Emerson College’s Quadball team is competing in Div. II nationals in Virginia at the end of the month. They earned their bid to nationals at the regional tournament in Maryland in March.
Quadball, which is modeled after the fictional sport Quidditch from the “Harry Potter” series, is a gender-inclusive sport that combines elements of rugby, basketball, and dodgeball. Beaters throw the dodgeballs at opposing players to force them to “knock them out.” Chasers throw a volleyball through the opposing team’s hoops to score points. Keepers guard the hoops and attempt to block shots, and the seeker tries to catch the “flag runner,” which is a referee on the field that has a flag.
While Emerson’s Quadball team is the only D2 sport at the school, they emphasize the connections between their 16-person team more than competitiveness.
“We’ve very much a big community more than a sports team,” Peyton Schwiebert, the secretary and a senior on the team, said. “We have fun, we eat food together after practice, and we cheer on other teams at tournaments.”
Janie Hillman, a senior stage and production management major, is the team’s beater captain. Hillman has been on the team since their first year and echoed Schwiebert’s sentiment of the team’s closeness.
“I always want [other Quadball] teams to feel like we were having more fun than them and that we were nicer than them,” Hillman said. “I want everyone to say, ‘Emerson [has] the sweetest people ever. You should play against them. You should talk to them because they’re lovely.’”
“It has always been my goal for us to be seen as good people and good members of the community,” Hillman added.
As they prepare for nationals in a few weeks, the senior-heavy team is excited to be together again after a few seniors spent this semester at the Emerson Los Angeles campus, while two other players were studying abroad elsewhere. The abroad players are set to meet them for the tournament in Virginia.
“We’re expecting to go pretty far into nationals,” Schwiebert said. “Half the team has been away at LA, and we’re really excited to have them back for nationals.”
As this is the last tournament for Schwiebert, Hillman, and the other graduating seniors, the team is hoping more underclassmen could join the trip to nationals as an effort to prepare for future seasons.
“At nationals, I am excited to leave everything on the field, especially for our seniors,” sophomore chaser captain Ryan Leary said. “Next year is definitely a rebuilding year. Quadball fluctuates, so at nationals we are looking forward to having fun and trying to win as much as possible.”
Nationals, the U.S. Quadball Cup, is at the River City Sportsplex in Richmond, Virginia, from April 25-26. Emerson’s team has made it a little further in the tournament each year they have competed.
“My freshman year, we didn’t win a single game at nationals,” Hillman said. “The next year, we won two games but didn’t make it to the second day. And then last year, we made it to the top six. The goal now is to keep going, to improve a little bit more.”
The seniors on the team have spent the last few years building to this moment, Hillman added.
“We have a bunch of players who have played for four years, but also played together for four years,” they said. “Our team chemistry right now is off the charts.”
