Quidditch Quidditch () is a fictional sport invented by author J. K. Rowling for her fantasy book series ''Harry Potter''. It first appeared in the novel ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997). In the series, Quidditch is portrayed as a dang ...

, also known as Quadball, in Australia is played by a mixture of university and community teams. Due to the geographic demographics of the country, most major competitive tournaments are held in the eastern states. There are currently over 30 registered teams in the country.

Organisations

Quadball in Australia is governed by Quadball Australia (formerly Quidditch Australia and the Australian Quidditch Association), a non-profit organisation founded in 2011 as a Facebook group intended to act as a network for quidditch teams and players within Australia to communicate with one another. It is managed by a board of seven directors on a rotating 2-year term system with further volunteer staff, and currently chaired by Luke Derrick. Quadball Australia is affiliated with the

International Quadball Association The International Quadball Association (IQA), previously known as the International Quidditch Association, is the governing body for the sport of quadball. It was founded as the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association in 2009 following the first ...

. Quadball Australia uses the IQA rulebook for official gameplay, with some minor exceptions. Quadball Australia manages the membership and insurance of all players in the country, in addition to managing the country's most prolific tournaments such as the Australian Quadball Championships (previously QUAFL) and State Shield. Regular club seasons are managed by their respective state bodies: Quadball

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(which also manages quidditch in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

), Quadball

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Association of Quadball,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n Quadball Association and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

n Quadball Association.

National team

The Drop Bears are the Australian national team, named after the folklorian koala-like species. The Drop Bears competed at the inaugural 2012 IQA Cup (then called the Summer Games), the first world-wide quadball competition where they came in third out of five teams. They defeated reigning champions

The United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2016 with a score of 150*–130. Despite being tipped to win the cup again in 2018, the Australian National Team competed in Italy finishing 5th, defeated by the United States in the early stages of the semifinals. ^† ''The 2020 World Cup was initially postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19, and further postponed to 2023.''

Competitions

Australian Quadball Championships (QUAFL)

The Australian Quadball Championships, previously and sometimes still colloquially known as QUAFL is the biggest quadballtournament in Australia. It is held annually in November/December, crowning the Australian national club champion for that year. The first official name for the tournament was the Oceania Regional Championships, but was more affectionately known as "QUAFL" which was later given the

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

"Quidditch United Australian Federated League". The inaugural tournament was held in 2011 at the University of New South Wales, starting with just 5 teams. Clubs from across the country bid to host the tournament every year, and the tournament was hosted by Sydney-based clubs until 2015, when it was hosted by Melbourne's Monash Muggles. In 2016 and 2017, the tournament saw a move to the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

in Canberra, hosting a record high of 25 teams in 2017. The championships were hosted in Queensland for the first time in 2018, and were last held at Kayess Park, Minto in 2019, before being cancelled both in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions at the time. The structure of the tournament traditionally changes each year depending on the number of registered teams and choices of organisers. More recently, teams have been randomly split into pools based on their respective end of season state rankings, with top teams from each pool progressing to elimination bracket play. The 2020 Championship due to be hosted in the Gold Coast or USC, and the 2021 Championship due to be hosted at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

, were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Australian Quadball Club Championship (AQCC) results

Note that an asterisk (*) signifies a snitch catch.

State Shield

State Shield (previously ''Quidditch State of Origin'' after the football tournament of the same name), is an annual Australian quadball competition established in 2016 as part of a skills camp training exercise at the annual QuidCamp. The tournament was created due to an increasing need for a state-based tournament, however as the majority of the players resided in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria (due to Australian geographical demographics) these are the only states to currently compete in the tournament. Participating state teams include Victorian Leadbeaters (A), Victorian Honeybeaters (B), New South Wales Bluetongues (A), New South Wales Bluebottles (B), and the Queensland Thunderbirds.

Past State Shield results

The 2020 and 2021 State Shields were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

NSW Quidditch League (NQL)

Organised by Quidditch New South Wales, the NQL (previously known as Triwiz) is the year long state championship in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and surrounding cities, which started in 2011 and was formalised when the Quidditch NSW state body was created. The competition was split into 2 divisions in 2018, and currently contains 14 teams across Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and Canberra. † Due to inclement weather and injuries, both teams agreed not to play the Grand Final and share the 2015 state title. * Due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, tournament did not proceed and only friendly matches were played.

Victoria Cup

Organised by the Quadball Victoria, the Victoria Cup is the year long state championship in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. The inaugural cup in 2014 was won by the Monash Muggles, and followed on from other local tournaments. * Due to

, tournament did not proceed and only friendly matches were played.

Midwinter Cup

The Midwinter cup is held annually in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

featuring both teams from NSW and interstate. The 2014 winners were the UNSW Snapes on a Plane. In 2015, the tournament was won by the hosts, the Newcastle Fireballs. In 2016, a vastly outnumbered

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

and

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC; formerly abbreviated as USC until 2022) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it ...

collaboration team, the ANUSC Dement-Owls, defeated the Newcastle Fireballs in the grand final to claim the Midwinter cup. In 2017, the winners were the newly formed Sydney City Serpents. The Midwinter Cup was not held in the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Midwinter Cup was delayed due to weather, but returned in September of that year.

Melbourne Mudbash

The Melbourne Mudbash is held annually in the middle of the year in Melbourne. Local teams are joined by interstate teams and teams composed of mercenary players. In 2013, the Melbourne Manticores came out on top of the four local and two other teams competing, and in 2014 the Monash Muggles were the best of the six local and four other teams to compete.

Fantasy Tournaments

Held outside of the regular seasons, various fantasy tournaments across the country include Valkyries Fantasy (November), Victorian Fantasy (February), Sunshine Coast Fantasy (April), Macarthur Fantasy (January), and Pink Up Campbelltown Charity Tournament (October).

Australian Wheelchair Quidditch Championships (QWAFL)

Wheelchair quadball was first introduced into regular quadball tournaments in 2012, and ran at the same time and venue as the regular championships. Due to the logistical difficulties and lack of interest, the competition has not run since 2016.

Teams

There are several teams/clubs registered with Quadball Australia across all states and territories except Northern Territory. As of May 28, 2023 there are 24 teams registered with Quadball Australia.

Current Teams

Past Teams

Previously other teams/clubs were registered with Quadball Australia, Listed here are the teams that are no longer registered. Clubs with teams that are no longer registered are also listed.

Australian Capital Territory

Owls (formerly ANU Nargles)

New South Wales

* Eastern Sydney Universities (a merger of UTS Opaleyes and UNSW Snapes on a Plane) ** Dawnbreakers ** Nightbringers ** Daywalkers *

Hills A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as mountains. Hills fall und ...

Hippogriffs^† *

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

Unregistered Animagi^† * Southern Snidgets^† *

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

Snapes on a Plane^† *

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

** Unforgivables ** Unbreakables ** Unspeakables *

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

Opaleyes^† *

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university in its current form was founde ...

Thestrals^† *

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

Spartans^† * Wollongong Warriors (

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

)^†

Queensland

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

Grindylows^† *

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

Galleons^† *

** Dementors ** Nifflers

South Australia

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

Fantastic Beasts * Glenelg Gargoyles

Victoria

* Basilisks Quidditch Club *

Trolls^† *

Unicorns ** Blue **Orange *

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

** Muggles ** Mudbloods * Whomping Willows Quidditch Club

Western Australia

* ECU Centaurs † Developing team, non-official, not currently competing or defunct

References

{{World topic, Quidditch in, noredlinks=yes Quidditch (real-life sport) Sport in Australia