- Source: England national quadball team
The English national quadball team is the official national quadball team of England. The team, which is organised by QuadballUK, was founded in 2021 after the splitting of Team UK into separate teams for each of the individual Home Nations. They made their debut at the 2022 IQA European Games in Limerick, winning the tournament.
History
Previously Team UK represented all the countries of the United Kingdom at international tournaments organised by the International Quadball Association. Team UK was founded in 2012, making their debut at the Summer Games in Oxford. Their final tournament appearance was at the 2019 IQA European Games in Bamberg. In 2021, the decision was made to split Team UK into separate teams for England, Scotland (Team Scotland) and Wales (Team Wales). Players from Northern Ireland compete as part of an all-Ireland team with the Republic of Ireland organised by Quidditch Eire.
Competitive record
= Overview
== 2022 European Games
=Team England made their debut at the 2022 European Games held on 22–24 July in Limerick in Ireland, where they placed 1st of 20 teams. The team were placed into group D along with Scotland, Germany, Netherlands and Czech Republic for the group stage on day 1. They finished 2nd in the group below Germany after a 110–140* defeat in their match against them. In the match Germany caught the snitch from behind to even the scores and then went on to score the 3 extra goals required to reach the set score in overtime. During the knockout stage on day 2 they won against Poland, France and then Norway. The final was a rematch against Germany with England winning after catching while 30 points behind then successfully reaching the set score in overtime for a final score of 160*-140.
= 2023 WISE Cup
=The 2023 Wales-Ireland-Scotland-England (WISE) Cup was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, organised by Quadball Scotland. England first played Scotland, winning 220*-20. England then beat Wales 230*-10 and Ireland 210*-30. England's final game was an exhibition match against the Celtic Nations, a mix of the Scotland, Welsh and Irish national teams. England were victorious 230*-30. England finished 1st in the tournament: the inaugural champions of the WISE cup.
= 2023 World Cup
=The 2023 IQA Quadball World Cup was hosted in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and was Quadball England's World Cup debut. Seeded second, inheriting Team UKs ELO rating, England were placed in Pool B with France, Austria, Mexico and India. In game 1, England beat Austria 190*-40, followed by a set-score victory against Mexico 170–50*. England's highest-ranked opponents of the pool stages, France, were beaten 150*-40 with a second flag catch of the day by Reuben Thompson. In the final game of Pool B, postponed until day 2 due to weather delays, England beat India 220–100* to finish top of their group and second seed overall.
As second seed, England progressed directly to the quarter finals to play Canada. In a lengthy game further delayed by the weather, England ground out a result of 140*-60 thanks to a Jordan Aymer-Jeffrey flag catch. In a tight and tense semi-final against 2022 IQA European Games finalists Germany, England were denied the chance of a game-winning catch by Aymer-Jeffrey for "impeding the flag runner", allowing Germany to go on to catch the flag shortly after to win the game 50–100*. England were to face Belgium after their tightly-fought semi-final against the USA for 3rd place. In front of a large crowd, England lost 60–120* after a lengthy video review showed the Belgium seeker to have been beaten after the catch, and therefore the flag catch was called good.
Players
= IQA European Games 2022 (Limerick, Ireland)
=The squad for the 2022 IQA European Games was coached by Alice Walker and captained by Luke Twist.
= WISE Cup 2023 (Edinburgh, Scotland)
=The 2023 WISE Cup squad was coached by Seb Waters and captained by Andy Hull.
= IQA World Cup 2023 (Richmond, USA)
=The 2023 IQA World Cup squad was head coached by Alice Walker, with assistant coaches Matt Bateman, Simon Bidwell and Luke Twist and captained by Bill Orridge.
= IQA European Games 2024 (London, England)
=The 2024 IQA European Games squad was head coached by Seb Waters, with assistant coaches Matthew Bateman, Fraser Prosford, Carina Werner, Luckeciano Melo and Tristan Harris. The squad was captained by Alice Twist.
International Friendlies
= 2022 Italy Friendlies (Genoa, Italy)
=England travelled to Genoa to play Italy and Spain on 18th June. England began the day beating Italy B 140–50*, followed by defeating Spain 200*-20. England's final game saw defeat to Italy A 70–120*.
= 2023 Belgium Friendlies (Ghent, Belgium)
=To prepare for the 2023 IQA World Cup, England travelled to Ghent to play eight friendlies against Belgium, France, Germany, and Norway.
England first faced Norway on day 1, beating them 150–40*. Belgium then defeated England convincingly with a 30–170* scoreline. England improved to beat France 150*-50, only to fall short against Germany 70–120*.
Day 2 saw replays of the previous day. England again beat Norway with a scoreline of 130–60*, before beating Belgium 80*-70. England then lost both their final games against France (90–120*) and Germany (70–150*).
= 2023 Quadball Nations Cup (Salou, Spain)
=England entered the inaugural 2023 Quadball Nations Cup (QNations) with a development side due to limitations on team selection placed by the tournament organising committee. England were placed in group B with Basque Country, Catalonia, France, Italy and Spain. England began day 1 against Catalonia, winning 120-100*, and France, winning 160-80*. England then faced Basque country, losing 80-90*, before beating Spain 140*-130. The final game of Day 1 came against Italy, losing 40-70*. This placed Team England in a combined-table of 9th.
Day 2 started against 10th-placed Czech Republic, finishing 140*-0 in favour of England. This win progressed the team up the table to face Poland, again winning with a scoreline of 130*-50. In doing so, England were matched with Germany in an effective-quarter-final: the winner guaranteed to make the semi-final. In a close game, Germany were victorious with a 90*-60 score, knocking Team England out with a final position of 5th.
= 2024 Quadball Nations Cup (Salou, Spain)
=The 2nd edition of the Quadball Nations Cup placed a development England side, captained by Sam Senior, in Group A alongside Belgium, Catalonia, Norway and the United States. England first played Catalonia in a repeat from the previous year, finishing with a score of 180*-110. Belgium came next with a score of 160-100* in favour of England, before the crunch match of the United States where England lost 160*-200. The final game of the group was won by England against Norway with a score of 150-80* to place England 2nd in the group.
England entered the knockout stages, playing Canada in the round of 16. This finished with an England win of 140-90*, placing them against France in the quarter final. France edged the game as winners in a close-fought game with a flag catch to end the game at 40-80*. England played a series of placement games following this, ending with England in 5th place thanks to a 160*-50 win against Latin America and 120*-50 win against Australia.
See also
Quadball
QuadballUK
International Quadball Association
United Kingdom national quidditch team
Scotland national quadball team