Clashing heads on Quidditch Pitch

Capt. Alistair Johnson

October 24, 2016 3:13 PM

Crotalus Try-outs! by Capt. Alistair Johnson

“Good morning everyone,” Alistair smiled at the group before him, clapping his hands together. He started fairly promptly, allowing just a few hopeful minutes for any latecomers or walk ons. “Welcome to the Crotalus tryouts. You all know me as the Crotalus captain, Alistair Johnson, and Arne Reinhardt - raise your hand Arne - is assistant captain. Now, before we get started, I’m just going to read through the names I have here on the sign-up sheet so let me know that you're here when I call your name. Anyone not called, come and see me when I'm done.”

It didn't take Alistair long to get through his short list of names so he got the tryouts underway pretty quickly.

“First things first, I’ll run through a warm up with you all. We’ll jog one lap of the pitch as a pulse raiser and then please follow my lead in a series of stretches.” He set off at a gentle jog, nothing too fast since it was only the first stage of the warm up, with the expectation that the group would follow. Once the stretches had been done, he sent them off up into the air with the instructions to do a couple of laps of the pitch on their brooms before returned to him. He also made sure to inform them that school brooms were available for those that might require them.

“I'm going to do a couple of flying tests with you now,” Alistair explained once the warm up was complete. “We do quite a few different tests as part of our team practices. I like all my players to have individual goals that they can aim for and these tests allow you to see your personal progress and also pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. So that's why we do tests - it's not about comparing you to each other but to yourself and about looking at what improvements you can make.”

“Without further ado, our first test today is a really simple speed test. I want you to take it in turns to fly the width of the pitch as fast as you can when I tell you to go. I will be timing you.”

“Following on from that we’ll do an agility test. As you can see, I have set up some poles for you to weave in and out of. I’ll show you the pattern now so pay attention,” Alistair ran them through the pattern on his broom, going at a fairly slow pace so that they would be able to keep up with exactly what he was doing.* “Obviously I expect you to do it much faster than that since again I’ll be timing you.”

“I will stress how important it is not to compare yourself to others,” Alistair added after explaining the tests. “These will be your first tests of the year so it doesn't matter if you aren't happy with your performance - that just gives you a lot to work on and that's the whole point. Oh and don’t worry, I’ll give you the appropriate time to recover after each test so you can give them your best shot.”

“Ok now we’ll move on to some more position-specific drills,” the captain spoke to the group once the tests were done. “Beaters please grab yourselves a bat and join Arne. You’ll see some targets set up at the end of the pitch so work on your aim with those, coming in at different speeds. Help each other out by pitching the balls for each other.”

“Daniel-” Alistair glanced down at his list a moment before instructing the two first years, “Winston Pierce and Simon Mordue, you’ll be trying out as Chasers first so please fly up to the halfway line and start passing the Quaffle-” he handed the Quaffle to Dan (who wasn’t really trying out since there was no way that Alistair would let his most loyal teammate go) as he spoke “between yourselves from there, working your way up to the scoring area. By which point, Makenzie, our Keeper, will be up at the hoops and you can start shooting against her.”

“Makenzie,” Alistair gestured a little with his head as he picked up the Keeper’s protective gear and handed it to her. “It’s good to see you back,” he smiled, ignoring the fact that he had recently heard things about her family that didn’t sound all that respectable because he knew to be grateful that she was here, irrelevant of who she was.

Alistair was aware that one of the first years, Winston Pierce, had also expressed an interest in the Seeker position on the sign-up sheet but after much consideration as to whether it would be better to have a weak Chaser trio or an inexperienced Seeker, he had actually gone for the former. Shinohara had finally given up her position and now it was his time to shine. Alistair needed this, so much more than anybody would realise. It was no longer just about Crotalus trying to win, although this was certainly something Alistair very much wanted, but also about his future. If he planned to become a professional Quidditch player then it was important for him to find his strongest position, which he’d always thought to be Seeker despite his obvious talent as a Chaser (modesty might be a virtue but facts were facts), but given that he had been playing Chaser in matches for four years now it was definitely time to test the waters and compare.

Not only were his own interests at the heart of his decision but also that of the team. It hadn’t worked pitting Shinohara against the likes of Dill and Clark so it was hardly going to work putting a first year in that position. Daniel was never going to be anywhere near as good as Alistair himself had been as lead Chaser but there was currently no one in the entire school besides Joella who could present him with a real challenge so Daniel would just have to do. And in all fairness the younger boy had proved very dedicated to the team and no doubt all the extra training that Alistair had given him over the years would count for a lot, and the captain was very much willing to continue that. He felt proud of how far his team had come and would really push everyone to reach their full potential, however low that was, if they would let him.

Of course, it had occurred to him that this Winston Pierce kid might be some Seeking prodigy but that was wholly unlikely and secretly Alistair didn’t think he wanted that to be the case. This was his shot and doing something he’d dreamed of for so long and there was no good reason why he shouldn’t. Alistair decided he would just talk to the younger boy at the end, although he certainly wouldn’t stop him from trying out for Seeker today if he so wished.

OOC: Walk ons are more than welcome!

Subthreads:

Here we go by Makenzie Newell

Eternally optimistic, eternally doomed by Winston Pierce with Simon Mordue

Clashing heads by AQC, Arne Reinhardt with Capt. Ali Johnson

8 Capt. Alistair Johnson Crotalus Try-outs! 306 Capt. Alistair Johnson 1 5

Makenzie Newell

November 02, 2016 2:21 AM

Here we go by Makenzie Newell

The trouble with sorta caring about things and sorta not caring about things was that Makenzie felt a strong push-and-pull with each and every day. Today was a “push” day that found her quite nervous for Quidditch tryouts. She was one of few girls on the team, which was not a coincidence based on the high Pureblood content of their House and the general stigma about girls playing, and she was nervous about how the boys would look at her when most if not all of them would undoubtedly know about what happened this summer. She wasn’t really sure what Shino thought of her anymore, either, although she wasn’t terribly sure Shino was even playing, since she hadn’t seen the other girl’s name on the list. (Although she was pretty sure there were other times Shino hadn’t bothered to sign up and then just appeared, so maybe she was thinking about it too hard.)

Makenzie was also, in today’s paranoia, sensing a bit of tension in the air when she arrived, but fortunately they were quickly off on a warm-up jog. The redhead never expected to use “fortunately” and “on a jog” in the same sentence, but life was like that sometimes. The stretches were uneventful, and then came the flying tests. Makenzie was fairly quick, although her relative inexperience on brooms made her a bit too nervous to soar at the broom’s potential. Likewise, her agility was not the greatest, but she did succeed in completing it, which she decided to call a win. For someone who’d picked up a Quaffle basically for the first time a year ago, she was hardly a disaster.

Then they moved onto the position-specific drills. She listened nervously as Alistair addressed the others, finally getting to her. “Makenzie.” Her head poked up. “It’s good to see you back.” And he smiled, a small gesture that did well to reassure her. She returned his smile and took the protective gear from him. She strapped it all on and slowly took her place in front of the hoops, a weak smile still settled into her lips. It was good to be back.

12 Makenzie Newell Here we go 291 Makenzie Newell 0 5

Winston Pierce

November 02, 2016 12:14 PM

Eternally optimistic, eternally doomed by Winston Pierce

Winston loved Quidditch. He loved the feel of the wind on his face. He loved the thrill of a dive, feeling the excitement and terror mingle as the ground rushed toward you and hanging on just one more second before pulling out to grab at the ball he'd left tied to a tree branch and dangling only a few feet over the grass. He loved how he could come inside from practicing all sweaty and maybe even with torn robes if he'd gotten too close to some of the trees, and Father would just shake his head at him and tell him to go shower. He loved that it was something special he could do that Caitlin couldn't. He loved his little sister well enough and all, and she was literally his only companion even close to age on the mountain so they were pretty close as far as big brothers and little sisters went, if only out of necessity and to escape the isolating loneliness, but seeking a snitch in the yard was something men did, and he liked pretending he was a man, and in his mind, his solitary practices were watched by millions and he was cheered and adored in his glory and victory.

Today's try-out and practice would be even better, he thought, because the spectators watching him and the opponents and teammates flying with him would no longer be imaginary. He could, for the first time, throw and catch a Quaffle that was actually there. It would be amazing!

The prospect of a warm up jog did not phase him in the least, and he took the opportunity to work out the jitters of his excitement and nerves. As a first year, he had some trouble keeping up with his taller peers with the biological advantage of longer strides, but he finished not-last so he counted that as a win, even if nobody else seemed to be considering it a race. Winston wasn't either, really, but he had wanted to at least prove he could keep up with the teenagers, and he felt he had achieved that anyway.

Warm-ups and the flying tests likewise went reasonably well. He made a note to include some of those in his private practices as well, as they could be done aline, and also to impress Alistair with his skills.

Not-comparing himself to his teammates however, was proving difficult and though he felt he had performed well, he couldn't help but notice that some people did fly faster than him, even when avoiding obstacles, which had had felt he was well suited to given that he did a lot of his flying in a forest. He was pretty sure his time was faster than the Newell girl's though, and attributed this to further evidence that Quidditch was a man's game.

And then he and Simon were up as Chasers. He wasn't terribly surprised he wasn't getting a go at Seeker his first year, though he wasn't entirely certain who was claiming that spot as nobody else had signed up for it on the sheet. Or maybe he would get a chance to try it later, and Chasing was just the first step in the tryouts.

Either way, it was his time to shine and show Captain Johnson that Winston Pierce was going to be a star Quidditch player for Crotalus this year.

They got up into the air and Daniel tossed it to him, Winston caught it and the red ball felt solid and real and right in his hands. He tossed it to Simon and ...

Real, solid, non-imaginary Quaffles did not fly nearly as well as imaginary ones untouched by forces like gravity.

"Drat!" he cursed and dove after it, catching it then regaining altitude. Trying it again, he threw the ball to Simon once more, really putting his muscles into it this time, and it still wasn't a clean pass, but at least time time it went close to his roommate.

1 Winston Pierce Eternally optimistic, eternally doomed 370 Winston Pierce 0 5

Simon Mordue

November 02, 2016 1:33 PM

I like your attitude. by Simon Mordue

It was funny, Simon thought, how much different a Quidditch Pitch looked from a comfortable box overlooking a stadium. In such boxes, Pitches really didn’t look that large at all. Not nearly as large, anyway, as they had whenever he’d looked up from the ground during the jog and had seen how much further he had left to go. He pushed himself as hard as he could, trying not to be last, but he suspected he had the shortest legs on the entire team. It was all he could do not to gasp for air as he finished the run and the team regathered for stretches.

He got his breath back during the flying laps, and was decently good, he thought, at handling his broom because it was his own and not a school model or a new one, but his heart still sank at the sight of the equipment for the second flight exercise – the agility test. Agility, it had to be said, was not one of his strongest suits. Something about the way Johnson told them not to compare themselves to others made Simon sure he was going to compare his every move to that of everyone he could see, and sure enough, he promptly began fretting over the fact that he was absolutely certain Winston had beaten him in both speed and agility. It was some comfort to also think that some people did better than Winston, but only some. He had not gone that slowly, he thought, nor had he crashed into anything, but he had definitely gone more slowly than he had wanted to in the second test….

It was with some relief that he heard that he and his roommate were going to work together instead of against each other on the next part of the try-out. Two working together were, he thought, at least a little harder to hold up against each other if one wasn’t just completely dropping his end of the bargain, and Simon didn’t think he was that bad at this. He still, however, expected to be the one who dropped the ball (literally) first, so he just stared in surprise for a moment as his roommate dove after the Quaffle as it fell. Then, though, he realized that staring was rude, shook himself out of it, and flew on as Winston came back with the Quaffle and threw it in Simon's general direction.

He caught the ball. In the end, he would assure himself later, that was the bit that mattered – that he caught the ball. Never mind that he wobbled on his broom when he reached for it and then fumbled with it a bit once he had it. He caught it and that was the important bit. It did not go to the ground or some imaginary other Chaser. He had it. That was good. Now just to get rid of it….

His throw was something less than awe-inspiring, he thought, but it was headed in the right direction. That was the important bit. He did not think his father would be ashamed of his throw. Maybe this wasn’t going to be a complete disaster after all.

16 Simon Mordue I like your attitude. 369 Simon Mordue 0 5

AQC, Arne Reinhardt

November 06, 2016 6:00 PM

Clashing heads by AQC, Arne Reinhardt

Even though Alistair Johnson of the Arizona Johnsons was not Arne’s favorite person in the world, he couldn’t deny the other boy’s talent on the Pitch. The assistant captain did not think that the captain was the end all, be all when it came to Quidditch however and felt as though he could name at least five other players at the school better than Alistair, including himself. He’d really like to see Alistair Johnson on his end of a beater’s bat. Although it seemed as though evading a bludger was more difficult than aiming one, Arne felt that only his fellow beaters could understand the strength and skill it took to properly aim a bludger. It certainly wasn’t something that just anyone could do.

He didn’t like being considered second best to the Southwestern wizard, but he obediently raised his hand when Captain Alistair Johnson of the Arizona Johnsons asked him to and he kept in pace behind the older boy during the light jog even though he wanted to pull ahead and show off how much more athletic he was after a summer of playing baseball and football with the other boys around Turner’s Point. Likewise, he let Alistair look better than him as they stretched and completed the flying time trials because it wouldn’t do to have a team that divided their loyalties between a warring captain and assistant captain.

Leading the beater’s exercises, however, Arne allowed himself to loosen up a bit. Alistair was busy with the other players and so Arne felt as though he had a little more breathing room. He deviated slightly from Alistair’s plan by hitting the bludgers to the other players after they seemed like they could handle balls being thrown at them, and made mental note of those who seemed to react better to the angry, metal equipment than the ones they pitched to each other.

Once all the drills Alistair had asked of them were done and the other students started to head back to the school to shower and change, Arne stayed around to help Alistair clean-up. It was his duty as assistant captain, but also Arne liked to cool down a bit before hopping in the shower and he had some questions to the captain himself. Alistair was the sort of person who liked to be the center of attention, and now that the Crotalus Seeker had neglected to appear both on the sign-ups list and for try-outs, Arne wondered who Alistair would choose to take over.

“Who are you thinking of replacing Shino with, boss?” he asked, tossing the Japanese witches’ casual nickname in there since she occasionally join him and his family to eat, likely out of necessity of needing someone to eat with than actual friendship since she knew them all from Quidditch and the only other person he had seen her converse with regularly was Jamie Park and everyone in the school knew the Pecari Seeker to have a bit of a big head.

10 AQC, Arne Reinhardt Clashing heads 319 AQC, Arne Reinhardt 0 5

Capt. Ali Johnson

November 06, 2016 6:34 PM

Trying to avoid that. by Capt. Ali Johnson

Alistair called Winston Pierce down from the air after a while of watching the first year play in the Chaser position. He explained to the kid that he was planning on taking the Seeker position himself but that he was still willing to see Pierce try-out for the position if he really wanted to, and on top of that give him some Seeker time during practices. If Pierce wasn’t really that bothered, since he’d signed up for Chaser and Seeker equally, then that was fine and he made the first year aware of that too.

When the try-outs came to an end, the captain tried not to be too disheartened with the performances he had witnessed and reminded himself that this just gave him plenty to work on, something that he was really getting into.

He set his clipboard aside and began to clear up after the try-outs. If it hadn’t be Arne Reinhardt, being referred to as “boss” might have been quite nice but there was nothing in the way of good intentions when it came to Arne. Alistair had serious doubts about how long he would keep the younger boy as his assistant captain but for the time being he would have to remain because he was essentially the best of a bad lot. Although in all fairness to certain players, that could well be changing.

“Myself,” Alistair said simply, but then he reminded himself that he needed to work with his assistant captain and not against him, so he expanded. “It’s not an easy decision to make. One of the first years did show an interest in it but I’d say we’re up against weaker Chaser trios this year and still have some really strong Seekers, so it would be better overall to have an inexperienced Chasing team than an inexperienced Seeker up against the likes of Dill and Park.”

Alistair supposed this was the sort of thing he should talk to his assistant captain about but starting out co-captaining with Liac had certainly not helped in encouraging him to share responsibility. Back then it had always felt like a battle for power, and since he’d had the team to himself he’d come to find what being a captain was really all about. Arne probably didn’t understand, but maybe it was Alistair’s job to show him.

8 Capt. Ali Johnson Trying to avoid that. 306 Capt. Ali Johnson 0 5