Meet the IQA

Alberto Coronado Lopez-Aguado

Texas, USA
Trustee

Joined the quidditch community: 2014
Joined the IQA: 2017
Alberto speaks: English & Spanish

Alberto is an aspiring chef within the Fort Worth, Texas area. Alberto spends their spare time traveling and tamale making. Alberto's travels range from driving long haul trailers across the US to flying overseas for quidditch training.

Fun Fact: Alberto has hosted 3500+ hours of Dungeons and Dragons games as a Dungeon Master since Alberto picked up the hobby in College Station.

Betsy Lewin-Leigh

London, England
Trustee / Co-Secretary / Chief of Staff

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2017
Betsy speaks: English

Betsy plays for Oxford Mammoths Community Team and has volunteered for many quidditch organisations over the years. When she isn't working or volunteering for quidditch she can be found playing D&D, looking after horses, cooking, or at the theatre.

Fun Fact: Betsy has two guinea pigs called Michael and Jeremy.

Borja Arbosa

Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Trustee / Treasurer

Joined the quidditch community: 2016
Joined the IQA: 2020
Borja speaks: English & Spanish

A lawyer since 2014, Borja has been organizing associations and legal structures for the management of the sport since he began.

Fun Fact: I'm a sort of "orchestra man" in Quidditch. I would say that I have been in almost every possible role or position this sport could have.

Chris Lau

Hong Kong
Trustee

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2018
Chris speaks: English & Cantonese

Chris Lau is a student who currently lives in Cambridge but is domiciled in Hong Kong. Chris has been involved in the quidditch community since 2015.

Italia Valera

Querétaro, México
Trustee

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2021
Italia speaks: English & Spanish

Designer by profession, teacher by choice, coach by vocation, entrepreneur by conviction. Super tenacious to fulfill all of the above.

Fun Fact: Italia has synesthesia (it's not a disease, promise!) actually, it's kind of amusing.

Kym Couch

USA
Trustee

Joined the quidditch community: 2012
Joined the IQA: 2019
Kym speaks: English & American Sign Langauge

Kym is a Trustee who has been involved in the quidditch community as an organizer, referee, and very bad player since 2012. Kym lives in Boise, Idaho but happily uses every quidditch opportunity she can to travel.

Fun Fact: Kym has over 50 animals including 2 dogs, 6 chickens, a turtle, a bearded dragon, a ball python, and an unknown number of fish, snails, and shrimp.

Pauline Raes

Oostende, Belgium
Trustee / Co-Secretary / Director, Events & Membership Services

Joined the quidditch community: 2014
Joined the IQA: 2015
Pauline speaks: English, Dutch, & French

Pauline lives in Oostende, Belgium and has volunteered in various positions both in and outside of the IQA. In her spare time, she loves walks on the beach with the dogs, reading books, watching tv shows, and spending time with friends.

Fun Fact: Pauline made and executed a stage play for charity with friends when they were 17.

Rahel Liviero

Switzerland
Trustee / Chair / Chief of Staff

Joined the quidditch community: 2017
Joined the IQA: 2018
Rahel speaks: English, Swiss-German, & German

Rahel Liviero is the current IQA Chair of the Board of Trustees as well as the Vice-president of the Swiss NGB. Apart from quidditch volunteering, Rahel likes to read, travel or cuddling the cats.

Fun Fact: Rahel likes to colour coordinate bookshelves - which are pretty to look at but very frustrating if you are looking for a book.

Toni Zimpel

Essen, Germany
Trustee / Vice-Chair

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2021
Betsy speaks: English & German

Toni likes to play video games, board games, and spend time with friends.

Fun Fact: Toni is a broadcast engineer in a eSports-Broadcasting company which wouldn't have been possible without quidditch and Ruhr Phoenix TV.

Alex Benepe

Los Angeles, California, USA
Ex-Officio Trustee

Joined the quidditch community: 2005
Joined the IQA: 2005
Alex speaks: English

Alex co-founded the IQA and US Quidditch and helped Xander Manshel develop the original rules to real-life quidditch in 2005. He has served as a board member for both organizations, as well as USA Dodgeball. Alex is currently the Vice President of Innovation for CircusTrix, parent company of Sky Zone and other active entertainment brands.

Fun Fact: If you thought inventing quidditch was the nerdiest thing Alex has done you would be mistaken – he also builds and paints Warhammer models.

Jamie Turbet

Canberra, Australia
Director, Communications & Technology

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2021
Jamie speaks: English

Jamie has been playing quidditch since 2015 when she joined the ANU Owls as a beater. She's volunteered at a club and national level in many roles since 2016. When Jamie is not busy volunteering she can be found dancing at her local studio and going for a hike at the local mountains.

Fun Fact: Not only have I played quidditch, I competed at the 2017 national jugger tournament in Canberra and my team did surprisingly well.

Dec Ramsay

UK / Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Deputy Director, Communications & Technology

Joined the quidditch community: 2017
Joined the IQA: 2021
Dec speaks: English

Dec is a player for London Quidditch Club and Quidditch New Zealand. He is a Web Engineer and has built many websites (including this one!)

Fun Fact: Dec completed 2 National Tours of New Zealand playing his own music in 2015 & 2016.

Joke Daems

Gent, Belgium
Translation Manager

Joined the quidditch community: 2014
Joined the IQA: 2017
Joke speaks: English & Dutch

Joke is the kind of person that likes to make the impossible possible. When not busy running fantasy tournaments or inventing international music competitions, they can be found learning about translation, language, and inclusivity. They're enthusiastic, driven, and always looking for growth.

Fun Fact: Joke has read all 41 Discworld novels.

Eli Scorrano

Brescia, Italy
Social Media & Community Engagement Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2019
Eli speaks: English & Italian

Eli is an art student, scout chief, and quidditch player (and volunteer). All these three things take a lot of time and make Eli's schedule really busy, but she is too stubborn and will make sure everything goes according to plan. In her free time she enjoys her favourite type of arts; comics and animation.

Fun Fact: Cyclically I have to arrange my library according to the ongoing comic series that I buy.

Arylu Navone Sarubbi

Rosario, Argentina
Social Media & Community Engagement Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2014
Joined the IQA: 2020
Arylu speaks: English & Spanish

Arylu is a very active and passionate person. When she is not working, she loves to spend time writing stories, reading any book she gets, using social media, making cosplay, traveling, playing sports, hanging out with friends, or learning something new. Arylu and some friends developed the first potterhead podcast in Argentina and they are already on season 3!

Fun Fact: I love ice cream!

Brenda Flores

Lima, Perú
Social Media & Community Engagement Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2016
Joined the IQA: 2021
Brenda speaks: English & Spanish

Brenda is an interior designer and mother of two. She loves design, her partner, and her quidditch team The Black Basilisks, and helping people whenever she can.

Fun Fact: Brenda used to not like sports but loves promoting quidditch.

Eva Baisan

Tucson, Arizona, USA
Editorial Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2018
Joined the IQA: 2021
Eva speaks: English, Spanish, & Japanese

Eva Baisan is a language teacher and master's student who lives in Colorado. Outside of her studies, she spends her time creating, playing around with acro-yoga, and sitting in the sun.

Fun Fact: Every spring after the first rain, Eva enjoys collecting chicatana ants off her roof to make salsa with.

Jaelithe Swan

South England
Editorial Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2017
Joined the IQA: 2021
Jaelithe speaks: English

Jaelithe grew up in England on the South Coast and discovered quidditch at university.

Fun Fact: I worked on a husky farm in winter 2014, looking after roughly 200 dogs and running sledding trips in Lapland.

Junia Amanti

Siena, Italy
Italian Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2013
Joined the IQA: 2018
Junia speaks: English & Italian

Junia Amanti is a quidditch player from Italy. She is a Communication student and has been a volunteer in the quidditch community since 2015. When she’s not dealing with quidditch-related work she likes to cook, hang out with friends, and take care of her cat!

Fun Fact: Junia has a cute cat called Coco who always keeps her company while she does her quidditch tasks.

Jannis Grimm

Volketswil, Zürich, Switzerland
German Translator Team Lead

Joined the quidditch community: 2018
Joined the IQA: 2018
Jannis speaks: English & German

Jannis Grimm lives near Zürich and loves volunteering at different quidditch levels, being goal judge in tournament finals, as well as board games, cats, and live event video directing at his church and for musicals. In his free time, he works as a Software Engineer, making smartphone apps at a large company.

Fun Fact: When helping to test the IQA referee website, I did over a dozen referee tests in one weekend to find the reason for an issue. At least I got quite efficient after a while.

Jessy Pabst

Schalksmühle, Germany
German Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2016
Joined the IQA: 2018
Jessy speaks: English & German

Jessy loves everything that is colourful and fun. They like to try out crazy things so quidditch is perfect for them.

Fun Fact: Jessy unicycles in the mountains.

Severin Wyss

Basel, Switzerland
German Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2017
Joined the IQA: 2019
Severin speaks: English & German

Severin just successfully completed the trial phase of their job after having achived a Masters Degree in Computer Science this Winter. Besides quidditch, they go for jogs or like to bike. Inside they love to play games and cook. They were at most international tournaments where Switzerland had a slot, referees and coached both their local team and helped with the national team as well.

Magdalena Koschmieder

Neuburg/Donau, Germany
German Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2019
Joined the IQA: 2020
Magdalena speaks: English & German

Magdalena is a Geography student currently living in Eichstaett (Germany). Magdalena likes hiking, biking, skiing, playing the trumpet, reading and travelling.

Fun Fact: I don't know any...

Olivia Norman

Hitchin, England
German Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2019
Joined the IQA: 2021
Olivia speaks: English & German

Having just finished their undergraduate degree at Oxford Brookes studying Biological Science, Olivia enjoys playing quidditch, tag rugby and has recently begun rock climbing. Olivia also love to read, bake, play the piano and hang out with friends.

Fun Fact: I can ride a unicycle.

Anouk Nyfeler

Basel, Switzerland
German Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2019
Joined the IQA: 2020
Anouk speaks: English & German

Anouk likes to solve all kinds of puzzles and to learn new skills.

Fun Fact: Sometimes I give names to spiders

Gabriel Villas Bôas

São Paulo, Brazil
Brazilian Portuguese Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2017
Joined the IQA: 2020
Gabriel speaks: English & Portuguese

Gabriel loves to practice quidditch with their friends, go out with them and play video games.

Fun Fact: Gabriel played the 2018 Quidditch World Cup with blue hair, for Team Brazil.

Marc Alcalà-i-Rams

Granollers, Catalonia
Catalan Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2016
Joined the IQA: 2017
Marc speaks: English & Catalan

Marc Alcalà-i-Rams is a quidditch player from Catalonia. As a sociologist, Marc is interested in the protection of languages and cultures. Outside university Marc also enjoys comic books, coffee, and chatting.

Fun Fact: Marc used to read dinosaur encyclopedias as a hobby before high school.

Andrés Carballosa

Lugo, Galicia, Spain
Spanish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2020
Andrés speaks: English, Galician, & Spanish

Andrés Carballosa is a teacher who lives in Lugo. Not only that, but a full-time quidditch lover and semi-amateur translator too!

Fun Fact: Andrés would like to be a great writer someday!

Desire Torres

Arequipa, Perú
Spanish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2019
Joined the IQA: 2020
Desire speaks: English & Spanish

Desire Torres is a sports nutritionist who lives in Cusco Perú. When she is not working she loves to play quidditch, to run and to catch all Pokemons she is able to.

Fun Fact: I love beer as much as I love sports.

Lucas Szykula

Argentina
Spanish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2021
Lucas speaks: English & Spanish

Lucas is a Seeker and Chaser from Argentina. Their hobbies include cooking, playing the piano (still learning), sports, reading and writing. They love travelling abroad, learning, and experiencing new things.

Fun Fact: The chipás I bake(a type of cheese bread) are quite famous amongst my community.

Sasha Ribayrol

Paris, France
French Translator Team Lead

Joined the quidditch community: 2016
Joined the IQA:Joined the IQA: 2018
Sasha speaks: English & French

Sasha is a trans parisian french girl who spends her time on the internet, playing videogames (sometimes with friends), helping homeless people with an association, doing memes. She plays mostly chaser but enjoys any position. She's in the Olympiens Paris Quidditch team.

Fun Fact: She started quidditch with the famous 4 times European champions Paris Titans, but never got to play (and win) any official competition with them. They won Barcelona Moustache Time 3 and 5 though!

Merve Türkyılmaz

Turkey
Turkish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2019
Joined the IQA: 2020
Merve speaks: English & Turkish

Merve is an English literature student who, at the age of 16, is sucked into the madness of quidditch, from which she will never recover. She enjoys knitting, fiction podcasts, giggling hysterically, chicken live streams and playing tabletop RPGs. You can find her singing sea shanties or talking to herself at any given time. My advice? Try to avoid eye contact and start walking in the opposite direction.

Fun Fact: As a very predictable twist, I was the villain all along...

Yunus Kerem Özbek

Akyaka, Turkey
Turkish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2016
Joined the IQA: 2021
Yunus speaks: English, French & Turkish

Yunus has been playing quidditch since 2016, they fell in love with the game the moment they saw it. They remember telling themselves "This is the weirdest sport I've seen so far. I must play this" Ever since it's been one of the most important things in my life. They are living their life as a second-hand bookseller and a student that's preparing to get into university. Their favourite hobby besides quidditch is Fantasy Role Playing (FRP).

Mert Özateş

Aydın, Turkey
Turkish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2021
Mert speaks: English & Turkish

Mert is a PhD student at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. They are a chess player and a quidditch player, these are their main passions.

Fun Fact: Their special skill is remembering literally irrelevant details about Quidditch matches.

Serenay Akgün

Balıkesir, Turkey
Turkish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2019
Joined the IQA: 2021
Serenay speaks: English & Turkish

Serenay is a girl living in Turkey. She thinks life is a sum of experiences, and she tries to be open to new adventures.

Fun Fact: In middle school, Serenay was trying to collect the Turkish coins produced every year after 2000.

Melisko Ercan

Ankara, Turkey
Turkish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2018
Joined the IQA: 2021
Melisko speaks: English & Turkish

Melisko is a university student who lives in Ankara, Turkey. They love painting and reading a lot, and likes watching or playing any kind of sports.

Fun Fact: Melisko cannot figure their right and left. It took time for them to understand.

Burak Başdağ

Muğla, Turkey
Turkish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2021
Joined the IQA: 2019
Burak speaks: English & Turkish

Burak loves pandas and snitches.

Fun Fact: Pandas love to hug when they are sad.

Berke Vatansever

Yalova, Turkey
Turkish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2019
Joined the IQA: 2021
Berke speaks: English & Turkish

Berke vatansever is a boy who grew up with basketball, then the quidditch came into his life.

Benan Emre

Kocaeli, Turkey
Turkish Translator

Joined the quidditch community: 2016
Joined the IQA: 2021
Benan speaks: English & Turkish

Benan lives in Ankara. They have played for Unicorns Quidditch for almost 5 years. They are also studying Industrial Design at METU.

Fun Fact: Their catchphrase is Boom

Michael Clark-Polner

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Rules Team Lead

Joined the quidditch community: 2011
Joined the IQA: 2018
Michael speaks: English

Michael Clark-Polner is a decision support analyst and travel concierge who lives in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in the United States. In his free time away from quidditch he enjoys officiating other sports, particularly American football.

Fun Fact: As children, both he and his wife appeared on children's television shows on the same network, long before they met (Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and Reading Rainbow respectively).

Steve Cockram

St Helens, England
Officials Development Team Manager

Joined the quidditch community: 2015
Joined the IQA: 2015
Steve speaks: English & French

Steve is a chef and a referee who lives just outside of Liverpool and Manchester. He referees 4 different sports and when not at work or refereeing matches, he either relaxes with games or sleep!

Fun Fact: He was offered a professional footballing contract when he was 16. He was a signature away from being on the FIFA video games.

Hugo Petit-Jean

Paris, France
Rules Team Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2017
Joined the IQA: 2020
Hugo speaks: English, French, & Italian

Hugo is a student in public administration seeking to work in sport administration. They love quidditch and want to see this sport grow and develop.

Arkady English

England
Rules Team Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2017
Joined the IQA: 2019
Arkady speaks: English

Arkady is a programmer and musician who also likes to dabble in chess, acting, video games and writing. He even occasionally finds time to play quidditch.

Fun Fact: I'm pretty sure I've done most of the performing arts in front of an audience at some point in my life.

Nick Weir

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Rules Team Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2014
Joined the IQA: 2020
Nick speaks: English

Nick is a student, employee, or couch potato in Pittsburgh, depending on when exactly you ask.

Fun Fact: "I play quidditch" is my go to fun fact.

Amel Sadiković

Vienna, Austria
Rules Team Volunteer

Joined the quidditch community: 2018
Joined the IQA: 2020
Amel speaks: English, German, & Bosnian

Amel plays for and coaches the Vienna Vanguards in Austria, Europe. He is currently attending law school and works in refugee law. Outside of the office and off the pitch, he watches way too much quidditch film.

Fun Fact: He listens to music at least 5 hours a day.