The Development Cup, also known as Dev Cup is a British quidditch tournament that runs parallel to the annual British Quidditch Cup, catering for those teams that did not qualify for the latter.[1] The tournament is organised by QuidditchUK, the sport's national governing body, and follows International Quidditch Association rules. The inaugural event, held on 29–30 April 2017, was won by the Liverpuddly Cannons from Liverpool.

First tournament, April 2017 edit

The first Development Cup took place on the 29–30 April 2017 at Horspath Athletics Ground in Oxford. There were 9 teams in attendance. Four of whom, the Liverpuddly Cannons, St Andrews Snidgets, Holyrood Hippogriffs Seconds team and UCLan Quidditch entered after coming in the bottom four places at Northern Cup 2016. The only team from Southern Cup 2016 to not qualify for British Quidditch Cup 2017 in this manner was The Flying Chaucers from the University of Kent but they declined to attend Development Cup, or indeed any team event for the remainder of that season. Also amongst the teams at Dev Cup were those who had either failed to attend regionals for varying reasons or who had been created after. The newly minted seconds teams of Sheffield Quidditch Club and London Unspeakables competed as well as the Bournemouth Banshees, Glasgow Grim Reapers and Bath Quidditch Club.

Structure edit

The tournament consisted of a round-robin of all 9 teams, in order to give each side the maximum amount of competitive experience it could - for many sides, such as Bath and Glasgow, it was the first tournament they had competed at. Two of the teams quickly established themselves as dominant from the early stages: Liverpool and Edinburgh would go essentially unchallenged for the entire event, their match against each other being the only snitch-range game (played within 30 points) either would contest over the weekend. They went 7-0 and 6-1 respectively and won gold and silver. Bath established themselves firmly in third place with a 5-3 record, which included a dramatic double-overtime result against London.

Bath Quidditch Club 190* 20 Sheffield Steelfins Bournemouth Banshees 40 100* Preston Poltergeists
Glasgow Grim Reapers 30 90* London Unbreakables Holyrood Hippogriffs 2nds 50 60* Liverpuddly Cannons
St Andrews Snidgets 110* 40 Sheffield Steelfins Bath Quidditch Club 220* 50 Bournemouth Banshees
Glasgow Grim Reapers 10 130* Holyrood Hippogriffs 2nds London Unbreakables 60 60* Preston Poltergeists **

*Indicates that this score included a snitch-catch during regulation play. ^Indicates that this score included a snitch-catch during overtime play. ** London defeated Preston 100^-60 in overtime. ***Bath defeated London 100^*-70 in double overtime. ****Preston defeated Glasgow 70-60 in double overtime.

Final standings edit

The final standings at the end of the tournament were:[2]

Placement Team
1st Liverpuddly Cannons
2nd Holyrood Hippogriffs Seconds
3rd Bath Quidditch Club
4th London Unbreakables
5th St Andrews Snidgets
6th Preston Poltergeists
7th Glasgow Grim Reapers
8th Bournemouth Banshees
9th Sheffield Steelfins

Second Tournament, April 2018 edit

The second Development Cup took place on the 14–15 April 2018 at the University of York. It did not follow the round-robin format of its predecessor, instead utilising a rotating pool structure followed by a knockout bracket. The rotating pool format, known as the 'Naftel Slide', would seed a Pod 1 team into each of four pools with two unseeded opponents. After an initial round-robin, the top team in each pool 'slid' into the pool to the left, and the bottom team similarly moved to the right.

Development Cup 2018 featured 13 teams, most of whom having attended their respective regional tournament but not having qualified for the British Quidditch Cup. Three teams were 'mercenary' squads formed from the merger of two existing clubs who had been unable to field a full roster alone. The teams were grouped as follows:

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
Glasgow Grim Reapers St Andrews Snidgets Bath Quidditch Club Oxford Quidlings
Stirling Ridgebacks Preston Poltergeists Northern Wyverns - Belfast Manchester Minotaurs
Northern Lights London Unbreakables Sheffield Sea Lions The Flying Catapults
Derby Daemons

First round edit

The first round of gameplay proceeded as follows:

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
Team 1 Score Team 2 Team 1 Score Team 2 Team 1 Score Team 2 Team 1 Score Team 2
Glasgow Grim Reapers 110*-40 Northern Lights St Andrews Snidgets 30-130* London Unbreakables Bath Quidditch Club 70*-60 Northern Wyverns Belfast Oxford Quidlings 30-100* Derby Daemons
Glasgow Grim Reapers 130*-60 Stirling Ridgebacks St Andrews Snidgets 160*-40 Preston Poltergeists Bath Quidditch Club 100*-40 Sheffield Sea Lions The Flying Catapults 130-60* Manchester Minotaurs
Northern Lights 110-120* Stirling Ridgebacks London Unbreakables 80-40* Preston Poltergiests Northern Wyverns Belfast 120-40* Sheffield Sea Lions Oxford Quidlings 90*-40 The Flying Catapults
Derby Daemons 150*-30 Manchester Minotaurs
Oxford Quidlings 110-30* Manchester Minotaurs
Derby Daemons 130*-30 The Flying Catapults

Second round edit

The teams at the top of each pool; Glasgow, London, Bath and Derby, all as-yet undefeated, moved one place to the left, whilst the bottom teams (including the bottom two teams from Pool D) moved one place to the right. The new pools thus constructed were;

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
London Unbreakables Bath Quidditch Club Derby Daemons Glasgow Grim Reapers
Stirling Ridgebacks St Andrews Snidgets Northern Wyverns - Belfast Oxford Quidlings
The Flying Catapults Northern Lights Preston Poltergeists Sheffield Sea Lions
Manchester Minotaurs

This led to a second round of pool play with the following results:

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
Team 1 Score Team 2 Team 1 Score Team 2 Team 1 Score Team 2 Team 1 Score Team 2
Stirling Ridgebacks 80*-60 London Unbreakables Northern Lights 60-110* St Andrews Snidgets Preston Poltergeists 0-90* Northern Wyverns Belfast Glasgow Grim Reapers 100-30* Sheffield Sea Lions
London Unbreakables 140*-10 Manchester Minotaurs Northern Lights 20-90* Bath Quidditch Club Preston Poltergeists 10-110* Derby Daemons Glasgow Grim Reapers 90*-40 Oxford Quidlings
Stirling Ridgebacks 140-150* The Flying Catapults St Andrews Snidgets 70*-20 Bath Quidditch Club Northern Wyverns Belfast 100*-60 Derby Daemons Sheffield Sea Lions 40*-100 Oxford Quidlings
Stirling Ridgebacks 130*-10 Manchester Minotaurs
London Unbreakables 100*-30 The Flying Catapults

Final rounds edit

Following this second stage of pool play, the teams were divided between those who had played four games and those who had played five. The top four teams in each category entered a single-elimination bracket, whilst the bottom five played a consolation round comprising play-in elimination matches and a round-robin of the three surviving teams. The tournament was won in a commanding fashion by the Glasgow Grim Reapers, who defeated an injury-laden Bath Quidditch Club 160*-0. Meanwhile the St Andrews Snidgets picked up Bronze over the Oxford Quidlings.

Final standings edit

Placement Team
1st Glasgow Grim Reapers
2nd Bath Quidditch Club
3rd St Andrews Snidgets
4th Oxford Quidlings
5th London Unbreakables
6th Derby Daemons
7th Northern Wyverns Belfast
8th Stirling Dumyat Dragons
9th Northern Lights
10th Preston Poltergeists
11th The Flying Catapults
12th Sheffield Sealions
13th Manchester Minotaurs

Third tournament, March 2019 edit

The third Development Cup took place on the 2–3 March 2019 at the Salford Sports Village in Manchester.[3] 11 teams competed over the weekend and three slots at the British Quidditch Cup in April 2019 were available for the winners. These were claimed by Winchester Wampus, London Unstoppables and the Chester Centurions (although Winchester Wampus did not attend BQC 2019). There were also coaching workshops scheduled over the weekend with the aim to help improve teams' skills and knowledge on topics such as ball handling, contact and refereeing.

Placement Team
1st Winchester Wampus
2nd London Unstoppables
3rd Chester Centurions
4th Loughborough Longshots
5th Cambridge University QC
6th Keele Squirrels
7th Stirling Dumyat Dragons
8th Manchester Minotaurs
9th Sheffield Steelfins
10th Bangor Broken Broomsticks
11th Falmouth Falcons

Fourth tournament, March 2020 edit

The fourth Development Cup took place on the 7–8 March 2020 and was again held at the Salford Sports Village in Manchester.[4] 9 teams competed over the weekend, with three slots available for the winners at the upcoming British Quidditch Cup in April 2020. However BQC 2020 ended up being cancelled due to COVID-19. Just like in the previous tournament, various coaching workshops were run over the weekend.[5] In phase 1, teams were split into three groups of 3 teams each and played in a round-robin style. Phase 3 consisted of a knockout tournament to determine the final winner.

The full results were as follows:[6][7]

Phase 1 - Group stage edit

Group A Group B Group C
Team 1 Score Team 2 Time Team 1 Score Team 2 Time Team 1 Score Team 2 Time
Manchester Minotaurs 230 - 30* Kent Quidditch Club 42:16 Durhamstrang 0 - 150* London Unbreakables 28:39 Radcliffe Chimeras 220* - 0 Sheffield Steelfins 27:51
Bangor Broken Broomsticks 80* - 0 Manchester Minotaurs 21:07 London Unbreakables 140* - 0 Stirling Dumyat Dragons 22:49 Radcliffe Chimeras 150* - 40 Swansea Scorpions 30:07
Bangor Broken Broomsticks 160 - 60* Kent Quidditch Club 33:19 Durhamstrang 120* - 50 Stirling Dumyat Dragons 19:42 Sheffield Steelfins 40 - 190* Swansea Scorpions 25:36
Group rankings
Placement Group A Group B Group C
Team W L Team W L Team W L
1st Bangor Broken Broomsticks 2 0 London Unbreakables 2 0 Radcliffe Chimeras 2 0
2nd Manchester Minotaurs 1 1 Durhamstrang 1 1 Swansea Scorpions 1 1
3rd Kent Quidditch Club 0 2 Stirling Dumyat Dragons 0 2 Sheffield Steelfins 0 2

Phase 2 edit

Team 1 Score Team 2 Time
Bangor Broken Broomsticks 120* - 10 Durhamstrang 22:33
Swansea Scorpions 120 - 40* Kent Quidditch Club 29:38
Bangor Broken Broomsticks 220* - 10 Sheffield Steelfins 27:25
Radcliffe Chimeras 170* - 30 Manchester Minotaurs 20:54
London Unbreakables 110* - 50 Swansea Scorpions 20:51
Radcliffe Chimeras 160 - 60* Stirling Dumyat Dragons 27:10
Durhamstrang 180* - 10 Sheffield Steelfins 22:37
London Unbreakables 200* - 30 Kent Quidditch Club 23:44
Manchester Minotaurs 200* - 40 Stirling Dumyat Dragons 41:10

Phase 3 - Knockout tournament/Consolidation Round Robin edit

 
Quarter-finalSemi-finalFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
London Unbreakables170*
 
 
 
Bangor Broken Broomsticks130
 
Bangor Broken Broomsticks150*
 
 
 
Durhamstrang50
 
London Unbreakables70
 
 
Radcliffe Chimeras130*
 
 
 
 
 
Radcliffe Chimeras200*
 
 
 
Swansea Scorpions20 3rd place play-off
 
Swansea Scorpions110°°°
 
 
 
Manchester Minotaurs100*°°
 
Bangor Broken Broomsticks110°°
 
 
Swansea Scorpions90*°
 
 
5th place play-off
 
  
 
 
 
 
Durhamstrang80°°
 
 
Manchester Minotaurs100**
 
Consolidation Round Robin
Team 1 Score Team 2 Time
Stirling Dumyat Dragons 70 - 50* Kent Quidditch Club 38:39
Stirling Dumyat Dragons 90°° - 70*° Sheffield Steelfins 38:53
Kent Quidditch Club 120° - 30° Sheffield Steelfins 45:00

Final standings edit

Placement Team Stage
1st Radcliffe Chimeras Final
2nd London Unbreakables Final
3rd Bangor Broken Broomsticks Semi-final
4th Swansea Scorpions Semi-final
5th Manchester Minotaurs Quarter-final
6th Durhamstrang Quarter-final
7th Stirling Dumyat Dragons Consolidation Round Robin
8th Kent QC Consolidation Round Robin
9th Sheffield Steelfins Consolidation Round Robin

Fifth tournament, April 2022 edit

Due to COVID-19, no Development Cup took place in 2021. The fifth tournament took place on 23 April 2022 at the Derby Rugby Club in Derby.[8] 3 teams competed over the day with Bangor Broken Broomsticks winning the tournament.

The full results were as follows:[9]

Round Robin 1 Round Robin 2
Team 1 Score Team 2 Time Team 1 Score Team 2 Time
Bangor Broken Broomsticks 110 - 50* Bristol Bears 23:02 Bristol Bears 170 - 40* Glasgow Grim Reapers 27:33
Bristol Bears 120* - 0 Glasgow Grim Reapers 19:00 Bangor Broken Broomsticks 120* - 60 Bristol Bears 18:51
Bangor Broken Broomsticks 180* - 20 Glasgow Grim Reapers 18:13 Bangor Broken Broomsticks 170* - 30 Glasgow Grim Reapers

Final standings edit

Placement Team
1st Bangor Broken Broomsticks
2nd Bristol Bears
3rd Glasgow Grim Reapers

Sixth tournament, April 2023 edit

The sixth Development Cup is scheduled to take place on 15 April 2023 in Derby.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ "Official Events | QuidditchUK". QuidditchUK – Find Your Passion. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  2. ^ "QUK All seasons results". Google Docs. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Development Cup 2019". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Development Cup 2020 – QuidditchUK". 5 August 2020. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Development Cup 2020 Coaching Timetable". Google Docs. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Live". quidditch.live. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Dev2020: Schedule - Google Drive". docs.google.com. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Development Cup 2022 | QuidditchUK". QuidditchUK – Find Your Passion. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Dev Cup 2022". www.quidditchscheduler.com. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  10. ^ "QuidditchUK 22/23 Season Structure Announced | QuidditchUK". QuidditchUK – Find Your Passion. Retrieved 30 June 2022.