The World Cup Organizing Team (WCOT) is still in the process of receiving bid packets back from bidding parties. Bid packets are in response to an outline we sent out, in collaboration with tourism bureaus and sports commissions in all of the bidding cities, stating what we want and need for the World Cup and Regional Championships. Bid packets we receive back include what each city is prepared to offer in regards to funding, logistics, location, and other support.

photo provided by Annie Masters

Working with on this bid process has given us the opportunity to take quidditch awareness to a whole new level. The number of cities interested in hosting IQA tournaments not only for this year, but also in future years, is phenomenal. There are even cities expressing interest in the 2015 World Cup! City offices now see us as a legitimate organization, and they are excited about the prospect of hosting such a unique sporting event in their communities.

Due to this overwhelming interest, we are a little more delayed in the process than we had anticipated. However, we want to make sure we take the time to look at all potential locations, both for Regional Championships and the World Cup. At this time, cities across the country are finalizing what they can offer, and soon we will have enough information to evaluate them. All bid packets are due by today, Friday, May 18.

As soon as we evaluate which cities are good candidates for continuing on in the process (eventually coming to an Official Member vote for Regional Championships, and possibly for the World Cup), we will connect the city offices with any teams that put in the original bids for those cities. For Regional Championships, we foresee a good relationship between local teams and the city. Having the city organizations on board allows us to expand and enlarge the Regional Championships, but the cities need the teams for insight on how quidditch works, and to add a community aspect to the tournaments.

So we ask you to please be patient with us for a little bit longer. The light is at the end of the tunnel, and we can see it!