK game, starting off with his time playing for Bangor, his transformation following the 2016 World Cup when he first joined Raptors, his successful leadership within the club and ultimately culminating in him taking charge of the national team as Head Coach. As a major figure within UK quidditch, we also discuss Jay's battles with mental health, coping with criticism and animosity as well as his captaining and coaching methods.

As always, thanks to our listeners for following the pod and for sending in your mailbag questions. Make sure you give the Total Quidditch. facebook page a 'like' so you can keep up to date with future episodes.

#LiveTheGame

In our 8th episode we have our first double interview with Devin Lee & Lindsay Marella of the New York Titans and the Warriors. The two of them talk about starting their career at Rutgers, the environment there and the challenges they faced, including a rather hectic last minute road trip from New Jersey to Florida to get to nationals. They also tell us about their experiences playing at the highest level, both in Major League Quidditch and, in Lindsay's case, for the US National Quidditch Team on the world stage.

As always, thanks to our listeners for following the pod and for sending in your mailbag questions. Make sure you give the Total Quidditch. facebook page a 'like' so you can keep up to date with future episodes.

#LiveTheGame

In our seventh episode, we have an in-depth chat with Team UK keeper and assistant coach Seb Waters. We cover all kinds of topics, from Seb's visits over to Turkey and what he's learnt from their game, how he and his Warwick QC teammates carved out a play style based on football that saw them rise to the top of the UK game, his vivid memories of multiple tournaments with Team UK, London QC & Warwick QC, his QPL experience, all the way to how he has coped with tough losses and turned them into something productive.

As always, thanks to our listeners for following the pod and for sending in your mailbag questions. Make sure you give the Total Quidditch. facebook page a 'like' so you can keep up to date with future episodes.

#LiveTheGame

In our 6th episode, we head to the city of love and light, Paris, to talk with Albert Bregeault. The Paris Titans and France keeper tells us about the creation of the Titans and the standards they set themselves in order to become the most dominant team in Europe, his ambitions of becoming the world's best and his appreciation of Australia's Callum Mayling and other elite players at the top of the sport.

As always, thanks to our listeners for following the pod and for sending in your mailbag questions. Make sure you give the Total Quidditch. facebook page a 'like' so you can keep up to date with future episodes.

#LiveTheGame

For the first episode of March and fifth total, we turn our attention to Scandinavia, speaking with Norway's Elisabeth Jørstad. Elisabeth tells us about her wide-reaching career which has led to her playing on club teams in Norway, UK, USA and Belgium as well as playing for the Norwegian and UK national teams. We compare and contrast these experiences as well as talk about the development of NTNUI Rumpeldunk* (Elisabeth's first team and multiple time Norwegian national champions) and Norway as a whole, celebrating some of their great achievements in the sport including defeating Paris Titans in 2017 and France in 2019.

As always, thanks to our listeners for following the pod and for sending in your mailbag questions. Make sure you give the Total Quidditch. facebook page a 'like' so you can keep up to date with future episodes.

*= for those who don't know, Rumpeldunk is the Norwegian word for quidditch, what a great word it is!

In episode 4, we are joined by Louis Lermytte, former star utility player and coach of Antwerp QC and the Belgian Gryffins. Louis takes us on his journey from discovering quidditch and inviting his friends to play all the way through to becoming European champions, playing in a World Cup final and his and his team's retirement from the sport.

Big thanks to everyone who sent in their mailbag questions, we look forward to receiving more in the episodes to come. To keep up to date with future episodes, head on over to the Total Quidditch. facebook page and give it a 'Like'. There you can suggest your mailbag questions for our guests in the comments on the announcement posts or by messaging the page.

Hope you enjoyed this episode and are excited to listen to more!

#LiveTheGame