Gameplay Updates for the 2019-2020 Season

Header Photo by Annemieke Drost Quidditch Photography

Rules and amendments

For the 2019-2020 season, Quidditch Canada will be using the same rulebook and amendments from the previous season, with two minor additions from the USQ 13 rulebook. These additions (1) alter the penalties for wearing jewelry, and (2) add in specific requirements for which a head referee can be replaced. The rules, amendments, and the new additions for this season are available in the Quidditch Canada Adopted Rules and Amendments.

The Gameplay Department’s intention in keeping maintaining the same rulebook this season is to support officials who are still learning to apply the major rule changes implemented last year. Additionally, major changes are expected in the next versions of the IQA Rulebook, and USQ rulebook. Quidditch Canada believes it will be of benefit to its officials to have more time with the same ruleset before anticipated major changes come into play next year.  

In order to support the development of Quidditch Canada’s officials, as well as ensure a positive gameplay experience for the 2019-2020 membership, the Gameplay Department has developed a 2019-2020 Season Rules Refresher to highlight the major rule changes and amendments made last year, with instructions as to how they should be properly used by officials and players. 

Referee Certification

All certifications from last season carry over to this season. Officials who obtained referee certification as Assistant Referees, Snitch Referees, Head Referees, or Snitch Runners last season do not need to recertify. However, officials that were certified before last season and are looking to be certified for the 2019-2020 season will need to retake the certification tests. Head referees that were previously certified do not need to retake the head ref field test. Please refer to the updated referee directory to confirm whether or not you are certified for this season. Only registered members of Quidditch Canada appear in this directory.

Individuals looking to complete Head Referee or Snitch Runner field tests are directed to contact gameplay@quidditchcanada.com. The Gameplay Department will contact tournament organizers to ensure that certification is possible. 

Nationals

The 2020 National Championship is taking place in Edmonton, AB, and will be in an indoor facility. Due to the limited space of an indoor venue, and thus a limited number of pitches, this event will be Quidditch Canada’s first capped National Championship. 

Teams competing this season will be required to quality for 1 of the 14 spots. In order to qualify, teams must attend and compete at the Regional Championship, as their Regional ranking will determine whether or not they qualify for one of the National Championship bids. 

The number of spots at Nationals available to each region will be proportionate to the number of teams in each region as of the closing date for Regionals registration. This ratio has not yet been determined as we recognize that there are still teams that have not officially registered with the league. Teams that do not qualify for the National Championship will be placed on a waitlist based on their ranking at Regionals. The order of Eastern and Western teams on the waitlist will also be proportionate to the number of teams in each region. 

The deadline for teams that qualify for Nationals to pay a deposit to ensure that their spots are reserved for Nationals is Friday December 13th.  After this date the spots will be opened up to the waitlist. Full rosters for teams attending Nationals will then be due by Friday January 10th. 

Video Review Policy

The video review policy has been in place to allow teams to have goals overturned based on conclusive video evidence. However, after 2 years it has been determined that, with the technology available at tournaments, the video quality is not sufficient to provide conclusive evidence in most situations. Additionally, the technology has made it difficult to conduct the video reviews within the allotted time of 5 minutes, causing excessive tournament delays. For these reasons the video review policy has been removed for the 2019-2020 season.