Quidditch Talk (Ryan)

Hey guys, it's your resident go-to guy Ryan here! As you all should know, I write the once-upon-a-time Captain and Seeker of the US National Quidditch team and your current Quidditch Coach, Mr. Gaston Munro! He is a pretty exciting guy to write and I love running the Quidditch Program here at RMI. You guys seriously make it so much fun to be the Coach, but I'm sure some of you want to know just exactly how the Quidditch Program is run. That’s what I am here to tell you!

We will start at the beginning with the first lessons. As you all know, first years have to take both Flying lessons and Quidditch lessons before being allowed to try out for the team. Flying lessons give you a taste of how to describe how your kids feel on a broom and what it's like for them in the air. Quidditch lessons were added to the program to let us see how you react in a game setting. It also lets us stop any godmodding that might happen before the game. Therefore, these are mandatory to first years interested in Quidditch, and second and third years are encouraged to join in.

Next comes the try-outs, which are run by the Captains of the House teams. They can choose any way of running try-outs. When it comes to actually choosing the team some Captains choose to do so by themselves while others talk to their assistant captains and then choose the list. Choosing teams is something Captains think about both IC and OOC. For example, if you have a character on the House team already another character of yours who tries out probably won’t get on so that we can give lots of authors a chance to write Quidditch.

Now we finally get to what everyone has waited for: the game. Games are written by me; I choose the weather and all those little details that make a Quidditch game, write it, then post it. Games always run for two weeks with me normally closing the game at midnight on Friday, although sometimes I'm away and don't close it until later on Friday.

At that time I sit down with a nice cup of coffee and start reading the posts starting with Gaston's. From there I read the game in order giving each post a point total of 1 through 5. Points are given on the length of the post, the action going on, and how well you've followed the guide I've given you about the day. Saying it was rainy when I clearly stated in the first post it was sunny will cost you points, ladies and gentlemen. Even though one team might have posted 15 times while the other only posted 13 times, sometimes those 13 posts can win a game.

After reading all the posts I total up the points and submit them to our points tally before sending out the Seeker e-mail. From there I close the game and allow the Seeker to write a post before actually announcing who won the game.

I hope this clears things up guys, since the final is coming up very soon! I would love to see more stands action during the games and let's see if we can go one game without someone falling off their brooms! Plus don’t forget that stand posts can get House points for your House even if it isn’t playing!

Hasta Lugeo

Ryan