After proving themselves on home territory at the German Winter Games (Deutsche Quidditch-Winterspiele [DQWS]) earlier this year, where they narrowly missed the gold medal in an exciting final against Rheinos Bonn, the Three River Dragons Passau showed once again what they are capable of at the European Quidditch Cup (EQC) back in March. With their joint ninth–place finish, they performed very well amongst the European quidditch elite.

After all their achievements, it is clear that they are aiming for the gold medal once again. Their stacked roster consists of a well-adjusted balance of very experienced core players paired with new highly skilled talents.

The team can rely on female keeper/chaser Ida Meyenberg, who is one of the strongest quaffle carriers that the Dragons possess, thanks to her experience on the international stage. Physical Tobias Mirwald remains the driving force behind the team as he is very difficult to stop. Paired with agile Sami Fekkak, who was awarded with a spot on the German national team and well positioned Annika Zangenfeind, their lineup is able to outmuscle most opponents.

This formation will be a great complement to the experienced beating of German international Christian Häuser, Carina Gibat, and Andrea Tamazzio. Their great synergy and tactical awareness allows them to dominate on pitch.

Coached and trained by the tactical mind of Heiner Elser and Ida Meyenberg respectively, the Three River Dragons are well prepared to handle the German pressure and are expected to not only top their group but make it to the podium once again.

Tübingen Thestrale TTT

By Borut Bezgovšek and Verena Deutsch

(Editor’s note: Bezgovšek and Deutsch are both players for the Tübingen Thestrale)

The Tübingen Thestrale underwent a lot of transformations this season with many new players joining through the university sports program, adding both various sport backgrounds and a new level of competitiveness to the team. Given the not-so–competitive background of the original team and the big number of players, the team felt it was problematic to combine everyone’s interest and expectations in a 21-player roster. In an attempt to keep the team and the sport open to a wide range of players’ expectations as well as allowing everyone playtime, they decided to form two rosters.

TTT was formed with the intent of allowing everyone in the team to attend trainings and tournaments on their terms.

A wide palette of players range from experienced Thestrale faces who cannot train with the team regularly anymore, to newcomers to the sport who would gain tournament experience without the added pressure of worrying about performance.

Tübinger Thestrale founder Georgie Siriwardenawill be flying in from the UK to rejoin the predominantly female roster. When we see drives, they will likely be spearheaded by Maximus Mutschler’s aggressive play, which will surely be a boon to what will likely be a cool–headed, opportunity-exploiting quaffle game. Ellen Ramminger is another chaser you will want to look out for.

The remaining two male players, Eelco Empting and Sammy Maier, who have been Thestrale since the foundation are primarily beaters, but land on their feet when chasing – we may see them adding to the physicality of quaffle play. Sarah Hertel is a new face in the beater line up, eager to test her talent with experiences of a tournament like this.

Similarly to TT, TTT is entering the tournament with a small roster, making sure everyone gets to play to their heart’s content. They will not achieve high ranks, but they do not need them to have a truckload of fun and make amazing memories together again.

Berlin Bluecaps

By Stephan Brosch, translation by Lena Mandahus

The Berlin Bluecaps went to DQWS in Munich with a lot of ambition. The Saturday went well for them; however, they lost their important game against the Mainticores from Frankfurt on the second day, which put them in the lower bracket where they finished the Winter Games in 10th place.

This means that they are now preparing extra hard, as they generally agree that they played below their potential in Munich. To add to this, their roster changed quite a bit this spring. The former Martens triumvirate only left Maximilian Martens, and the national team player is better, hungrier, and faster than he ever was. He fearlessly leads the team’s chasers, steadily supported by beater Florian Marquardt. It is new, however, that the team also broadened a lot and is not only relying on being carried by the latter two.

Keepers Paul Haas and Tara Jamali really grew into the team, and one would be foolish to underestimate the two seekers Milena Schmidt and Katja Siegemund. In the East League, Berlin had to make do with second place; a clear win against Jena was followed by a hot-blooded match against the Looping Lux from Leipzig, whom Berlin lost against on snitch catch.

In the large Group Three, Berlin is riding into the turmoil as dark horses, and with the Three River Dragons they got a conceivably difficult first seed. However, the Bluecaps are out for redemption, and will try their best to top their group.

Berlin Bluecaps in their new kit | Photo Credit: Berlin Bluecaps

Bielefelder Basilisken

By Berit Kruse, translation by Lena Mandahus (Editor’s note: Kruse is a player for the Bielefelder Basilisken)

The Basilisken from Bielefeld rely on strong counter attacks. As a relatively athletic team with a balanced gender ratio, the team usually scores with fast breaks. And these fast breaks are well trained: In the North Rhine-Westphalia League (NRW) they regularly play against the Münster Marauders, Rheinos Bonn, and Ruhr Phoenix Bochum. Last season they came in last; however, since then they have showed great progress, which was rewarded with a win against Münster on the first game day of the season.

Due to the team being located in East Westphalia, their moves also regularly get tested on the other Northern German teams.In friendly matches they have played against the Portkeys Bremen, Dobbys Klatscher Oldenburg, Hamburg Werewolves, and Hannover Niffler. All the friendly matches were, apart from a close loss to Hamburg, won by the Bielefelder Basilisken.

With 19 players, the Basilisken are coming to Jena with a strong as well as motivated team. What is remarkable about Bielefeld is their great team spirit, which dominates the team. This does not only show at off-pitch-events, but also on the field: All the players who come to a tournament with Bielefeld can be certain that they will get pitch time, and that not only the strongest or most athletic people are let onto the pitch.

Group 4:

Rheinos Bonn

By Sebastian Stenzel

(Editor’s note: Stenzel is a player for the Rheinos Bonn)

The Rheinos Bonn attended EQC in March, but other than the teams from Darmstadt and Passau, they did not make it into the upper bracket. While they showed strong play in many games, the team was slightly daunted in a crucial match and failed toqualify for the upper bracket. After analysing their matches, the team put focus on a calm appearance and strategic play during training.

The adjusted tactics have already been field-tested during the first matches of the NRW League, and apparently the Rheinos have learned their lesson, as they move steadily and make massive use of defense-initiated pressing.

We expect the Rheinos’ well-known offensive beating to be further developed and precisely timed with the quaffle game, for which they have added new disruptive chaser routes, making the quaffle position harder to predict.

Sadly, theirwell seasoned players Hanna Große and Leon Bürgers will be missing this tournament, but Bonn can present some new talents to fill out the gap: Carina Werner, Lukas Dreyer, and Paulina Schlöder have adapted to Rheino chasing in high speed, each of them adding their own element, be it unstoppable force or perfect hoop positioning.

The beater squad gained Angela “Jacky” Englisch and Sebastian Stenzel, who have proven to be worthy padawans of beater coach Sebastian Elster. Momo Martern is also back on beating.After winning the Winter Games in January, the Rheinos are expected to top their group. As one of the top teams in the country, they are likely to get very far in the tournament again, presumably top three, just as in Munich.

Broom Breakers

By Fabian Haake

After showing a surprisingly strong performance for a new team at Danube Cup in Vienna this past autumn, the Broom Breakers seemingly disappeared for a while due to internal conflicts. This meant that they missed out on game experience at the Winter Games, but it looks like they managed to resolve their conflicts as they are back for their second official tournament.

The Broom Breakers from Feuerbach are an interesting team with many strong female players whowork into their playing style perfectly; especially chaser Laura Heer. They run an overall strong chaser line, but their beater play falls off a bit.

At the first match day of the Rhein-Main League, they lost both games against Frankfurt and Darmstadt (130-70* and 140*-30 respectively). They especially show a weakness against strong beater line ups. Despite those losses it will be interesting to see what they learned from those games, and if they can surprise as much as they did in Vienna.

Jena Jobberknolls

By Stephan Brosch, translation by Lena Mandahus

(Editor’s note: Brosch is a player for the Jena Jobberknolls)

The Jena Jobberknolls’ agenda is best described in one word: redemption. The team’s expectations to reach the second place in their group at the Winter Games in Munich were clearly not met, and so, after a disastrous performance on Day One, they found themselves in the game for 17th place. The defeats in the Eastern League and a friendly against newcomers Dresden also show the latent weakness in chaser and beater interplay.

Nevertheless, the summer semester brought new talents to their roster, and established players such as Jessica Senftleben and Quidditch Premiere League player Jack Thompson are complemented by Emeraldo Jo and Stefan Maurer on the chaser side, as well as by Annabell Friedrich on the beater side. Thanks to these new recruits, an enormous increase of size, speed, and physicality can be observed. The long-awaited return of main seeker Marin Schmidt could also clear up a flaw in the team, because the team from the river Saale remains without a snitch catch in all of their official and unofficial matches.

A similar issue is their beater-rotation, which, especially after the injury-related absence of Daniel Schäfer, is very sparse, and it remains to be seen how quickly step-in beater Stephan Brosch can familiarise himself with his new role.

All things considered, the Jobberknolls improved greatly, and within their small Group Four, it will mostly be about winning their game against the Broom Breakers. The hopes for this are slim, but the players from Jena will give everything to win that game, especially to spring a surprise or two with the regained strength in their chaser game.

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