Everything You Need to Know About Nationals 2020

Photo Credit: Chris Rothery

Quidditch Canada’s National Championship is being hosted by the City of Edmonton in March 2020. This year’s championship is capped at 14 available bids. This release outlines how bid allocation is being determined for this event, as well as updates players and teams on other pertinent policies to be aware of heading into our 6th National Championship.

National Championship Spot Allocation

The number of spots allocated to teams from each region is based on the proportion of teams within each region at the time of their respective regional championships.  The number of teams in the West Region is 8, while the number of Eastern Teams is 12. This means that 40% of league teams are in the West, while 60% are in the East. These percentages were used to determine that 6 spots are allocated for Western teams, and 8 are allocated for Eastern Teams. The order in which teams are offered these spots was based on their placement during their respective Regional Championships. The remaining teams that attended regional championships are put on a waiting list in an order such that the percentage of spots offered to Western and Eastern teams stay as close as possible to the percentage of teams in that region. 

In the event that there are open spots after all teams on the waitlist have been offered a spot, then spots will be opened up to teams that did not attend the Regional Championship – including newly formed teams – if they comply with the Major Events Eligibility Policy.

Seeding for Nationals 2020

It should be noted that while each team’s placement during their respective Regional Championship determines how they were allocated a spot at Nationals, the Official League Ranking of each team that was given a spot at Nationals will be used to determine seeding during pool play, as has been the standard for our Major Events.

Officials Certification Policy

There are two different levels of requirement for the number of certified officials a team should have for the National Championship. The levels are Minimum Certification Requirements and Full Certification Requirement. The full details of the requirements are given in the Games Officials Certification Policy.

If a team has not completed the Minimum Certification Requirements by the team registration deadline, they may NOT be permitted to register for the National Championship unless they present the Gameplay Department with concrete plans on how they intend to achieve the minimum requirement.

If a team has not achieved Full Certification Requirements by the team registration deadline, they must pay additional fees in order to register and attend the National Championship. For every missing official, the administered fee shall be the equivalent of their pay ($5 for ARs/SRs and $10 for HRs/Snitch Runners) multiplied by the minimum number of games played at the tournament in question. Exceptions will be made for new, small, and Francophone teams if those teams apply to receive one of these designations. These additional registration fees are refundable if, 4 weeks before the National tournament, the team contacts the Gameplay Department and receives approval of plans to complete the Full Certification Requirements two Mondays prior to the Quidditch Canada event in question.

Player Transfer Policy

Due to the nature of having a capped National Championship, Quidditch Canada anticipates the likelihood of player transfers occurring between teams. Please refer to the the Player Transfer Policy for a comprehensive overview of this process.

Submitted player transfer requests must include an “acceptable reason” for transferring, as per the policy guidelines. Approval of transfers are not automatic, and are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Gameplay and Membership Departments. The full list of acceptable reasons are given in the policy, but it should be noted that “serving on a roster for a team that does not intend to offer any opportunities to attend any major tournaments” including the National Championship is an acceptable reason to request a transfer. 

For teams looking to accept a player transfer onto their team it is important to remember that the number of incoming transfers permitted for a team will depend on the number of players that the team intends to register for the tournament. 75% of the team that is attending the National Championship must be comprised of “core” members. “Core” members are players who were registered for the team at the Regional Championship. Additionally, no more than 5 incoming transfers are permitted. Team transfers must be sent to the Gameplay department by January 27th to allow for the player transfer process to occur prior to the roster deadline.

Stay and Play Policy 

The stay and play policy serves to allow Quidditch Canada to provide substantial economic impact and leverage to obtain superior hotel rates for athletes.  With all teams travelling for this years Nationals Championship, it has been decided that the stay and play policy will be in effect for all teams (excluding Edmonton, as their team’s location resides inside the limits of the city).  The partnership hotel for this event will be Campus Towers at a rate of $157.18 (tax included) per 4 person room. Campus towers have also offered (on a first come, first serve basis) the option to add one cot per room for an additional $20 a night.

Teams must have their rooms booked by Monday, February 24th as Campus towers will be releasing the block following this date. Eligible teams will be contacted with specific instructions for how to access this rate. 

Early Departure Policy 

Teams are expected to stay for the duration of a Major Event as a show of sportsmanship, to facilitate games to be played by having an adequate number of volunteers, and to support the quick take down of the event. In order to participate in the National Championship, each attending team must submit a $250 cash or cheque refundable deposit to event staff at check-in. 5 members of the rostered team must stay for the closing ceremony and assist with event clean-up. Following clean up these 5 members must report to the tournament director in order to receive the full deposit back. 

If you have any questions regarding the gameplay policies for this season’s National Championship, please contact Gameplay Manager Kyle Ross at kyle.ross@quidditchcanada.com.