Rulebook-20.pdf

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2020

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2017

October 23, 2021
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February 13, 2016
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International Quidditch Association collection of policies and key documents including our Constitution, Annual Reports, key department policies and minutes

Documents & Policies

The IQA and USQ are really excited to announce the dates for the IQA World Cup 2023! As previously announced, the IQA World Cup 2023 will take place in Richmond, Virginia (USA). We are delighted to be able to share with you now that the event will be taking place on the 15th - 16th, July, 2023. 

Luke Zak, IQA Events Director said: "We are so excited to continue working on the IQA World Cup! After having two amazing Continental Games, I'm certain that we will have a wonderful World Cup! We are also looking forward to working with USQ, who have played an amazing leadership role in the history of quadball."

Mary Kimball, US Quadball Executive Director said: "The US is very excited to finally be able to host the IQA World Cup next summer. We’ve been planning for this event since 2018 and to be able to welcome the international community to Richmond is an honor." 

More updates about the IQA World Cup 2023 will be released in the coming months. 

IQA World Cup Updates

This year, the IQA started a new process to update the rulebook.  As part of this new process, the Rules Team creates and debates proposals for changes to the IQA rulebook.  Their proposals are then released publicly and forwarded to the full Rules Committee made up of the Rules Team, NGB representatives from participating NGBs, and at-large rules committee members.

Last month, the Rules Teams Proposals were shared with the public. The rules committee has since discussed and debated the proposals in three phases.  

Major changes were automatically nominated for further debate.

The second phase consisted of further debating those proposals that were nominated for further debate.  There were 9 such proposals.  The rules committee could pass, block, or send the proposal back for further revision.  If neither passing or blocking received a majority of the vote, revision was declared the winner.

In the third phase, proposals that were sent back for revision were then revised and returned to the rules committee.  The committee then had an instant runoff vote of three options: the revised proposal, the original proposal, or blocking the change entirely.

Below are the results of the proposals featured in the original announcement.  A list of the results for all of the proposals, including the vote totals for the 9 proposals that were nominated for further debate can be found here.

The results of the committee process are being announced here.  The full rulebook text will be released in August.

Plastic shin guards will no longer be subject to the knock test.  This means that the more common hard plastic soccer shin guards will be allowed.

This proposal was revised during the committee process to specify that only plastic shin guards will get an exception to the knock test.  Carbon fiber shin guards, and items made of other materials, such as metal, shall not receive an exception.

Metal cleats are no longer strictly banned.  However, there are a few caveats and restrictions.  The cleats must not be sharp, and they are subject to additional shape restrictions.  These restrictions are in line with those found on cylindrical cleats in World Rugby.  Additionally, if an event occurs at a venue that doesn’t allow metal cleats, metal cleats will be treated as illegal for that event.

Expanded Bench Areas: Passed by Insufficient Objection

Event directors will have the option to extend the bench outside of the player area up to a total width of 7 meters, so long as this expanded bench area is restricted from spectators and others who are not allowed in the player area. Substitutes shall have full unrestricted access to this expanded bench area, providing players with a place outside the player area for their extra equipment, bags, and other items.  It is an optional expansion, which prevents this rule from expanding the area needed for a pitch when space is limited, but event directors are encouraged to expand the bench when the space is available.

Elimination of the Single Resetting Action Exception: Passed

When a single resetting action causes the quaffle to travel backwards across both restrictor lines, this shall count as two resets, and will result in a quaffle turnover.

20 Minute Seeker Floor: Passed by Insufficient Objection

The seeker floor will be extended to 20 minutes.

Extra Breaks During High Heat and Humidity: Passed with Revisions

When the heat index (a combination of the temperature and humidity levels) is predicted to be at or above 32 degrees celsius during any portion of an event, additional breaks will be required at 15 minutes into the game, and every 5 minutes after the seeker floor expires.  A table will be included in the rulebook appendices to show heat and humidity levels that trigger the rule.

This proposal was revised during the committee process to allow for a “feels like” temperature to be used when humidity data is not reasonably available to the event director.

Additionally, in the original announcement, the length of the breaks was incorrectly reported.  When this rule is activated, the break at 15 minutes will be 4 minutes long, and the remaining breaks will be two minutes long.

Contact From Behind After Coming to a Full Stop: Passed with Revisions

If a player comes to a full and complete stop (their feet are set, and all momentum towards their opponent is stopped) they shall have a limited exception from the contact from behind rules.  After setting their feet and stopping their forward momentum, they shall be allowed to lean towards or step towards their opponent to initiate contact from behind, but the contact must be initiated before the contacting player’s back foot is picked up or otherwise moves from where it was previously planted when their forward momentum was last stopped.  

This proposal was revised during the committee process to prevent this contact from behind exception from being used to contact a player who is not in possession of a ball.

Specific Rules on Beats to the Head: Passed by Insufficient Objection

Limitations on head beats are proposed penalizing beats to the head thrown from less than 5 meters away from the targeted player.  Not all such beats are restricted, as the player’s position, whether they have a ball, and whether the ball hits the front or back of the head are taken into account.

Stalled Quaffle Procedure: Passed by Insufficient Objection

If the quaffle is not significantly moving toward either set of hoops, and the quaffle is either possessed by a grounded player who is in contact with an opponent, OR the quaffle is jointly held by multiple players, and one of those players is grounded, the head referee shall start a 10 second count.  If the conditions last for 10 seconds, the quaffle will be declared stalled.  A stalled quaffle is treated as out of bounds at the nearest boundary point, and will be inbounded by the team that was on defense before the quaffle went to the ground.  This will generally occur without play being stopped.  There is a limited exception for giving it to the keeper of the receiving team instead in limited circumstances.

MAJOR CHANGES: The following two changes are considered “major changes.”  These changes were automatically nominated for further debate and were voted on.  Because this is not a “major change year” these must get the support of 75% of non-abstaining rules committee members to pass.  As with the above proposals, the vote totals for these proposals can be seen in the full list of changes.

Two Arm Wrapping and Tackling: Passed with Revisions

Players shall be allowed to use two arms when wrapping an opponent, including during tackles.

This proposal was revised during the committee process to add penalties to two actions. Initiating a push, body block, charge, or wrap after becoming dismounted will result in a yellow card.  A player who dismounts after initiating contact, who then adds force to their contact that knocks their opponent down shall receive a blue card.  Unlike current rules, there shall be no exceptions for players who dismount immediately prior to these actions.  This shall not change the rules around players who are beat just before or during contact.

Additionally, it should be clarified that this proposal shall make it legal to reach around an opponent to steal a ball while wrapping them with the other arm.

This proposal would have changed the gender rule so that each team could only have a maximum of three players of the same gender on the field at the same time when there was no seeker in play.

Rulebook Change Proposals Result

The IQA is excited to announce a few changes to its management. After discussions with NGBs about what they are looking for from the IQA, the IQA has implemented a number of changes that we believe will allow us to best serve our members.

Luke Zak will be taking on the position of Events Director. Luke was previously the IQA’s Deputy Events Director and led the IQA's planning of European Games and Pan-American Games and his experience with those tournaments and strong relationship with USQ leadership, our event partner for the 2023 IQA World Cup, will make him the ideal candidate to lead our events team moving forward.

Pauline Raes has decided to step down to Deputy Events Director. Pauline will be working to build a team to oversee the IQA event bidding process and to network with possible municipal partners to attract the strongest possible bids. With her great and broad experience with quidditch events, Pauline is the ideal match for this position. If you're interested in being a part of the IQA’s event bidding team, please email info@iqasport.org

Jamie Turbet has chosen to embrace a new challenge as the IQA’s Membership Director (a newly created position), after a successful stint as Communications Director. She will be leading several newly forming teams, such as a NGB liaison team, an expansion team and a resources team. If you are passionate about helping to grow the sport, please reach out at info@iqasport.org

Finally, Lore Flourite Badts will be taking on the position of Communications Director. After partially heading IQA European Games 2022, Lore has impressed IQA leadership with her dedication as a volunteer and we believe has all of the tools to succeed in this role.

The IQA has numerous vacant volunteer positions. If you are interested in learning more about getting involved with the IQA, please email info@iqasport.org to discuss how you can continue to push the sport forward.

IQA Announces Management Changes

The real-life sport inspired by the magical game of quidditch has announced a new name. 

The IQA will be joining US Quidditch (USQ) and Major League Quidditch (MLQ) in changing the name of the sport from "quidditch" to "quadball" on a worldwide basis.

“The IQA is very excited to be joining USQ and MLQ in changing the name of our sport and supporting this change across our members worldwide,” said Chris Lau, chair of the IQA Board of Trustees. “We are confident in this step and we look forward to all the new opportunities quadball will bring. This is an important moment in our sport’s history, and I personally am thrilled to be a part of it. I would also like to thank USQ and MLQ for working to make this happen, and in particular Mary Kimball for being a great partner to navigate these waters together.”

Quadball received strong support across demographic groups in various worldwide surveys. The name refers to both the number of balls and the number of positions in the real-life sport. 

The real-life sport was originally adapted from the Harry Potter book series in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont by Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe. It has since exploded in popularity around the world. The game is now played by nearly 600 teams in 40 countries.

In March 2022, the IQA announced the formation of a Name Change Committee and shortly thereafter, the Name Change Committee recommended that the name of the sport be changed.

The IQA made the decision to pursue the name change for two reasons. 

First, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, has increasingly come under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions. LGBTQ+ advocacy groups like GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign as well as the three lead actors in the Harry Potter film series have criticized her stances.

In addition, the sport inspired by quidditch is looking to continue to grow like other sports that have sprung from humble origins. The game commonly known as ultimate Frisbee has officially changed its name to ultimate, in part because “Frisbee” is a registered trademark of the Wham-O toy company that invented the piece of equipment.

“This is a tremendous development for the sport and represents an amazing opportunity for us to continue the incredible growth we’ve already seen over less than two decades,” said Andy Marmer, IQA Interim Chief of Staff and Chair of the IQA Name Change Committee. “I’m excited for the opportunities this will create and the potential for quadball to continue to grow into a mainstay of organized sports.”

USQ and MLQ will own the trademark for “quadball” in the United States and the IQA expects to enter into a license agreement to use the term. The trademark for “Quidditch” is owned by the Warner Bros. film and entertainment company.

The last international “quidditch” tournament will take place this weekend 23 and 24 July in Limerick, Ireland, as the IQA hosts the IQA European Games 2022, which will feature 20 teams from Europe, Australia and Hong Kong. The games can be followed live.

The IQA will work with its member national governing bodies on developing a timeline for adopting the new name following the European Games.

For any questions or media inquiries please contact: media@iqasport.org.