3/30/2014 0 Comments Diamond In The Tuff: Ethan SturmEthan Sturm first played quidditch when his friends from high school put a team together to compete in World Cup 4. Originally, he went to New York planning only to watch the games - but he ended up playing for them because they were missing players. Ethan joined the Tufflepuffs in the Spring of 2012, right after World Cup 5, and the rest is history. Sturm's favorite thing about quidditch is the depth of the strategy due to the large number of positions and the interactions between them. Ethan's favorite quidditch memory is starting The Eighthman in the fall of 2012. The Eighthman is a quidditch media site designed to bring together elements of strategy and sports analysis. The Eighthman aims to improve discussion and analysis of quidditch and to highlight development across the sport. Ethan is the Editor-in-Chief for the Eighthman and hosts a podcast on the site with fellow Tufflepuff, Noah Schwartz. While it may seem impossible for Ethan to be involved in anything other than quidditch (or that he could take a picture without a derp face), this double Jumbo is currently in his second semester at Tufts Dental School. He wants to be a dentist because he's always been interested in the heath field, but found that the lifestyle of dentistry better suited his desires in life. His favorite classes at school tend to be the practical classes. He enjoys giving back to people, as he often replaces crowns for those who can't afford dental care. In terms of World Cup 7, Ethan is most looking forward to seeing who finishes on top. He believes that this year, the field is wide open and that there are quite a few teams who could win it all.
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Jordan Anderson decided to join quidditch after her friend, Matt Cardarelli joined their freshman year. He really enjoyed his experience and thought that the beater position was a perfect fit for Jordan's personality. Additionally, Jordan really missed sports as she had played basketball, volleyball and soccer in high school. Besides these reasons, Jordan's RA, Tufflepuff alumni David Meyers showed Jordan a million videos of Quidditch, and she thought it looked like fun. Jordan's favorite thing about playing quidditch is that she gets to peg people with dodgeballs. Her favorite memory playing is her beat against Emerson Quidditch's star keeper, David Fox. It was in her first tournament, and she managed to peg him. Tufts won that game, and it gave Jordan a taste of things to come. Jordan is also involved in numerous activities outside of quidditch. Most notably, Jordan is a key activist in the Challah For Hunger group at Tufts. Not only does this group raise money for a great cause, but it also appeals to Jordan's love of baking. Lucky for her team, this means that they sometimes get the leftovers of Jordan's many baking experiments. One of her goals in life is to be the most domestically knowledgeable feminist ever. She sews, bakes, embroiders, paints, and does far too many arts and crafts. Jordan's favorite sport is basketball (sorry quidditch), she feels most at home on the water, and she wants to become a pediatrician in order to reform development plans for developing countries in the hopes that they will become more focused on health. In terms of World Cup 7, Jordan is looking forward to seeing how other teams from other parts of the country play quidditch. And, of course, the Tufflecuddles. 3/26/2014 0 Comments Diamond In The Tuff: Noah SchwartzNoah Schwartz, like many others, joined quidditch by chance. He saw the team playing through his dorm window one Saturday and wanted to see if he could join them. That week, he saw a flyer hanging in his dorm for open practice, and decided to attend. Noah says that the sport looked so stupid and silly that he just had to try it! This freshman's favorite thing about quidditch is the fact that it's a relatively new sport, so there are many strategies that have yet to be discovered. He believes that the sport has so much potential to grow and he looks forward to contributing to this during his time at Tufts. He's already begun dabbling in quidditch analysis by starting, with the help of Ethan Sturm, "The Seeker Floor" - a podcast where he and Ethan discuss all things quidditch-related (Check it out here: http://www.eighthman.com/podcasts/). Noah's favorite memory playing quidditch has to be beating NYDC at Turtle Cup. He was so excited that he jumped about 5 feet in the air when BJ finally pulled the snitch to win the game! Not only has he begun to make a name for himself in the quidditch world, Noah has a strong background in many other sports. In high school, Noah was the captain of his football team, as well as the number one pitcher for their baseball team. Baseball and Football have been apart of Noah's life for as long as he can remember, since they greatly appeal his competitive side. Noah even tried competitive ballroom dancing at Tufts, where he was partners with fellow Tufflepuff, Madeleine Lebovic. But don't think this Spartan is all sports all the time, Noah says that he has a soft spot for cookie dough - chocolate chip cookie dough is his favorite ice cream flavor of all time (although he'd rather eat the cookie dough straight up). Noah is most looking forward to seeing the look on people's faces when they see the Tufflepuffs make the top four at World Cup 7! 3/25/2014 1 Comment Diamond In The Tuff: Emily HickmottEmily Hickmott joined quidditch her freshman year at Tufts after seeing a poster advertising for the annual Intro to Quidditch event and thought that it'd be a fun and nerdy thing to try. Emily's favorite thing about quidditch is the versatility of the game. She loves how it takes aspects from so many different sports and combines them into one unique sport. Em also loves the quidditch community as a whole; they have been very welcoming and friendly over the past year and a half and she looks forward to getting to know more quidkids over the years. Emily's favorite memory playing quidditch has to be the game Tufts played against Austin-Texas. During the game, she managed to tackle and take down one of their players. When Emily isn't smiling or giving "hugs", you might find her hugging a random dog, or cuddling with a cat. This native New-Mexican rode horses competitively for twelve years. She competed in three day eventing, which is a combination of dressage, show jumping and cross country. For those of you who aren't hard core horse jumpers, Emily says dressage is like ballet on horses, show jumping is when you jump your horse over fences that fall down very easily, and cross country can be described as galloping at high speeds over solid objects around a course. At Tufts, Emily has played club soccer for fun, as well as tried brazilian jiu jitsu. She really likes jiu jitsu because you get to try all the moves you learn and there is very little risk of being injured. In terms of World Cup 7, Emily is most excited to see all the friends she has made. 3/23/2014 0 Comments Diamond In The Tuff: Greg BentoThis past fall, Greg Bento decided to try out for quidditch as a sophomore because he missed playing team sports and because he was convinced by veteran Tufflepuffs, Max and Steve. Also, quidditch sounded like a fun sport that managed to maintain a level of competition that corresponded to Greg's competitive nature. Greg's favorite part of playing quidditch is when the seeker floor is finally up and he gets to start off pitch seeking. He says it's a great feeling to be released after watching the team play from the sidelines for the first portion of the game. This sophomore's favorite quidditch memory was the first time he caught a snitch... The whole team ran at him, screaming and yelling, and engulfed him in a giant hug. The feeling of euphoria he felt made it a moment he will never forget and cherish for the rest of his life. If you're ever looking for this sneaky seeker on the pitch, just keep an eye out for neon yellow, and very short shorts - Greg's signature look. Greg is a student manager at the Dewick-McPhee Dining Hall at Tufts, as well as a member of the Tufts Magic team. However, running is his passion. Greg started running in high school, where he eventually became captain of their three running teams - Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track. Today, Greg still competes in multiple road races a year, usually with some of his runner friends from High School. This past fall, Greg ran a marathon in Hartford and came in fourth in his age group! He is currently training to compete in his second Tough Mudder Tournament, which will take place shortly after World Cup. At World Cup 7, Greg looks forward to playing teams hasn't had the chance to play from all over the country. Maxwell originally thought that quidditch was lame and not worth his time. However, after being dragged to the first open tryout by some friends, he fell in love with the sport. There, Max found a group of people who are nerdy as he is and still love sports. This sophomore loves just playing in general since he was never a starting player in high school and usually found himself warming the bench. But, now he's found a game that he loves and is really good at. His favorite part of playing is slam dunking the quaffle through the hoops since it's super fun and gets everyone riled up and motivated to win. Last year, Max and two of his buddies started getting together to play music, and then they began to write their own stuff. Max is the bassist in this band, which is called "Not So Gentlemen" (check them out on Facebook!). He likes to play music because it makes him happy, and he hopes that his music can make other people happy too. Max is also an RA (freshman Tufflepuff, Madeleine Lebovic, is his resident), is a camp counselor, and loves to play kidditch at the Medford Boy's and Girl's Club. Next year, he plans to take a year off and teach underpriviledged kids somewhere in the US. In terms of World Cup 7, Max is most excited to throw down on the world stage and to do better than we did last year! 3/12/2014 0 Comments Diamond In The Tuff: Nora MuellerNora Mueller wasn't originally going to join quidditch but, luckily for us, she was convinced by two girls in her hall to attend open practice. There, she was told that if she attended two practices a week she could attend World Cup - which sounded like a pretty sweet deal to Nora. Additionally, the aggressive nature of quidditch appealed to Nora, who truly enjoyed tackling people. At her first practice, Nora tried out and played as a keeper. However, her teammates broke the news to her that, standing at 5'3'', she didn't fit the bill. Nora's favorite part of playing quidditch is when you're on the field as a beater and your teammate catches the snitch. As a beater, she says that you're pretty much the first person to see the catch, so the excitement is unparalleled. Although she is known on the field for her aggressive playing, Nora is actually a very graceful and delicate dancer. She started dancing at the age of three at her town's community center. One of her prouder moments was receiving her toe shoes in grade 7. Nora loves dancing point because it makes her legs look very long - something that short people often don't get to experience. In high school, Nora joined her studio's competition team and she loved the feeling of being on stage. She says that dancing in front of an audience makes her feel like nothing else matters - the rush of adrenaline as you walk onto the stage makes her truly believe that she can be whoever she wants. At Tufts, Nora is minoring in dance and finds herself choreographing a lot, which is a very new and exciting experience for her. At World Cup 7, Nora is looking forward to playing new teams, hanging out with the Tufflepuffs, and just generally having a blast. Madeleine joined quidditch because her RA, sophomore Tufflepuff Max Leonhardt, told her to come to the first open practice of the year. On top of Max's good influence, Madeleine's little sister pushed her to try out since she thought quidditch sounded cool. This freshman tufflepuff thinks it's awesome that most people who join quidditch don't have any prior experience so everyone learns together and starts out on the same page. Additionally, Madeleine thinks that the people on the Tufts Tournament team are pretty fantastic - so she's constantly looking forward to traveling to tournaments and spending time together as a tuffle-family. On top of her role as lady chaser, Madeleine likes being involved as much as possible in a broad spectrum of acitivities and groups. This tufflepuff plans on majoring in IR and taking as many languages as she can - she's currently taking German and Russian, and wants to explore languages like french, italian and chinese before graduating. Outside of the classroom, Madeleine likes to try crazy and outgoing activities - which is why quidditch is a good match for her. This year, Madeleine joined the Tufts Ballroom club and has been competing in competitions with them over the past two semesters. She also loves exploring the outdoors, and trying things that generally fly under the radar. For instance, Madeleine has done pole vaulting and trapezeing all in the past year! Madeleine is excited to play teams she knows nothing about at World Cup 7 and to just experience the whole event for the first time! Alan Bartels joined quidditch because he had a block of free time his first week at Tufts that, luckily for us, coincided with tryouts. Alan showed up and was initially caught by how different a sport it was from anything he had seen or played before. He was also surprised by how intense of a game it was, which greatly appealed to his aggressive style of play. This freshman beater loves the fact that people often think that quidditch is just a bunch of Harry Potter nerds running around on sticks, when, in actuality, it's a bunch of Harry Potter nerds who are incredibly athletic running around on sticks. Alan's favorite part of quidditch has to be the fact that it's such a dynamic game. There are multiple games going on at once - the quaffle play, the beater play and the seeker play - that cross paths and are their own entity at the same time. On top of that, the play never stops and you're never in a position where there's nothing you can do. Rather, it's what you should do that really matters, making quidditch an extremely strategical game. Alan is a biomedical engineer and boxes. He says that, other than quidditch, the most enjoyable part of Tufts so far has been bonding with his hall. Coming to tufts, Alan was worried about finding a group of people that he could rely on no matter what. His hall mates soothed this anxiety almost immediately. These incredible freshmen represent a huge range of people - coming from all over the world, including as far as Paris and as close as Massachusetts. This hall has their own intramural soccer team and often host their own Super-Smash Bro's and Fifa tournaments. These guys make Alan feel at home and are more than he could have ever asked for. Special shout out to his rommate Henry! In terms of World Cup, Alan is most looking forward to the experience of seeing the huge variety of people - from all over the world and from different sport backgrounds - coming together to play quidditch. He imagines that it will be a very unique experience that he would never get to experience otherwise... Who else gets to say that they spent a weekend in South Carolina playing quidditch at the World Cup?! Before coming to Tufts, McKenzie Welter played on a quidditch team that her friend started in high-school. While this team played mostly for fun and there was little strategy involved, McKenzie enjoyed beating people and decided to try out for the Tufflepuffs this past fall. McKenzie's favorite part of the game is seeker beating. She says that the rush she gets when the seeker is about to catch the snitch and you beat them, throwing them off their game, is absolutely incredible and indescribable. One of McKenzie's favorite pastimes is hiking and spending time outdoors. McKenzie was recently trained as a caretaker for the Tufts Mountain Club. This role requires her to facilitate people's stay at the Tufts lodge in New Hampshire; which entails cleaning, keeping the community enjoyable, and being prepared in case of an emergency. This position is very important to McKenzie because she believes the values of TMC embody how she feels about the outdoors. McKenzie's favorite part of the lodge is the atmosphere it produces - it's incredibly chill and promotes acceptance regardless of who you are. There, you don't have to worry about people judging you, and you get to know other people very well. This attitude is the epitome of McKenzie, who is known on the Tufts Quidditch team as an outgoing, laid-back and positive person. McKenzie is very excited to participate in her first World Cup this April. She is looking forward to seeing how other regions play, especially the teams from Texas who she's heard so much about over the past year! |
AuthorTufts University Tufflepuffs, catching snitches and wrecking pitches since 2009. CategoriesAll Diamond In The Tuff Fundraising New Kids On The Block Tufflepuffs In Summer Archives
July 2016
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