Meet the Canadians tasked with representing their nation at the IQA Summer Games!

Name: Tegan Bridge
Team: University of Ottawa
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Position: Beater
Bio: Tegan, a former martial artist, plays beater for uOttawa Quidditch. Since getting
the idea to start uOttawa’s first Quidditch team in November 2010, she has been
pleasantly surprised to discover that Quidditch has taken over her life. She is now
co-president of her team, volunteers for the IQA’s Olympic Expo Match Planning
Committee, runs her own blog of Quidditch photography, and feels that the only
thing that would make her life cooler would be a musical number.

Name: Derek Burrows
Team: McGill University
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec
Position: Chaser
Bio: Derek had no childhood. He was found fully-grown at the site of a meteorite
impact in 2007 with no true memory of his past – only a vague sense that this world
needs him. Derek played in World Cup IV as a chaser for the McGill University team.
Derek has a long and varied athletic résumé. Through the use of a combination of
time travel and clever disguises, Derek has won every gold medal for every Olympic
rocket-toboggan event in history. Also, in the summer of 2011, he played quidditch
every Saturday in the afternoon even though it was really hot.

Name: Benjamin Gregory “Murph” Carlisle
Team: McGill University
Hometown: Stratford, Ontario (for the record, he was from Stratford before Justin
Bieber was from Stratford)
Position: Beater, Snitch
Bio: Murph played as a beater for the McGill University team in World Cups IV and
V, as well as the 2011 Canada Cup, which McGill won. He was also a golden snitch
for the Canada Cup and World Cup V. You can recognise him while snitching by his
headband-with-wings. You can recognise him while beating by his yelling. Murph
is a grad student in nursing at McGill, having just finished his Master’s in Medical
Ethics (also at McGill).

Name: Alain Desroches
Team: McGill University
Hometown: St. Alphonse de Granby, Québec
Position: Chaser
Bio: Alain is McGill University’s “soccer mom” during the regular season, but he
plays as a chaser during the summer months. He was a volunteer at World Cup V,
and supported the McGill team at the Canada Cup. Alain’s background is in distance
running, which he does either for fun or in competition. His latest was the 2012Spartan Race. He is not a player to be taken lightly—he runs without tiring, fears no evil, and has two rows of very sharp teeth.

Name: Steven Foster
Team: University of Victoria
Hometown: Kelowna, British Columbia
Position: Keeper
Bio: Steven is the captain of the UVic Valkyries, and has been on it since it was
created. He’s used his knowledge and skills from playing rugby, soccer, football,
and track to adapt to quidditch and help coach his team so that they can grow
and develop. UVic’s first real quidditch games took place at the World Cup V
where, although losing their games, they developed significantly. Steven is a fierce
competitor and despite his small size does not shy away from contact! His favourite
colour is blue, he enjoys long walks on the beach, and doing manly things like
fighting bears with his bare hands, using tools, and grilling various meats. He spends
his nights fighting crime, earning himself the nickname of “Batman”. If he could be
any type of animal, he would choose to become a super dragon.

Name: Jamie Lafrance
Team: University of Ottawa
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
Position: Keeper
Bio: Playing keeper for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gee’s, Jamie is new to quidditch
but quickly earned his nickname “mini-fridge”. Joining after the most recent World
Cup, he was able to show his physical style of play that translates from his rugby
career (also at the university) in only a few games with the team. Inviting other
players to the hoop only to crush their dreams (and maybe a few bones) is one of his
favourite things about the sport, along with running over opponents who foolishly
try to stop his path to the hoop on offence. With an intense love of competition and
a drive to win, he plans on showing the other counries that Canada is here to play,
and hopes to represent his teammates back in Ottawa, who taught him everything
he knows. Note: he is always a very huge fan of Kidditch – how could someone so big
not be a friendly giant off the field?

Name: Caitlin MacLeod
Team: University of Toronto
Hometown: Ajax, Ontario
Position: Beater
Bio: As a first year, Caitlin jumped at the chance to be a part of her school’s growing
quidditch team. Coming from a background of competitive fencing, it was a logical
transition from attacking people with swords to going after them with bludgers. Six
years of fencing have taught her fast footwork, quick thinking, tenacity, and balance.
Caitlin does not, however, limit herself to athletics. She is secretary of Victoria
College Dumbledore’s Army, a group focused on child poverty and illiteracy, holds
an executive position and plays with a campus chamber string ensemble, and is
studying both physics and philosophy.

Name: Drew Marubashi
Team: Queen’s University
Hometown: Scarborough, Ontario
Position: Beater
Bio: Drew is new to the sport of quidditch, having only started playing in 2011.
However, Drew makes up for this disadvantage with his athleticism and love of the
sport. He stands at 6”1’ and is a solid immovable force to be reckoned with. He has
been a longtime enthusiast of the sport. Though he has not played for very long
he makes up for his inexperience with enthusiasm and a love of the game. Drew
currently is enrolled at Queen’s University studying History and English. In addition
to quidditch Drew has been involved with rowing and dragon boat. Drew originally
hails from Scarborough, Ontario which gives him an edge on and off the field.

Name: Plunger Parvulescu
Team: McGill University
Hometown: Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Position: Seeker
Bio: Mention that when your moustache saw the snitch it got excited and started
sparkling, and that’s where you got your powers from. You brought a plunger to
your first quidditch practice. You are in a band, Romanian, in the Plate Club, vegan,
and study sociology. I once witnessed you, iPod in hand, ROCKING OUT on your way
down a staircase. Ask him anything, about anything, or to do anything. Discover a
partner in crime and conversation. It is fittingly poetic that Plunger is representing
his country in a game where he runs with a broom between his legs and chases
some poor sucker wearing gold. I’m self-conscious so I made a facebook post asking my friends to write my
own bio. Their comments will be about how un-self-conscious I am, naming odd
behaviors that I employ to mask how apprehensive I really am of what others think
about me. My hope is that they’ll say things to make me feel better about myself, but
an even deeper hope is that they’ll name the short-comings I see in myself. The
comment I end up using Is So Meta Even This Acronym.

Name: Leila Quigley
Team: University of Victoria
Hometown: New Westminster, British Columbia
Position: Beater
Bio: Leila joined the UVic quidditch team in the fall and immediately found her
place as a beater. Playing baseball as a child began Leila’s training at an early age to
acquire the skills necessary to throw a mean bludger. She played hard for her team
at the World Cup V, though they did almost lose her to the New York Public Library
the day before it started. A Hufflepuff at heart, you won’t forget her house animal
is the badger if you try to steal her bludger. Leila enjoys reading and swimming,
and has recently started playing the flute again. She is continuing to take general
humanities courses next year, but will likely remain busy keeping the UVic quidditch
team organized.

Name: Adam “Shoulders” Robillard
University: University of Ottawa
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
Position: Chaser/Seeker
Bio: Adam ‘Shoulders’ Robillard, a mere boy of twelve (Adam: I’m eighteen), his
eyes glinting with the ghosts of his past, is one of three proud players from Canada’s
capital. A chaser from the University of Ottawa, Robillard is also a frequent snitch/
seeker and once led his team to an overtime win with a three-second snitch snatch.
He earned his nickname with a reputation for hard hits and Canada’s only red card.
Nevertheless, what Adam lacks in stereotypical Canadian manners he makes up
for with self-professed ‘charm’. As you watch Adam tackling his opponents, be
sure to note a surprising level of poise and grace: you are looking at the man who
choreographed uOttawa Quidditch’s infamous pregame Haka. Training for the ballet,
Robillard?

Name: Zoe Scantlebury
Team: Queen’s University
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Position: Beater
Bio: Zoe began playing Quidditch in 2011, with the creation of Queen’s Quidditch
team. She immediately found her calling as a starting beater on the team. After
playing in the Canadian Quidditch Cup, she became motivated to train harder, and
play harder to make her team as strong as possible and become an unstoppable
beater. Her previous background in Army Cadet training and various high school
sports: ice hockey, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, and javelin, gave her the skills
which are essential to the position: power, timing, and accuracy. Her passion for the
sport led her take on the responsibility of team Captain in the upcoming year, and
she is looking forward to representing her country in the Summer Games.

Name: Mason Silveira
Team: Queen’s University
Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
Position: Chaser
Bio: Mason has been a fan of muggle quidditch since its inception and is credited
with co-founding the quidditch team at Queen’s University. Since starting the team
in September 2011, Mason has represented Queen’s at the Canadian Cup where he
played as chaser and as an impromptu seeker that subsequently caught the game-
winning snitch (which to date has been the single greatest moment of his life).
Known for his “troll-like” stature, Mason has yet to be unseated from his broom and delivers a tackle that is the closest a muggle can get to producing a stupefy charm. Off the quidditch pitch, Mason enjoys running, TV, and neuroscience. Mason cannot wait to represent Team Canada at the Summer games and is looking forward to meeting all the other quidditch obsessed muggles.

Name: Mary Warner
Team: University of Victoria
Hometown: Terrace, British Columbia
Position: Beater & Team Coordinator
Bio: Mary has played as a beater on the UVic quidditch team for one year and cannot
get over how awesome the sport is. Along with all the amazing people she has met
from playing it, she loves how the strategic aspects of gameplay are developing
as the sport continues to grow. She competed with her team at the World Cup V
in New York, which she describes as “a life highlight”. Like many Canadians, Mary
loves hockey. She is a loyal Vancouver Canucks fan and was a minor hockey referee
throughout high school. Mary just finished her Bachelor of Science in Linguistics and
is trying to figure out what to do next. When not on the quidditch pitch, Mary can
be found hiking, playing squash, unicycling, or buying excessive amounts of candy.
She is overly obsessed with her dog Benny, and will likely be overheard in Oxford
talking about how much she wishes she could have brought him along.