Coach Olivers
August 10, 2014 11:52 PM
Flying Lessons by Coach Olivers
In order to prepare for her role as Coach and flying lessons instructor for this year, Florence had prepared and studied just as she did for any other role. Her brother in Chicago was a part-time coach for the Quodpot team at the local magical high school and she had spent some time with him at his practices and games to familiarize herself with coaching duties. Now was the time to use all she had learned and teach the beginners. There were bound to be some students who didn’t completely master riding a broom their first year. Any second years that had received less than an O were allowed to take the class again for a better grade, but Florence didn’t expect most of them would need to. Flying was usually a pretty easy class once the students got the hang of it.Florence confidently stood in front of the younglings with her clipboard. She liked everyone to be punctual, but she told herself to be merciful on the first day with brand new students. After a couple of minutes, she started class as she would with any Charms class, though she made sure to keep her brother’s advice in mind.
“Good morning, class. Welcome to flying lessons. I am Professor Olivers, but you can call me Coach Olivers if you prefer. I am the Charms teacher here at Sonora, but I will also be the Quidditch coach for the time being.” Florence didn’t know how she had gotten herself so much work, but she did like it very much. She was a workaholic and it fed her ego and her personality to have so much to do and prepare.
“Flying lessons are required for all first years, but for those who already know how to fly there are other options. However, all students must spend their time on a broom for the entire class period. Every class period will begin with roll call and then the more experienced flyers can break off to either play informal scrimmages or fly laps around the pitch. As long as you do not disturb the lessons, you are free to do what you like within reason. We have quaffles available for use, but do not ask me to bring out a Snitch or the bludgers.” There was no way she was going to allow any students to use any Quods either. Leaving students to entertain themselves was dangerous enough without adding an explosive Quod into the mix. Sometimes Florence thought her brother was crazy for volunteering to coach such a sport. At least nothing exploded in Quidditch. “If you are already confident in your flying ability, go ahead and make your way to the opposite end of the pitch where the quaffles are.”
Florence called role then, and after she had marked off the students that were present she let the more experienced flyers go to the other end of the pitch. They were far enough that they wouldn’t disturb the beginners, but close enough that Florence could keep an eye on them. Once the group had split, Florence turned her attention to the beginners. “Alright, now we are going to learn how to fly. Everyone please take a school broom to begin with.” She waited until the students had grabbed a broom from the pile in front of her. “Put your broom on the ground beside you, hold your wand hand out—your dominant hand, that is—and say, Up!” The broom she had leaped to her hand. The trick to it is to genuinely command the broom to do as you say. Don’t be shy about it, but confident.” Confidence was the key to acting, a career Florence had pursued for a long time. She found some comfort in being able to bring what she had learned as a stage actress for twenty-three years to her new career as a professor. “Once your broom is up, it will stay up so that you can mount it, either astride or side-saddle if you wish.”
OOC:
Welcome to your first class! By posting in this class, you will earn points for your house. There is a minimum of 200 words per post or three paragraphs, but the longer and more creative a post is, the more points you will receive. Points are awarded for how well you write, not how well your character does in a lesson. Keep your posts realistic, relevant to the lesson as much as possible, creative, and at a reasonable length!
If you have any questions, tag Professor Olivers on the OOC board or check the FAQ.
Professor Olivers will be present and would stop any situation before it got out of hand. Make sure you don’t write for other characters without their permission. However, if your character wants to ride side-saddle, you can safely assume Professor Olivers adjusted their broom. Otherwise, have fun with your posts!
Subthreads: I like the name 'Applied Physics' better. by John Umland, Aladren with Clark Dill, Aladren
Not as easy as it looks! by Theo Dashland, Crotalus with Coach Olivers, Uzume Shinohara
An informal scrimmage? by Joella Curtis
Just a casual stroll through the air. by Aiden O'Neil, Teppenpaw
Think confident thoughts by Araceli Arbon, Crotalus
Retaking the course, just in case by Katherine Procter, Crotalus
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Coach Olivers
Flying Lessons
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Theo Dashland, Crotalus
August 12, 2014 10:44 PM
Not as easy as it looks! by Theo Dashland, Crotalus
To say his heart hadn't been beating a thousand beats per minute would've been a lie the moment it left Theo's lips. He had been dying to begin his courses at Sonora and the whole night prior to his first day had been filled with restlessness and over thinking as he unintentionally refused sleep. Sadly, this was the one class he had nothing but anxiety for and there was good cause too. Theo's father had played quidditch all throughout schooling and two of his older brothers had carried out proficient spells as some of Sonora's best players at the time. To Theo, quidditch wasn't a sport, it was the biggest test he'd have that year.After listening thoroughly to Coach Olivers, Theo looked on dismally at the broom that lay just beside his feet. It's rigid body filled with wear and scratches of what Theo assumed was years of use. He imagined the dozens of students that must've commanded it's movement, the dozens of leasers it had already seen and submitted control to. 'Can a broom retire? or quit? What it Theo's broom didn't want to come "up"?' Theo began to sweat underneath his robes.
He looked around at some of the success already being had by the other students of his group. They made it look so simple. Theo thought about how he was most likely being paranoid and, while his brief bout of courage was swelling inside of him, he stuck his hand out stiffly and said "up!"
To say the broom didn't move would be an understatement. If negative inertia were a thing, it was happening right now, about three inches to the right of Theo's foot. He stared intently at the broom, willing it with every bit of passion and control he could muster and once more demanded, "Up!"
Once more the broom laid tauntingly in his shadow, mocking Theo from some unknown mouth. Theo glanced sheepishly at Coach Oliver, whose attention was focused elsewhere, and hoped deeply that the rest of his first day would not go so poorly.
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Theo Dashland, Crotalus
Not as easy as it looks!
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Theo Dashland, Crotalus
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Coach Olivers
August 13, 2014 2:40 AM
OOC by Coach Olivers
Great to see you posting in flying, Theo! There's just a small logistical problem with the claim that Theo's dad and older brothers were the best Quidditch players during their time at Sonora.DH Skies posted a post about retconning that you might want to take a look at. You can find it here. Trying to squeeze in alumni family members into Sonora history who weren't written then complicates things for other writers with alumni. It's fine to say that Theo's dad was a great Quidditch player at Sonora back in his day as long as he attended Sonora before the site itself was active, but less realistic to say that his brothers were since their attendance at Sonora would have been during the time of other alumni. Take a look at the retconning post and let me know if you have any other questions on the OOC board!
Other than that, your post looks great. Have fun posting!
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Coach Olivers
OOC
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Uzume Shinohara
August 18, 2014 2:57 PM
Not as bad as I look. by Uzume Shinohara
Since she had woken up that morning, Uzume sensed it would be an off day for her. As the coach introduced herself and started the lesson Uzume couldn’t help but think back to earlier that morning when all her troubles had begun. While getting dressed, Uzume had discovered western style attire neatly packed into her trunk. At first she wondered if it was an error, for her grandfather absolutely detested the idea of her wearing such outfits. However, Kaede who had been charged with packing her luggage, never made mistakes, it was the reason the house elf had been kept around for so long. She wasn’t sure what this meant, however, seeing as the opportunity was there, she would be a fool not to accept it. Not missing a beat Uzume picked out a pair of blue shorts, and a ruffled yellow top, not caring if it would be considered fashionable to her peers, and bounded off, wearing for the first time in her life, western clothing.So now here she was, attending a lesson dressed like an American girl. It was an oddly liberating feeling, drenched with undertones of suspicion. Just what game was her grandfather playing? The fact that she couldn’t understand the man’s thinking annoyed her greatly, so much so that she could barely focus on what the professor was saying. Although she was quite confident in her abilities, it had been a while since Uzume had ridden a broom due to a variety of reasons all caused by her grandfather. By the time the experienced flyers had been released she was still standing, completely lost in thought, looking as if she was a beginner.
Although she didn’t need the lesson, she did need a broom. Her family had given her a specialty made broom especially for side-saddle ridding, however she would rather catch herself on fire (including the broom itself) then ride something so degrading. After all, the only reason they had wanted her to ride side-saddle in the first place was due to WAIL. Uzume grimaced at the thought. The more she studied American culture the less she understood how exactly they were the “land of the free”.
Although Uzu could have simply walked out during Coach Olivers’ speech, she didn’t mind the lady. The teacher hadn’t done anything to annoy Uzu yet so she thought she may as well stick around, if only to see what type of teacher she was. In addition if Coach Olivers thought she was a beginner she may be graded more easily. It was a win, win.
When Coach Olivers released the beginning class to being flying. Uzume confidently turned to her broom. Getting the broom up would be easy, but she didn’t want to seem too good. She hoped that if she commanded the broom in English that it may not respond to her as fast, giving her the appearance of a novice. Looking down at her broom she held out her hand and confidently said, “Up”. The broom responded by jumping slightly on the ground. “Perfect” she thought to herself, pleased with the little trick she was playing.
She then noticed her neighbor who, apparently, things were not going so perfectly for. She had heard the boy utter ‘up’ twice and saw both of his failures out of the corner of her eyes. She felt a little awkward standing there, knowing full and well that with one word she could show up the boy. Despite her feelings regarding less talented students, she decided she would be kind and help the poor boy.
“You know you are supposed to try and move the broom right?” She said dryly. Uzume wasn’t very good at being nice to novices. “Do you want some help or something?” She asked genuinely offering her assistance. She felt bad for the creature, especially since he was a boy and a new flyer, how utterly embarrassing. “Or are you just pretending to be that bad?” she added, realizing that he may be trying to hustle the teacher as well.
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Uzume Shinohara
Not as bad as I look.
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Uzume Shinohara
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