The Bayou Quidditch League, authority over Quidditch in the southeastern United States, has modified its rules for play in front of Muggles. The following are these Muggle-modified rules. If you have any questions, please contact Tournament Manager Madeleine Defourneaux at help@thephoenixrises.org.

Teams | Equipment | Gameplay | Tournament Personnel | Tournament Advancement

Teams

• Number of Players and Reserves: To the extent that enough players sign up for the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic, each professional team will have 11 players: four Chasers, two Keepers, three Beaters and two Seekers. Each professional team will have at least seven players at all times: three Chasers, one Keeper, two Beaters and one Seeker. Any player may be designed a reserve by the team captain at any time.

  Amateur teams have a more flexible structure. House teams for L'Université des Arts Magiques may have as many players as the appropriate Head of House decides is suitable. Pick-up teams may have as many players as the Bayou Quidditch League officials decide is suitable.

• Player Positions
  

  • Chasers: Chasers are responsible for the bulk of scoring during Quidditch matches. Chasers will pass the Quaffle among them in an attempt to pass it through the other team's hoops.
    
    
  • Keepers: Keepers are responsible for guarding their designated hoops from opposing Chasers.
    
    
  • Beaters: Beaters are responsible for directing Bludgers toward members of the other teams, in an attempt to slow their progress or interfere with their play.
    
    
  • Seekers: Seekers are responsible for locating and capturing a variety of decoy Snitches, as well as the Golden Snitch. A Seeker's capture of the Golden Snitch ends the match.

• Captains: Each Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic team will elect a team captain, who will represent the team within the League and make team decisions during matches, including without limitation, player substitutions, time-outs and appeals of referee decisions. Each House team will be captained by its Head of House, or his or her designee. Each pick-up team will also elect a captain to serve for the duration of the match.

  Once captains for the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic have been determined, the Bayou Quidditch League will communicate with each team's captain instead of the entire team.

• Playing Time: Captains must play all team members at least five minutes during every match, unless the player waives this right. If a captain violates this requirement, League officials may strip him or her of the captain's position.

• Player Schedule Conflicts: The Bayou Quidditch League recognizes that both amateur and professional players may have schedule conflicts during the course of the tournament. Team captains may, in their sole discretion, excuse players for any or all team matches. The Bayou Quidditch League would like to point out to players that some team captains may be more understanding about this than others.

• Tournament Preferences: Players signing up for the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic will have the opportunity to specify position, teammate, name and number preferences during the registration process. The Bayou Quidditch League will make all possible attempts to accommodate all player preferences.

• Players' Draft: Once a sufficient number of players have registered for the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic, the Bayou Quidditch League will conduct one or more draft rounds to place players on teams. Players will be notified once this has occurred.

• Amateur Players: Players in the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic are prohibited from participating in House Quidditch for L'Université des Arts Magiques. Both professional players and House players are welcome to engage in pick-up Quidditch at any time. The Bayou Quidditch League suggests that players not engage in pick-up Quidditch during their team's tournament matches.

Teams | Equipment | Gameplay | Tournament Personnel | Tournament Advancement

Equipment

• Uniforms: Players in the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic will receive jerseys in the color of their team with (i) their team's mascot on the front, and (ii) the player's name and number on the back. Amateur players will not receive official uniforms, but will receive designations of team to wear during matches.

• Balls
  

  • Quaffle: The Quaffles will be small balls that players are able to hold in one hand. Tournament officials, reserve players, and others on the sidelines may retrieve Quaffles that have left the boundaries of the pitch. Quaffles that have been retrieved from outside the pitch boundaries must be given to (i) the defending Keeper, in the case of a missed shot, or (ii) a referee, in all other circumstances.
    
    
  • Bludgers: Bludgers will be balls that are 5-8" in diameter. Bludgers must remain on the ground at all times. Tournament officials, reserve players, and others on the sidelines may return Bludgers that have left the boundaries of the pitch; such returns shall be made on the ground and shall be made approximately where the ball left the pitch. Bludgers returned from out of bounds may not be directed toward any specific player.
    
    Any player who is struck by a Bludger, regardless of which team's player caused the strike, must stand still with their hands in the air for 10 seconds. Chasers struck by Bludgers must drop the Quaffle, if it is in their possession at the time of the strike. Bludgers striking players who are already standing still from a Bludger strike will have no effect.
    
    
  • Snitches: A variety of Snitches, gold and otherwise, will be used. Decoy Snitches will be any color other than gold; the Golden Snitch will be gold. Snitches will be enclosed in a piece of cloth in the Snitch Substitute's hand to prevent the Seekers from ascertaining which Snitch is currently in play. Once a Snitch, decoy or otherwise, has been chosen to enter play, that Snitch will remain the current Snitch until it has been captured; the Snitch Substitute may exit and re-enter the boundaries of the pitch, but neither another Snitch nor another Snitch Substitute may enter play until the current Snitch has been captured. Capture of the Golden Snitch will end the game.

• Beaters' Bats: Beaters' Bats will be padded field hockey sticks.

• Hoops: Each end of the pitch will have three hoops raised above the field of play. The hoops will be of varying heights, and each hoop will be 3-7' off the ground.

• Pitch: As the Bayou Quidditch League's early years involved much play in and among the cypress trees of the swamps, the League has never standardized a pitch size. Pitches will be 50-75' wide and 66-100' long. The ratio of pitch width to length will always be 3-to-4. The League has managed to keep that constant. Each end of the pitch will have a Keeper's Box that will be 6-8' wide and will run the width of the pitch.

  Spectators must, at all times, stay 10 feet or more from the sidelines of any given pitch. Reserve players, tournament officials, and anyone else involved in the game who has signed a liability waiver may enter this 10-foot zone.

• Weather: As is traditional, the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic and its related amateur events will be played regardless of the weather. Players are advised to prepare for sun, humidity, wind, rain, heat, cold and the occasional swarm of locusts, as happened during the 1923 Classic.

• Liability Waivers: All players, whether professional or amateur, will be required to sign a liability waiver prior to taking the pitch. Those players under 18 years of age must have their liability waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian; chaperones may not sign liability waivers. The liability waivers are located here.

Teams | Equipment | Gameplay | Tournament Personnel | Tournament Advancement

Tournament Personnel

• Managers
  

  • Tournament Manager: The Tournament Manager is responsible for all aspects of the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic, and related amateur play, that occur off the pitch, including the players' draft, liaising with team owners and maintaining the schedule. The Tournament Manager shall have no authority over gameplay, equipment, referees, or the outcome of the matches. The Tournament Manager does, however, have the authority to eject players from Quidditch play, Phoenix Rising or both for reckless disregard for the safety of others.
    
    
  • Gameplay Manager: The Gameplay Manager is responsible for all aspects of the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic, and related amateur play, that occur on the pitch, including referees, Snitch Substitutes, rules enforcement and equipment. The Gameplay Manager has the authority to interpret the rules, and to overrule referees, though players should realize that the Gameplay Manager has not authorized the implementation of instant replay, so appealing referees' decisions may be a somewhat risky enterprise.
    
    
  • Referees: Each game will be staffed by 1-3 referees, in the sole discretion of the Gameplay Manager. The referees will apply the Bayou Quidditch League's rules to all professional and amateur play, including administering jump balls and out-of-bounds Quaffles, penalties and fouls, and time-outs. Referees decisions may be appealed to the Gameplay Manager, though each team shall only have one appeal per match; otherwise, referees' decisions are final, binding and not subject to appeal.
    
    
  • Snitch Substitutes: Each game will have 1-3 Snitch Substitutes, in the sole discretion of the Gameplay Manager. Each Snitch Substitute will carry a piece of cloth with which he or she will enclose the Snitch while that Snitch is in play. Starting 15 minutes into each match, the Snitch Substitutes will choose Snitches at random from the assortment of decoy and Golden Snitches, one of which will be the current Snitch for purposes of gameplay. The Snitch Substitute who holds the current Snitch will enter the pitch from the sidelines and attempt to evade the Seekers while traversing the pitch to another sideline. When the Snitch Substitute exits the pitch, the Seeker must cease pursuit. Once the current Snitch has been captured, provided it was not the Golden Snitch, a new current Snitch will be chosen. Current Snitches will be chosen at random, regardless of which Snitch Substitute holds them; in other words, a Snitch Substitute may hold the current Snitch several times in a row. Snitch Substitutes will not provide any team with an advantage of any kind, and will take all possible care to prevent injury to players.
  
  

Teams | Equipment | Gameplay | Tournament Personnel | Tournament Advancement

Gameplay

• General
  

  • Time-outs: Each team shall receive two three-minute time-outs per match. Only team captains may call a time-out. Should the referees feel a match has gone on an unusual amount of time, in no case less than 45 minutes, the referees may award additional time-outs or may call breaks in gameplay.
    
    
  • Appeals of Referee Decisions: Each team, in the sole discretion of its captain, is allowed one appeal of a referee decision per match. The appeal shall be made by the captain's calling time-out. The team captain shall discuss the appeal with the Gameplay Manager, who shall make a final and binding decision. Players should note that the Gameplay Manager has not authorized the use of instant replay; because the Gameplay Manager may not have seen the play leading to the decision in question, team captains should perhaps save these appeals for clarifications of the rules or other decisions that the Gameplay Manager need not have seen the play on the pitch to determine.
    
    
  • Player Substitutions: Team captains may substitute any active player for a reserve player at any time, so long as the active player has left the pitch before the reserve player enters it.
    
    
  • Position Substitutions: Team captains may change players' positions at any time, though each position substitution needs to be approved by a referee.

• Positions
  

  • Chasers:
    
    • Each game will start with a jump ball between to Chasers in the middle of the field, much like Muggle basketball.
    • Chasers must maintain one foot planted at all times when holding the Quaffle. Chasers may move at will when not holding the Quaffle, unless struck by a Bludger. When passing the Quaffle, Chasers must attempt to transfer it to another Chaser on his or her team; Chasers may not bounce Quaffles off other players, roll the Quaffle and then pick it up again, or attempt other maneuvers designed to circumvent the planted foot rule. Chasers may retrieve the Quaffle after legitimately blocked passes.
    • Chasers must stay a minimum of five feet from the other Chasers on their team.
    • Chasers may pass the Quaffle by any method they choose, including without limitation, throwing, tossing underhand, bouncing or rolling. Quaffles must be passed by hand; kicking the Quaffle is not allowed.
    • Other players may not attempt to steal a Quaffle while a Chaser is holding it.
    • If a Chaser causes the Quaffle to leave the boundaries of the pitch, the Quaffle will be turned over to a Chaser of the other team at the place where it left the pitch. Gameplay will not halt while the Quaffle is retrieved and reenters the pitch.
    • Following a successful score, the referees will restart play with another jump ball between Chasers in the center of the pitch.
    • Chasers must stay within the boundaries of the pitch while they are active.
    • Chasers may not enter the Keeper's box, unless and until the Keeper has left his or her Keeper's box.
    
    
  • Keepers:
    
    • The Keeper will block Chasers' Quaffle shots from going through the hoops.
    • The Keeper may move while carrying the Quaffle.
    • The Keeper may roam the pitch freely.
    • While the Keeper is in his or her Keeper's box, no other player may enter; if the Keeper chooses to leave his or her Keeper's box, the opposing team's Chasers may enter the Keeper's box.
    • Following missed shots, the Quaffle will be retrieved by or given to the defending Keeper, who may then pass the Quaffle to his or her team's Chasers.
    
    
  • Beaters:
    
    • Beaters will each carry a Beater's Bat.
    • Beaters will strike the Bludgers with the Beater's Bat. No other method of propelling the Bludgers is permitted.
    • Bludgers must remain on the ground at all times.
    • Beaters' Bats must remain below waist level of the average player at all times. Beaters must take all necessary precautions to avoid striking other players with the Beaters' Bats.
    
    
  • Seekers:
    
    • Each Seeker must chase down the Snitch Substitutes.
    • To capture a Snitch, the Seeker must grab the piece of cloth hiding the Snitch.
    • The Seeker must take all necessary precautions to avoid injuring the Snitch Substitutes.

• Scoring
  

  • Quaffles: Passing the Quaffle through a hoop scores 10 points. Only Chasers are permitted to attempt to score, though purely accidental scores caused by other players will be counted. Chasers are encouraged to pass the Quaffle through the opposing team's hoops; regardless of which team's player caused the score, any Quaffle that goes through a team's hoop is worth 10 points.
    
    
  • Snitches: Catching a decoy Snitch is worth 10 points. Catching the Golden Snitch is worth 50 points, and halts the match.

• Fouls and Penalties
  

  The referees have sole authority to call penalties fouls and award penalties. Penalties and fouls may be appealed to the Gameplay Manager like any other referee decision.

  Fouls include: (i) more than incidental contact of any kind during play, (ii) Beaters raising the Beaters' Bats above the average player's waist; (iii) Beaters' causing the Bludger to leave the ground; (iv) not stopping for 10 seconds when struck by a Bludger; (v) entering the Keeper's box while the Keeper is in it; and (vi) so forth.

  Referees, in their sole discretion, may determine the appropriate penalty for any given foul. In most circumstances, a penalty will consist of one minute on the sidelines for the player who caused the foul. Repeat offenders and those causing particularly severe fouls, however, may be subject to harsher penalties, up to and including expulsion from Quidditch and Phoenix Rising.

  Captains may not substitute for players serving penalties during the current match, even if a player has been removed from the match entirely due to a penalty. Captains may replace players at the start of a new match, if a penalty is still in effect.

  As is traditional in Bayou Quidditch League play, any team responsible for either a ball or a player falling in the Mississippi River will be summarily disqualified. The Bayou Quidditch League suggests that players familiarize themselves with the Mississippi River, so they can recognize and avoid it.

Teams | Equipment | Gameplay | Tournament Personnel | Tournament Advancement

Tournament Advancement

• Structure of Tournament: Provided a sufficient number of players choose to participate, the Borders Riverside Quidditch Classic will field sixteen teams. Four groups of four teams will comprise the first round of play, during which each team will play the other three teams in its group.

• Advancement from Groups: The two teams with the best records will advance from each group into the quarterfinals. If two teams in one group have an equal number of wins in group play, the team with the best ratio of (i) points scored to (ii) points scored against will advance. Should two teams in one group have an equal ratio of (i) points scored to (ii) points scored against, the team that caught the Golden Snitch when the two equal teams played each other shall advance.

• Advancement in Final Rounds: The winning team shall advance in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

• Prize: The Delta Cup will be awarded to the victorious team. The team's owner will receive the Delta Cup, and each player on the team shall receive a smaller trophy.

Teams | Equipment | Gameplay | Tournament Personnel | Tournament Advancement