From Baguettes to (quad)Balls:
An American’s experience at the European Quadball Cup
By: Josh Harkins
Photo by: Matus Zosak
Pure energy. That’s the closest words can get to describing the morning of Saturday, 15 March, at the Cambrils Park Resort breakfast buffet. Over an hour and a half, players, coaches, support staff, and officials of more than 50 teams from at least 14 countries moved through, each itching for the action to start. This year was the first in which Division 1 and 2 of the European Quadball Championship were held at the same location and time.
Back to breakfast, I chose a heaping helping of sugary, paper-thin pancakes and a mix of fried and scrambled eggs, accompanied by orange juice. Like all quadball tournaments, I was running on little sleep and a hastily scarfed breakfast, but my adrenaline carried me.
A brisk walk over to the competition area, a sportsplex with about a dozen fields, got us focused. A couple of JBL speakers got us hyped. Our first game, against the Twentse Thestrals of the Netherlands, was in the second slot of the tournament, meaning I had the chance to take in a couple of Division 1 matchups and learn my team’s huddle cheer. While I had been practicing with Les Olympiens, a top European Division 2 team, for about two and a half months, most of my teammates had played together since the pre-pandemic era. As such, I wanted to have the cheer down. Fortunately, it wasn’t too complicated, but as it is in French, I will spare you the details.
As far as gameplay goes, our group play games were relatively relaxed. We weathered the Twentse Thestrals 150*-80 and then the Milano Gators 150-60*, but the biggest test in our four-team pool came with the Aemona Argonauts, a team from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Their team consists largely of the Slovenian national team. They ran up a quick 40-0 lead until their best beater got two quick yellow cards for making ref calls and contact from behind, all in about a minute. In Europe, it only takes two yellow cards for a dismissal from the game. Without the same menacing beater talent, the game was considerably smoother. Though we only won by the snitch grab 140*-110, we felt and looked confident by the end.
After three wins in the group stage, we had some time off and a guaranteed spot in the quarterfinals. So, on behalf of the readers, I got to chatting with some folks. I met a kind German player with a Baltimore Ravens hat. As a Steelers fan, I wasn’t thrilled with the choice of attire, but any reference to American culture was positive, and I made a quick friend. Despite English’s role as the language of diplomacy in European quadball, I found it easier to chat with the French teams because I speak French. I had the most fun chatting with some players from Lyon (the Caracals), who lost all three group-stage matches but remained upbeat.
At this point in the program, I must appeal to all quadball teams on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean. We need better team names. Horntails, Flamingos, and Outlaws are good starts, but we can do better. At EQC 2024, I played against the Marauders, Argonauts, Thestrals, and Ghibellines. Secondly, we need some mascots in USQ and MLQ. The Caracals have a mascot, and while it is not an actual great cat, it added a certain je ne sais quoi factor to the event. Maybe the grass is always greener, but I’m convinced the Europeans win in these regards.
We closed out the day with a hard-fought game against the Munster Marauders. As this was a placement game and we wanted to save our legs for an anticipated semis or final rematch against them, the bottom of our roster got more playing time. So…I played a lot in that game. The Marauders got the best of us 100-180* thanks to some fine coordination between their beaters and chasers and all-around excellent beater play on their part.
Our first loss didn’t sit well with me, especially given I played for so much of it. I stuck around to watch another game but ended up practicing long-distance shots with my Olympiens teammate Samir. After throwing for a while, the tournament organizers told us very politely to get off the natural grass, so we started paying attention to the other games while Samir gave me a crash course on the history of French quadball until sunset. The all-inclusive massive buffet for dinner was quite nice. My plate was piled about 5 inches with food because I didn’t know if there would be an opportunity for seconds, and I received many looks of astonishment. Folks, half of the plate was a salad, it wasn’t actually that big.
The second day was intense. Our walk over to the fields was silent. We were in the zone. We played another placement game, this time a win against the Danube Direwolves of Vienna 130-50*. I played for maybe two or three minutes and went on a bit of a rampage during that time. Two fast-break stopping beats, regaining control, and I also badly skinned my right knee.
Our quarterfinal game against Siena was a comfortable win 130-90*, though not easy by any stretch of the imagination. I honestly don’t remember much of this game, so we move on to our date with destiny: Munster.
The hard work truly began as we again faced the Marauders, this time in the semifinals. We had a lot of time between Siena and Munster, so I enjoyed a wonderfully prepared pesto-veggie sandwich, thoughtfully prepared by some of our teammates. Shoutout to the Olympiens’ sandwich crew! It is at this point in the program that I say: before your tournament, just make a ton of sandwiches, you won’t regret it.
We trailed for much of the game, the pace seemed annoyingly slow. We started off with two goals and had a 20-10 lead, but eventually found ourselves 70-40 in the hole. Just after the tail was released, we had tied the game at 80 apiece. Two quick counterattacks from Munster meant we were down 100-80. What felt like mere seconds after a near-grab by our seeker, Côme, the Munster seeker made an impressive jumping grab all while tiptoeing to stay in bounds. Alas, the final score was a disappointing 80-130*.
There were few dry eyes in the post-match huddle. Even I, an American still struggling with the language barrier, was choked up. There were players with whom I had played at every practice and there were new faces at the tournament, but everyone gave it their all. The third-place game was forfeited by Cologne due to injuries, so we finished with bronze.
While we didn't get to leave it on the field, I felt very proud knowing that we finished as the best Division 2 team playing in the 3-max format–which means, excluding the seeker, we only ever had 3 players of the same gender identity on the pitch at a time.
My knees are still scabbed, I’m still disappointed we lost to Munster, I got really sunburned, and I almost missed my flight on Sunday night–ask me about it sometime, it’s not a bad story–but I’m still missing EQC 2024 in Salou. The magical cacophony of languages, the peculiar international brooms-up procedure, the incredible kindness of strangers from across a continent, and the cool ocean breeze will stay with me forever.
Olympiens! Olympiens! Olympiens! OOOOLYMPIENS!
Edited by: Tanner Bonheimer & Faith Edens
