Hosting Practices
Hosting the first practice for a new time is both exciting and important to the team’s development.
Experienced quidditch players may want to jump straight to teaching the recruits advanced strategy, but with any new group of people, the first step is to teach everyone how to play the game. Explain briefly the quaffle, hoops, bludgers, snitch, and physical contact/safety rules. Then let the players play! You can correct them gently if and when they try something illegal, but the most important thing is to let them play and see how much fun quidditch is. After one or two pick-up games, you will find that your recruits are hooked.
Once you’ve got a few practices under your belt, explain some of the more advanced rules and strategies. Try to teach the team at least one new thing every practice, such as what the snitch runner is allowed to do, or how an alley-oop play will work. You can also integrate (fun) drills into your practice, such as a three-man weave or a beater one-on-one showdown. If you can mix the work in with the play, your team will develop quickly into a knowledgeable unit.
At least at first, you should not “require” practices. People respond best when given a choice, rather than a command. As such, make practice as enjoyable as possible, and people will want to participate. Once you have a solid group of veterans, you can incentivize practice by basing the roster on participation in practices.
Your team will start to form a group based on its practice habits. The players will become friends and start building chemistry together. However, in order to get good at quidditch, you will need to take your skills on the road and start playing other quidditch teams.
