[HPforGrownups] Re: Quidditch World Cup - Irish vs English

[Lita Beck]

No: HPFGUIDX 97585

Carol, I snipped all of your excellent thoughts on history,
because I didn't really have anything to add, except to say
that I agree. :)

But I did have some thoughts on your comments about the
Irish Quidditch national team....

On Mon, 3 May 2004, justcarol67 wrote:

> As a tangentially related afterthought, the Irish National
> team we see in GoF may be a sort of all-star team composed
> of the best players from such local teams as the
> Ballycastle Bats or Kenmore Kestrels from both Northern
> Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, except that unlike
> American all-star baseball teams, it apparently operates
> as a permanent unit (as evidenced by the seamless
> interaction of the chasers, whose teamwork suggests
> extensive experience working together).

I'm not quite sure what you mean here. Are you familiar with
professional football (soccer)? I think that it's very
likely that professional Quidditch follows a set-up similar
to professional soccer. (I think the set-up is also
the same as rugby, but I know very little about rugby,
which I suppose outs me as an American, despite being a
European football fan. <g>)

In professional football, each country has its own national
team. These national teams compete on an international level
in competitions like the World Cup and Euro (the European
Championship for European teams) in addition to playing
"friendlies" (exhibition games).

In addition to this international play, the players on a
national team also play professionally for a club. The club
they play for may or may not be in their homeland--Thierry
Henry, for example, plays for the English club Arsenal
professionally and for his country (France) internationally.

While the national team is made up of the best players
(like MLB's All-Star teams), it is not a part of the
professional league. International play is in addition to
(and separate from) play at the club level.

So I think the Irish national team is probably made up of
the best Irish players--that is, the best players of Irish
nationality (at least some of whom probably play for clubs
outside of Britain). The set-up of Quidditch sounds very
familiar to me as a soccer fan. What we've heard so far--the
World Cup, the League Cup in the British league,
etc.--sounds so familiar, that I'm fairly certain JKR is
doing the same as she's done with the wizarding education
system. That is, she's taken familiar (British) Muggle
systems and added magic.

> Maybe the very best players can go there directly without
> "working their way up through the minors," to borrow an
> American expression. Krum, for example, made the Bulgarian
> national team while he was still in school and Charlie
> Weasley, according to McGonagall, "could have played for
> England," but I'm assuming their ability is exceptional.

In soccer, once you show exceptional ability, you're called
up to your national team. It's not unusual to be called up
at what Americans would probably think of as a young age
(20-23). But soccer players start out professionally at a
younger age than American pro athletes--you don't first play
at a collegiate level, then enter a draft to the pros. This
would be the case with Quidditch--players would start
playing professionally once they left school. I suspect that
playing school Quidditch would be considered the equivalent
of working your way up, as there is only one Quidditch
division in the British league. I think most people would
probably have to prove themselves at the pro level, too,
though, before being called up, just as happens in soccer.

Krum, I think, is supposed to be the example of the truly
exceptional--the kind of player who is so good that he gets
called up before he even truly proves himself
professionally. Wayne Rooney times five, I'm guessing.
(Rooney got his first cap for England when he was 17,
despite not being a regular starter for his club.)

Wow. That was pretty long-winded. :) Really, all I wanted to
say was that I think Quidditch parallels Muggle sport in the
same way that other parts of wizarding society seem similar
to Muggle practices.

Lita