After years of disuse, the Skrewts website is back under the helm of our new Vice President and Queen of All Social Media, Elizabeth Barcelos. A lot has happened since our last update; here's what you need to know to get back up to speed:
-We ended our 2013-2014 season with a Sweet Sixteen finish at World Cup 7!
-In 2014-2015, we had the best record in Northern California and qualified for World Cup 8.
-At WC8, we went 2-3 in closely contested Swiss play. Our opponents included two regional champions (Ohio State Quidditch and the Tufts University Tufflepuffs) and the best finishing Northeast team (Rochester Thestrals).
-In 2015-2016, the Skrewts started the year with one of our smallest rosters ever. In spite of this, the team qualified with the last West bid for US Quidditch Cup 9, made bracket play on day two, and won the inaugural Northern California Quidditch Conference Championship! No games were played with more than 13 players.
If 2015-2016 was a rebuilding year, 2016-2017 is looking to be the year we add to last year's core and reach new levels of Skrewts history. We've played in five straight IQA/USQ championships, sharing that record with ...
"Mudbloods" is a documentary that follows the UCLA quidditch team on their journey to the 5th International Quidditch Association World Cup, held on Randall’s Island, New York, in 2011.
UCLA quidditch was founded by Tom Marks in the fall of 2009. Only two years later, UCLA competed in World Cup V. Today, UCLA is one of the best teams in the West region, demonstrated by their placing second at Western Cup III, first at Western Cup IV, and second at World Cup VI. Despite losing much of their roster to graduation this year, they are looking in great form for the upcoming Western Cup V on November 23 and 24 in Phoenix, Arizona, where they will compete to qualify for one of eleven World Cup VII spots against seventeen other teams, including our very own Silicon Valley teams.
The documentary itself is the product of two years of hard work by the "Mudbloods" team. Eric Martin, the writer and producer behind the documentary, says “We believe this is one of the most comprehensive, emotional, and honest portraits of what it means to play quidditch, and we’re working hard to ensure that this movie gets the broadest possible exposure for ...
Bay Area Quidditch is excited to announce that for the 2013-2014 season, we will have two official teams! The first is the competitive team, which will retain the Silicon Valley Skrewts name, and the second is the casual team, whose name is yet to be decided.
Please cheer on our 2013-2014 Silicon Valley Skrewts:
Aviva Maine
Chelsey Davis
Chris Sauro
Christy Conway
Craig Kaplan
Forrest Stone
Frank Nolin
Jason Winerip
Josh Vinson
Kevin Oelze
Kyrie Timbrook
Martin Pyne
Ra Hopkins
Sabrina Howes
Sam Fischgrund
Sam Le Beau
Spike Sprague
Sunil Venugopal
Tyler Barton
Willis Miles IV
As well as our 2013-2014 Casual Team:
Alex Brown
Dalia Nahol
Emily Altekruse
Ginny Tice
James Konijn
Janos Barbero
Jorge Castrillo
Kathleen Richter
Laurel Haspert
Logan Anbinder
Maryna Kapurova
Nina Chaubal
Nina Zheng
Richard Mehlinger
Robert Davis
Suhail Verma
Sumit Pathak
Thomas Alabaster
Zak Magnus
If you are interested in adding your name to either of these rosters, please contact bayareaquidditch@gmail.com. We can add players throughout the year, though you must be on a roster before playing in an official match.
The Skrewts were finally knocked out of the Western Cup, losing 100^-60* to the Lost Boys in overtime. The Skrewts were engaged in a hard-fought, physical game against the Lost Boys, led by a strong beater core and keeper Tony Rodriguez. Up 40-30, the Lost Boys were able to score twice in rapid succession, pushing the Skrewts to the bring of elimination. However, the Skrewts were given a second life by seeker Sam Fischgrund's off-pitch snitch grab 18 minutes into the game to force overtime. However, in overtime, the Lost Boys were able to catch the snitch in the first 15 seconds, giving them the 100 to 60 victory.
Ultimately, this tournament was a huge victory for the Skrewts, as they qualified for World Cup VI, and utterly shocked most quidditch observers unaware of the huge improvements the Skrewts had made. They took third overall, tying with USC, and recording their best appearance in a major tournament ever. This is a team ready to turn heads at World Cup VI in Kissimmee in April!
The Skrewts have become the first pure community team to qualify for World Cup VI! The Skrewts played 7th-seeded University of California at Berkeley's team, who had previously defeated Stanford University 70-60*.
The Skrewts managed to hold Cal out of snitch range for the entirety of the game, but they saw an energized Cal side throw everything they had at the Skrewts. Ultimately, the Skrewts were up to the task, as they defeated Cal's side 170*-50. However, the Skrewts did suffer a major setback in this game, as chaser Nico Farrell tore his ACL early in the game and will be out for the remainder of the season.
The Skrewts advance to face the Lost Boys in the Semifinal, who defeated ASU 60*-50 in their quarterfinal game.