Quidditch, also known as Quadball, in Australia is played by a mixture of university and community teams. Due to the geographic demographics of the country, most major competitive tournaments are held in the eastern states. There are currently over 30 registered teams in the country.

Organisations

Quadball in Australia is governed by Quadball Australia (formerly Quidditch Australia and the Australian Quidditch Association), a non-profit organisation founded in 2011 as a Facebook group intended to act as a network for quidditch teams and players within Australia to communicate with one another. It is managed by a board of seven directors on a rotating 2-year term system with further volunteer staff, and currently chaired by Luke Derrick. Quadball Australia is affiliated with the International Quadball Association. Quadball Australia uses the IQA rulebook for official gameplay, with some minor exceptions.

Quadball Australia manages the membership and insurance of all players in the country, in addition to managing the country's most prolific tournaments such as the Australian Quadball Championships (previously QUAFL) and State Shield. Regular club seasons are managed by their respective state bodies: Quadball New South Wales (which also manages quidditch in the Australian Capital Territory), Quadball Victoria, Queensland Association of Quadball, South Australian Quadball Association and Western Australian Quadball Association.

National team

The Drop Bears are the Australian national team, named after the folklorian koala-like species. The Drop Bears competed at the inaugural 2012 IQA Cup (then called the Summer Games), the first world-wide quadball competition where they came in third out of five teams. They defeated reigning champions The United States in 2016 with a score of 150*–130. Despite being tipped to win the cup again in 2018, the Australian National Team competed in Italy finishing 5th, defeated by the United States in the early stages of the semifinals. Competition Position 2012 Summer Games 3rd of 5 2014 Global Games 2nd of 7 2016 World Cup 1st of 21 2018 World Cup 5th of 29 2022 European Games 3rd of 20 2023 World Cup † 7th of 15 † The 2020 World Cup was initially postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19, and further postponed to 2023.

Competitions

Australian Quadball Championships (QUAFL) The Australian Quadball Championships, previously and sometimes still colloquially known as QUAFL is the biggest quadballtournament in Australia. It is held annually in November/December, crowning the Australian national club champion for that year. The first official name for the tournament was the Oceania Regional Championships, but was more affectionately known as "QUAFL" which was later given the backronym "Quidditch United Australian Federated League". The inaugural tournament was held in 2011 at the University of New South Wales, starting with just 5 teams.

Clubs from across the country bid to host the tournament every year, and the tournament was hosted by Sydney-based clubs until 2015, when it was hosted by Melbourne's Monash Muggles. In 2016 and 2017, the tournament saw a move to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, hosting a record high of 25 teams in 2017. The championships were hosted in Queensland for the first time in 2018, and were last held at Kayess Park, Minto in 2019, before being cancelled both in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions at the time.

The structure of the tournament traditionally changes each year depending on the number of registered teams and choices of organisers. More recently, teams have been randomly split into pools based on their respective end of season state rankings, with top teams from each pool progressing to elimination bracket play.

The 2020 Championship due to be hosted in the Gold Coast or USC, and the 2021 Championship due to be hosted at La Trobe University, were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Australian Quadball Club Championship (AQCC) results Note that an asterisk (*) signifies a snitch catch. Year No. of teams Location National Champion Runner-up Grand Final score20115Kensington, NSWUNSW Snapes on a PlaneUniversity of Western Sydney Thestrals90-60*201210Macquarie Park, NSWUniversity of New South Wales Snapes on a PlaneNewcastle Fireballs80*-30201312Parramatta, NSWPerth Phoenixes (WA)Macquarie Marauders110*-70201413Macquarie Park, NSWMelbourne Manticores (VIC)UNSW Snapes on a Plane110*-40201519Clayton, VICMelbourne Manticores (VIC)UNSW Snapes on a Plane 100*-10201623Australian Institute of Sport, ACTWrackspurts QCWestern Sydney Spartans120*-110201725Australian Institute of Sport, ACTWhomping Willows (VIC) Wrackspurts QC (VIC) 150*-100201824Sippy Downs, QLDMelbourne ManticoresUniversity of Sydney Unspeakables120*-70201920Minto, NSWMonash MugglesMelbourne Manticores (VIC)130*-120202213Bundoora, VICNorth Sydney NightmaresSunshine Coast Scorpions150*-110

State Shield State Shield (previously Quidditch State of Origin after the football tournament of the same name), is an annual Australian quadball competition established in 2016 as part of a skills camp training exercise at the annual QuidCamp. The tournament was created due to an increasing need for a state-based tournament, however as the majority of the players resided in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria (due to Australian geographical demographics) these are the only states to currently compete in the tournament.

Participating state teams include Victorian Leadbeaters (A), Victorian Honeybeaters (B), New South Wales Bluetongues (A), New South Wales Bluebottles (B), and the Queensland Thunderbirds.

Past State Shield results Year Winning team Location2016Victorian LeadbeatersBerry2017Victorian LeadbeatersBrisbane2018New South Wales BluetonguesNewcastle2019New South Wales BluetonguesSandringham2022New South Wales BluetonguesMaroochydore The 2020 and 2021 State Shields were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

NSW Quidditch League (NQL) Organised by Quidditch New South Wales, the NQL (previously known as Triwiz) is the year long state championship in Sydney and surrounding cities, which started in 2011 and was formalised when the Quidditch NSW state body was created. The competition was split into 2 divisions in 2018, and currently contains 14 teams across Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and Canberra.

Year Division 1 Winner Division 2 Winner 2014 University of New South Wales Snapes on a Plane 2015 Western Sydney Spartans / UNSW Snapes on a Plane† 2016 University of Sydney Unspeakables 2017Sydney City Serpents 2018University of Sydney Unspeakables University of Sydney Unbreakables 2019 Sydney City Serpents UNSW Snapes on a Plane 2020* –2021* –2022 Darlinghurst Dragons † Due to inclement weather and injuries, both teams agreed not to play the Grand Final and share the 2015 state title.

* Due to COVID-19, tournament did not proceed and only friendly matches were played.

Victoria Cup Organised by the Quadball Victoria, the Victoria Cup is the year long state championship in Melbourne. The inaugural cup in 2014 was won by the Monash Muggles, and followed on from other local tournaments.

Year Division 1 Winner Division 2 Winner 2013/14 Monash Muggles 2015 Melbourne Manticores 2016 Melbourne Manticores2017 Whomping Willows2018Whomping Willows 2019 Monash Muggles Monash Mudbloods 2020* –2021* –2022 Melbourne Manticores

* Due to COVID-19, tournament did not proceed and only friendly matches were played.

Midwinter Cup The Midwinter cup is held annually in Newcastle featuring both teams from NSW and interstate. The 2014 winners were the UNSW Snapes on a Plane. In 2015, the tournament was won by the hosts, the Newcastle Fireballs. In 2016, a vastly outnumbered Australian National University and University of the Sunshine Coast collaboration team, the ANUSC Dement-Owls, defeated the Newcastle Fireballs in the grand final to claim the Midwinter cup. In 2017, the winners were the newly formed Sydney City Serpents.

The Midwinter Cup was not held in the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Midwinter Cup was delayed due to weather, but returned in September of that year.

Year Winning team 2012 Perth Phoenixes 2013 University of Western Sydney Thestrals 2014 University of New South Wales Snapes on a Plane 2015 University of Newcastle (Australia) Fireballs 2016 Australian National University and University of the Sunshine Coast ANUSC Dement-Owls2017Sydney City Serpents2018University of Sydney Unspeakables2019Sydney City Serpents2022 North Sydney Nightmares2023 Sydney Stir Fries

Melbourne Mudbash The Melbourne Mudbash is held annually in the middle of the year in Melbourne. Local teams are joined by interstate teams and teams composed of mercenary players. In 2013, the Melbourne Manticores came out on top of the four local and two other teams competing, and in 2014 the Monash Muggles were the best of the six local and four other teams to compete.

Fantasy Tournaments Held outside of the regular seasons, various fantasy tournaments across the country include Valkyries Fantasy (November), Victorian Fantasy (February), Sunshine Coast Fantasy (April), Macarthur Fantasy (January), and Pink Up Campbelltown Charity Tournament (October).

Australian Wheelchair Quidditch Championships (QWAFL) Wheelchair quadball was first introduced into regular quadball tournaments in 2012, and ran at the same time and venue as the regular championships. Due to the logistical difficulties and lack of interest, the competition has not run since 2016.

Year Winner Runner-Up Grand Final score 2012 ANU Nargles JCU Galleons 40* - 20 2013 UWS Thestrals Newcastle Chariots of Fire 220* - 10 2014 UWS Thestrals Perth Phoenixes 160* - 20 2015 Western Sydney Spartans UTS Opaleyes 120* - 502016 Western Sydney Spartans UTS Opaleyes 90* - 60

Teams There are several teams/clubs registered with Quadball Australia across all states and territories except Northern Territory. As of May 28, 2023 there are 24 teams registered with Quadball Australia.

Current Teams