The Coach
June 05, 2020 10:56 AM
Quidditch Tryouts! by The Coach
"Hello, everyone!" the coach said, greeting the gathered students with a grin. It was always exciting to see who signed up for the team - there were repeat players, new players, and everything in between. Some people had played once before but not for years since. Some people clearly didn't want to be here and stood nervously near their friends, hoping for some amount of social approval by coming. Some students were bouncing on their feet, eagerly waiting to give this their best shot. "As most of you already know, Sonora has a school team rather than house teams, and we play against other schools in the area. That means the team will be traveling! It also means this is a big commitment. That being said, there are enough of you that I have high hopes we will be able to do something a little different this year." The coach grinned again, excited about this bit.Taking a moment to savor the excitement - and the sunshine - the coach paced a little in front of the students. It helped with thinking through all throw words in the right order, too. "My hope is that we will have enough players to have a full team and a full reserve team, and we will be able to host recreational games here with mixed teams. That'll give your classmates a chance to get involved and be excited by watching, and you can all have more chances to really improve your skills by playing with different teams together." Pulling out a clipboard with the list of students who had put down their interest for tryouts and for which positions, the coach nodded, satisfied. "We should have enough for a regular and reserve player for most positions!"
This was so exciting! "All that to bring us to tryouts! Welcome, students. If anyone needs a refresher on any of the positions, please feel free to take a look at the poster I've put up on the wall over there," the coach said, pointing to a large, colorful poster near the entrance to the pitch. Moving animations showed little figures of what each position sort of did, next to more detailed descriptions. "Anyone who is trying out for more than one position may need more time than we have here today, so please follow up with me afterwards if you don't get a chance to try for all of the ones you want to.
We'll start with some warm ups, stretches, and laps to get our blood pumping, and then the tryouts will begin. I expect everyone to be limbered up properly. I know many of you are nervous, but injuring yourself because you were too important to get through a proper warm up won't do anyone any good, and I won't be impressed by that sort of behavior." The coach looked warningly at the students, although still with kindness. It wouldn't be the first time someone hurt themselves and it really was very frustrating to seek happen. "When that's done, I want you all to take a couple warm up laps on your brooms. I've set up some obstacles, so I want you to take your time getting through those. Over or under posts, through rings, around poles, things like that. I want to see that you can handle yourself, not see how fast you can manage it, so be careful. Finally, we'll begin the tryouts for individual positions."
The coach looked at the clipboard again and pointed out various spots on the field for each group to go as they were read off. "Those of you trying out for seeker will be over there. The contraption over there is charmed to fire off different color balls about the size of a snitch. First, you'll take turns--" the coach paused to assign each perspective seeker a color "--trying to catch balls of your color alone. Then, you'll all be up there, trying to only catch balls of your own color and not each others'. It's important that a seeker can be lithe, quick, and aware of their surroundings so as not to get run into or run into anyone else.
Those of you trying out for Keeper will be over by the goal posts with a similar contraption, except you won't be going at it at the same time at all. This will be a bit shorter because perspective Chasers," the coach pointed to another spot on the field, near the goal posts, "will be practicing some passing and catching activities together and then showing me what you can do for making goals. You'll do that without a keeper first and then I'll have the keeper tryouts get in there and give it a go. Missing a goal because the keeper gets there doesn't mean you did badly, and getting a goal because a keeper missed it doesn't mean you did well. Just do your best. I can absolutely see when you are playing skillfully, whether or not you get a goal out of it."
The coach paused to check for questions and then moved on to the final position. There were fewer people signed up for this one, particularly considering that they needed at least two, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be expected to tryout just like anyone else. "Prospective beaters, you're going to first take a bat and be working with a contraption much like the others I've mentioned. It'll shoot off Bludger-sized balls at you and I want you to hit them back at the targets that are set up where I've pointed. When that's done, you'll pair up and pass balls back and forth with your bats. If we have enough people, I want you to switch partners; I need to see how all of you work together."
Double checking the clipboard, pausing for questions and answers, and taking a deep breath, the coach grinned one more time. "I'm really glad you're all here. Let's play Quidditch!" The coach blew a whistle and the students began.
OOC - Welcome to Quidditch tryouts! This will function essentially like classes, although there won't be points award for this. I am trying something new and setting up specific groupings for subthreads for each position and general threads. We'll see how well that works. Feel free to tag the coach if you need, or god mod the coach slightly as necessary.
The team will be determined both by IC factors - experience and skill, things that the school would logically take into consideration - and OOC factors - essentially, contribution to tryouts. If you have any questions, shoot a message my way (Evelyn Stones') way in chatzy, or in an OOC. If you signed up for tryouts, it is assumed that you came to tryouts. However, if you don't actually post at tryouts, your chances of being on the team are significantly reduced. You'll have two weeks to post here and get your tryout in, and then I'll start building a roster to be posted in three weeks.
Happy flying!
Subthreads:Chasers
Playing the odds this time. by Valentine Duell with Heinrich Hexenmeister , Morgan Garrett
The odds are good, but the goods are odd. by Parker Fitzgerald with Evelyn Stones
Speaking of odd by Ness McLeod
General (before & after; warmups; etc.)
Seekers
Keepers
Beaters
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The Coach
Quidditch Tryouts!
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The Coach
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Hilda Hexenmeister
June 06, 2020 2:19 PM
Diese Position gehört mir by Hilda Hexenmeister
Hilda looked around at those gathered for the Quiddtich Try-Outs. She approved of the turn-out. It was larger than last year, large enough to regularly field two teams in practice games, which would be good for practice and help all of them. She felt secure in her own bid for beater. Of the older students, only Nathaniel had signed up for beater. She was pretty sure Parker had once been a reserve Beater, but he was only signed up for Chaser this year, so he was Heinrich's competition not hers. Of the other who signed up, she was not too worried about Filipe - they were the same grade level and he hadn't played on the team before, plus she wasn't exactly a small girl. Heinrich had inches on her, but she probably outweighed him, because he was skinny wisp like Mom while Hilda had their father's larger bone structure, and much muscle mass to back up her bid for the position where strength and power were the most important. None of the smaller kids seemed particularly interested, but at least one could probably be convinced to the team's second reserve beater.She figured chances were good, though, that it would be her and Nathaniel who continued on as the first string beaters. They had worked well together, and developed a series of hand signals for their most common plays, partly so she could avoid speaking English, and partly because that would be harder for their opposing teams to decipher.
There were enough advanced students and fifth years that she did not imagine she'd have had a shot at captain even if her English was good enough, so she wasn't going to hold out any doomed hope on that point. Even when she did get to be on the older half of the seniority spectrum instead of smack dab in the center of it, she would still have her ability to communicate working against her. Honestly, that was the biggest motive she had for improving her English to something more fluent than merely 'understandable with difficulty' that had been her goal until she'd made this realization.
She listened carefully to the coach give his introductory remarks and then his instructions. She stood next to Heinrich, but he wasn't translating, not unless she gave him the signal she needed help. Which she did give on a few sentences, but over all, she had followed . . . some of it. The rest she could guess at. She checked her understanding with Heinrich when it was over, and he clarified a few points she'd gotten wrong, but as she bent over to begin her normal warm up routine, she was feeling pretty pleased with her language comprehension, at least when the words were related to Quidditch instead of Charms theory.
Once she was sure she properly limbered up she took to her broom. The obstacles looked interesting and she was eager to give them a go. Speed was only important to a beater when they were trying to get between a teammate and an incoming bludger, so she felt no compulsion to show off her top speeds when the coach had specifically instructed that completing the course with minimal errors was more important finishing it quickly. Like a bull in a china shop, she weaved over and under the posts, around the poles, and through the rings with more grace than one might expect from her, avoiding each obstacle with enough clearance that her success was unquestioned, but lacking the easy agility to make it look natural rather than fraught with imminent disaster.
Once that was done, she collected her bat then headed over to the beater corner. When the ball dispensing contraption began flinging bludger sized balls at her she set to swatting them into the designated targets. Not every one hit, but most did, and the ones that missed were close enough that they would have given any chaser in that target's position a good scare. She varied how hard she hit each ball, with the ones that were smacked with the greatest power being the ones with the least perfect aim, but some of those did connect, and when they did, the thumping sound was very satisfying.
When the thing stopped shooting out balls for each of the prospective beaters, she turned to one the others trying out here, and asked, "You pass ball with me?" while brandishing her bat so they would know she knew they weren't just throwing a ball back and forth.
OOC: If you haven't ever seen the Mythbusters busting 'bull in a china shop' look it up. It's amazing.
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Hilda Hexenmeister
Diese Position gehört mir
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Felipe De Matteo
June 07, 2020 1:50 PM
Y mío. by Felipe De Matteo
Felipe had been right. Relative both to other positions and how many people were going to have to be chosen for this position, Felipe thought had a good chance at playing beater. He didn't think he had a particular chance of being first string, but that was fine.He was excited to play Quidditch. It was one of those "fun" things he'd been learning about, and he was pretty confident that Zara wasn't so enamored with athletes that she'd be disappointed if he didn't make the team, so there wasn't any pressure either way. He was also a bit curious. The majority of his musculature had built up as a result of weeding, harvesting, planting, climbing, and intentionally exercising. He was strong, but he was lean. How would those things translate to sports?
The warm ups were great. It was a literal breath of fresh air, and he moved through the exercises with the grace of someone who's been brought up to be exactly as lithe and gentle as he was. The next bit was harder, and the first few shots he took went wide. He'd been trying to focus on strength, but that didn't seem to do the trick. When he concentrated more on accuracy, he did well, and managed to hit the rest of the targets. He hoped that the fact that bludgers were hard and would hurt regardless, and the fact that they were dangerous even if he wasn't hitting one any which way, would be in his favor.
Finally, it was time to practice with others. Oh, how Felipe wished he spoke German. Managed four languages and none of them would be helpful here. He hated not being able to speak to someone in their most comfortable language. Nothing to be done about that right now, but perhaps he'd learn German next.
"Yes," Felipe smiled, agreeing to his classmate's offer and guiding his broom to an appropriate height. He adjusted his grip on his bat and took a breath. "I'm Felipe. You're Hilda, right?" he confirmed, wondering whether his memory for names would ever go away. It was good in this case, as this person was his competition right now but may very well be his teammate sometime soonish.
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Felipe De Matteo
Y mío.
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Nathaniel Mordue
June 10, 2020 12:16 PM
I suspect I agree with one of you about something. by Nathaniel Mordue
De Matteo, Nathaniel was forced to conclude, was quite insane. He was not, as Nathaniel was, a bit damaged: he was outright insane and ought to be locked up for his own safety, not to mention that of others.Nathaniel’s inclination would have been to blame the Muggleborn girl, as everyone knew that running with that sort was a short, broad, smooth path to ruin, but after the fool had lowered himself to behaving like a Muggle at the beginning of last year, it had rapidly become common knowledge that De Matteo and the girl – Hanes or Hayes or whatever her name was; wasn’t as if it mattered, given that she had no family – were no longer even on speaking terms. This meant she, at least, was probably not to blame for De Matteo now being stupid enough to join the Quidditch team despite the fact that it had both Jeremy and Nathaniel on it, and that neither of them had forgotten that he had presumed to attempt violence (even in Mugglish fashion; was he such a poor excuse for a wizard that he hadn’t thought he could do any better?) against Jeremy. Why would the girl he was groping these days, Jackson – why would she want him to ignore these facts, though? That suggested the Crotalus boy was simply insane, and to be pitied, really – at least, if it hadn’t happened to be Nathaniel’s brother he’d punched in the face.
Truthfully, Nathaniel didn’t even really hold it against him as much as he felt he should have done. Aside from the fact he was clearly delusional, there was also the fact that Jeremy could be quite a provocative, difficult person. Nathaniel could never like someone who assaulted his brother, of course, but he could understand how someone could be driven to want to do that. Didn’t matter though. Jeremy was his responsibility, and Nathaniel had let him down too many times anyway. De Matteo was therefore on the rather long list of people Nathaniel regarded as Enemy.
Perhaps De Matteo was just sane enough to realize this, he thought with a glimmer of amusement, for De Matteo was quick enough to pair up with Hilda. Pity, really. Nathaniel could have possibly broken his nose for him today to let him know he wasn’t wanted and he could have at least gone off to join another position, if not just…gone away entirely. Ah, well. Plenty of time.
“I’ll take turns,” he said, looking only at Hilda, and picking simple words to help her understand better. “Unless someone else comes to play with us soon,” he added, still ignoring De Matteo’s existence.
He was curious to see how it went between them, though. De Matteo had not been particularly skilled at the aiming bit during the first part of practice, so Nathaniel might get to ‘save’ the situation by running after the balls De Matteo sent flying toward the wrong people. These didn’t seem likely to hurt anyone, but it would be something to do until it was his 'turn' with one of them or the other.
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Nathaniel Mordue
I suspect I agree with one of you about something.
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Nathaniel Mordue
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