by Alex Benepe | January 12th, 2012
The following cities are the final nominees for the 2012-2013 Regional Championships and World Cup VI.
Please note:
Some locations are listed in multiple regions, due to the fact that some US states may be switching regions based upon demand from teams.
Bold items have been nominated since the last update.
2012 – 2013 TOURNAMENT NOMINATIONS
Canadian Regional:
Kingston, Ontario
Montreal, Quebec
Australian Regional:
Sydney, Australia
European Regional:
Mestre-Venice, Italy
Lesparre Médoc, France
Mid-Atlantic US Regional:
Salisbury, MD
Washington D.C.
Baltimore, MD
Germantown, PA
Midwest US Regional:
Kansas City, KS
Appleton, WI
Fishers, IN
Omaha, NE
Chicago, IL
Waukesha, WI
Minneapolis, MN
Greeley, CO
Naperville, IL
East Lansing, MI
Northeast US Regional:
Rochester, NY
Portland, ME
Burlington, VT
Boston, MA
Philadelphia, PA
New York, NY
Germantown, PA
Echo Base, Hoth
South US Regional:
Augusta, GA
Myrtle Beach, SC
Lake Charles, LA
New Orleans, LA
Gainesville, FL
Southwest US Regional:
Lake Charles, LA
New Orleans, LA
Austin, TX
Dallas, TX
Fort Worth, TX
West US Regional:
San Francisco, CA
WORLD CUP VI:
Salisbury, MD
Washington D.C.
Chicago, IL
Waukesha, WI
Omaha, NE
Burlington, VT
Boston, MA
Philadelphia, PA
Myrtle Beach, SC
Austin, TX
Dallas, TX
New York, NY
Jakarta, Indonesia
Orlando, FL
Naperville, IL
Baltimore, MD
New Orleans, LA
Lost City of the Jedi
Saint Louis, MO
Los Angeles, CA
The diversity of the nominations is a superb reflection of the degree to which the league has grown in just one year. World Cup nominations increased by one thousand percent (nine-hundred if you exclude Jakarta and “Lost City of the Jedi”). Every other region experienced an increase in nominations up to five hundred percent, and two new continents have emerged as viable locations for tournaments: Australia and Europe.
Additionally, the IQA received 39 applicants for the World Cup International Organizing Team. The main core of the team will be restricted to roughly a dozen spots to start with but potential candidates will likely be brought on over the course of the year as the group develops and needs additional members.
What happens next:
1. These locations will be screened by the World Cup international organizing team for feasibility (taking factors like venue size, local population, financial support, apparent ability of relevant teams to attend etc. into consideration). Also, whether or not these locations exist in reality will be a factor.
2. Any locations that pass the most basic qualifications will then be surveyed by the league (official members only) to assess comprehensive team attendance viability. During this phase the international organizing team will also develop and announce criteria for winning bids in the next phase.
3. Locations that pass both stages will then move into the bid development period. The international organizing team will work closely with the local nominators, teams, and organizers, and network with the relevant local communities to develop the most attractive bid packages. Each package will be extremely detailed and cover all financial arrangements etc.
4. The organizing team will make the final selections for regional championships and World Cup VI based on the criteria announced after stage two, and publish the winning entries (along with all others) on April 15th 2012.
Jefferson Dedrick
Captain, WEQL Griffins
January 12, 2012
7:43 pm
Echo Base? Isn’t that a little cold?
Benjamin
January 12, 2012
8:08 pm
No colder than Montréal, depending on the time of year.
Millie
January 13, 2012
11:54 pm
Agreed.
Laurie Rabin
January 12, 2012
7:53 pm
“Also, whether or not these locations exist in reality will be a factor.”
Haha… just a factor?
Luke Changet
Captain, Ohio State University
January 12, 2012
7:55 pm
So, the teams get absolutely no say in the matter unless they’re developing a bid?
I don’t like that at all.
Why not have the organizing team narrow it down to a list of a final 3 candidates or something, then give each official team 1 vote through their captain?
chaseher33
Southwestern Regional Director
January 12, 2012
8:10 pm
I agree with Luke, I’m a bit disappointed to hear that teams won’t get a say in the matter.
Most teams would probably attend world cup despite where it will be, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t prefer one location over another.
I like Luke’s idea of narrowing it down to a certain number and giving official teams one vote.
Phantom
Captain, Louisiana State University
January 12, 2012
8:21 pm
Agree with Luke and chaseher33 – I think it’s absolutely essential teams get the final vote.
George Willis
January 12, 2012
8:23 pm
The reason we don’t get to vote is because people like me would vote for the Lost City.
chaseher33
Southwestern Regional Director
January 12, 2012
8:29 pm
Yes, well i don’t see that being one of the final options…
Alex Benepe
Commissioner
January 12, 2012
7:55 pm
Yes, just a factor. Not having flying brooms didn’t stop us from playing quidditch, not having spaceships won’t stop us from playing star wars. We can always play Empire Strikes Back by having players run around with snow speeders between their legs.
Roger Kuhrt
January 12, 2012
8:15 pm
Actually, parts of Echo Base are in Norway. Let’s go!
Jefferson Dedrick
Captain, WEQL Griffins
January 12, 2012
8:27 pm
I think you missed the Echo Base, HOTH part, Roger.
Roger Kuhrt
January 12, 2012
8:40 pm
Actually, I was just referring to the fact that they filmed part of the Hoth senes in Norway. All of the rebel troops were on the Norwegian ski team.
LonelyRavenclawCub
January 12, 2012
7:57 pm
Midwest regional should be in Fishers,IN and World Cup should be in either Chicago or Naperville.
Roger Kuhrt
January 12, 2012
8:25 pm
I agree. Fishers was such a perfect place for the MidWest Cup. I was slightly disappointed that there weren’t any cornfields at the World Cup.
Dwyguy
Captain, Miami University of Ohio
January 12, 2012
10:23 pm
Completely agree for Fishers, IN. It’s fairly central, an excellent venue, and a great time. And I would also vote Chicago for the World Cup as well.
canto
January 12, 2012
8:51 pm
can the winning venues for regionals and the WC be announced via video? I would really like it if the commish added extra drama by opening envelopes with the names inside.
Roger Kuhrt
January 12, 2012
9:09 pm
As long as one of the winners isn’t Qatar.
Brad Armentor
January 12, 2012
10:36 pm
Are we going into the new Regionals? If so, Louisiana should be part of the South, and FLorida,Bama, Mississippi, Georgia,etc. should be Southeast right?
David McCarthy Moyer
January 13, 2012
4:58 pm
Yeah that sounds right. Can we get a confirmation on that?
Alex Benepe
Commissioner
January 12, 2012
10:49 pm
Hey Luke & Chaseher33,
I definitely hear you and understand your concerns.
But one thing that we have realized recently (and that a lot of teams don’t understand yet), is how much the event costs and how much the IQA admins have to be financially responsible for since team dues are so low right now.
To be specific, this year the total of world cup team dues accounted for 8% of the event’s costs. So the IQA admins had to be responsible for the other 92%.
Therefore since the event is so expensive, IQA admins have to really carefully analyze every aspect of each bid. And while college students are generally very sharp, one thing we are guilty of doing is skimming our readings and we can’t afford to have people who don’t know every single detail of every bid making the decision, when the financial health of the league, and therefore the future of the sport, is at stake.
This is not to say that we are making the decision in a bubble. On the contrary, it is absolutely essential that our teams are able, by and large, to attend the event. But if we left it up to a popular vote, one location might win by a few teams, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean it’s the best location. And we’re not just talking about covering costs – we also need to consider how many people we can potentially expose to the sport, what the facilities are like, traveling accommodations and prices, etc.
After the final bids are all finished and published (and at points near the beginning of the process) official member teams will be surveyed, and the results will absolutely be taken into account. But they will strongly influence rather than out-right decide.
Objectors might note that originally official membership benefits included voting, but this was when we were rather naive about our price plan. Since then we have learned that most club and amateur sports leagues charge 8-10 times the amount we are asking, and you get what you pay for (The Ultimate Players Association for example charges $80 per player). Right now our official member teams just do not have a large enough financial stake in the league to call the shots. We’re going to start surveying official members to see what we can do to change that gradually though (and make sure that schools can foot the bill rather than teams, and create a scaled plan with tiered benefits for teams that can’t meet the rising prices).
And just to reiterate, official member teams will absolutely be surveyed and their voices will certainly be one of the major deciding factors in the selection process. But it will not be a popular vote because that risks the financial health of the event and the league.
If there is a player or person out there who would like to make a $300,000 donation to the IQA and ask us to leave the vote open to teams, we would be more than happy to do that. But unfortunately we do have to deal with reality, and the reality is that large events cost A LOT of money, and you need an objective, focused group to control them.
Yellow Card
January 13, 2012
12:18 am
I’d also like to add that opening it to a popular vote would basically allow the Northeast to determine the location due to its high team density. In terms of voting, it’d make the most sense to narrow it down to around 3 final locations that the IQA thinks would all be feasible, and then give each REGION one vote.
Tom Wally Kirk
January 12, 2012
11:26 pm
I would be overjoyed if the World Cup came to St.Louis. Few people in Stl even know Quidditch exists as a sport, but tons of people love Harry Potter. Although having the World Cup in New York makes sense due to the number of teams in the Northeast, Quidditch will spread much more quickly if we can take big events to areas with few teams.
Dan Hanson
January 13, 2012
12:11 am
Do we have to provide our own Tautauns if it’s in Echo Base? I’d feel bad if we had to slice open IQA Tauntauns in an emergency situation….
Regulus
January 13, 2012
3:14 pm
haha yea we better start purchasing our own
Yellow Card
January 13, 2012
12:13 am
What exactly does, “ability of relevant teams to attend” mean in the context of the World Cup? Aren’t all teams relevant, and, as long as the location actually exists, don’t they all have the ability to attend? Maybe I’m paranoid, but that language makes me worry that this is just going to come down to, “most teams are in the Northeast so we should just have the World Cup there.”
Chaseher33
January 13, 2012
12:20 am
I share your worries as well Yellowcard, but I suppose we’ll just have to trust the system.
Evan Bell
Captain, Santa Barbara Blacktips
January 13, 2012
12:51 am
I definitely agree with you there. If California teams should be expected to fly to New York (or Norwegian teams, for that matter), as was the case last year, then Northeastern teams should be expected to fly to, for example, Los Angeles. It seems ridiculous to base location decisions on speculation of whether or not teams will come. If you hold it there, THEY WILL COME.
Devin Dutt
January 13, 2012
5:17 pm
They may mean irrelevant as in teams that wouldnt/couldnt attend. For example Canadian teams are pretty much irrelevant if the WC is in April because we cant attend then unless were willing to miss exams. Unless the WC is late enough that its past our exam period (which it most likely wont be because your exam term starts after that) or is well before it, which is also unlikely unless its mid march.
Simon Langevin
January 14, 2012
2:11 pm
Devin? What exam?
Devin Dutt
January 20, 2012
1:50 am
Im not sure about yours, but exams in Ontario are in April
Alex Benepe
Commissioner
January 13, 2012
6:53 am
@Yellow Card and @Evan Bell
I wrote “Ability of relevant teams to attend” because we are discussing both World Cup and regional championships.
For regional champs, it obviously doesn’t matter whether or not ALL teams can attend, just the teams in the region, which are therefore the “relevant teams.”
Mariah
January 13, 2012
10:17 am
Boston would be such an excellent venue for either the Northwest Regional or the World Cup!
Lindsay BlitzDrwg Fussell
January 13, 2012
10:51 am
Gainesville for Southeast Tournament and Orlando for World cup? I say heck yes to that*.
*partially biased as a Florida Quidditch Conference member… >> *shifty eye*
David McCarthy Moyer
January 13, 2012
4:53 pm
not at all! Gainesville always puts on a good tourney and Orlando would be great for a ton of reasons
Lindsay
January 15, 2012
3:38 pm
I still don’t know how I feel about seeing Lake Charles and New Orleans nominated for both southwest and southern regionals. I’d rather they decide what region they are going to be in instead of trying to better their chances by putting in for both. Maybe it’s because the regions aren’t defined yet clearly so that’s why they double nominated, but it’s bothering me for some reason.
chaseher33
Southwestern Regional Director
January 15, 2012
3:50 pm
Well I don’t think they’d have both tournaments in one location so I don’t think it’ll be that big of a deal.
Being in the southwest, either of those locations would be fine for me to have the southwest regional.
Lindsay
January 15, 2012
6:29 pm
Then they should stay southwest in my opinion. It seems completely unfair to the other nominations that a city can sit for consideration in two regions.
I know they won’t let the Southwestern and Southern Regions be in the same state, let alone the same city, but then again, the definition of south when it comes to Quidditch regions is not how I define the south. *shrug*
Tyler P
January 13, 2012
6:07 pm
I like the fact that Rochester NY is listed as an option for the North East Regional. I’m excited to see what the final decisions are for the 2012-2013 season .
V
January 14, 2012
1:35 am
Finally someone nominated a place in Colorado! I think that Denver would be a pretty cool place to have the Midwest Regional, but Greeley works just as well!
Elana
January 16, 2012
2:09 pm
I think that NY has been a great locale for the world cup. I’ve gone the last two years, and the only thing that would have made Randall’s island better is if the food situation had been a little easier. Other than that, it was a fantastic day! I would love to have it there again for my last one before I go to college and hopefully end up playing on a team myself!