MLQ is pleased to announce the MLQ Divisional Games will return to the 2019 MLQ Championship.
The purpose of the MLQ Divisional Games is to continue our tradition of innovation on our main stage. Thus, we will continue to introduce and playtest new rulesets (to be announced by Aug. 2), while also welcoming a new participant: the Southeast.
The winning team of Minor League Quidditch will participate in the MLQ Divisional Games at the 2019 MLQ Championship under the Southeast banner.
“We are absolutely elated to take on the major league and show just what we can bring to the table. Hopefully we’ll be able to grow this relationship in the future to ensure the growth and availability of our sport,” said Minor League Quidditch Commissioner Ryan Davis.
The division’s addition to the games is the fruition of discussions with Davis and the desire of athletes in the Southeastern part of the U.S. to compete in MLQ.
“The players and leaders in Minor League Quidditch have expressed continued interest in joining our league since the inception of the Orlando Sirens in 2017,” MLQ Commissioner Amanda Dallas said. “While we did not feel 2019 was the year to add these teams, we do want to provide them with the chance to test their mettle against our athletes and gain more exposure for their traditionally isolated area.”
While the Southeast team will be composed predominantly of athletes from a single squad, the East, North and South teams will be made up of players from teams that either did not qualify for MLQ Championship or do not make the semifinals.
Each team is guaranteed a minimum of three games and a maximum of four. MLQ will be providing a 2019 MLQ Divisional Games trophy to the winning team: the newly-minted Pavlovsky Cup.
“When naming the cup, we felt it most appropriate to honor a former volunteer who exemplified what it means to be innovative and whose hard work and dedication was integral to the early days of our league,” Commissioner Ethan Sturm said. “It’s safe to say that we would be nowhere near where we are today without the long hours and big ideas of Edgar Pavlovsky.”
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see Minor League Quidditch make its major league debut and fight for the Pavlovsky Cup! Attend the 2019 MLQ Championship on Aug. 10 and 11 in Richmond, Va. Pre-sale tickets are available until Sunday, July 28; prices will increase after that. Tickets will also be available for purchase on-site. Can’t attend? Watch the action on by subscribing to the free MLQ Network: http://bit.ly/2OBI38E.
MORE ABOUT MINOR LEAGUE QUIDDITCH
Minor League Quidditch, also known as the Southeast Summer League, was created in 2018 by Kelby Brooks, Alex Dokuchaev, Joe Goldberg and Lee Hodge. The league was created to make up for a lack of MLQ teams in the Southeast and to demonstrate the area’s potential to compete with the high level of play exhibited by MLQ teams.
Though the league didn’t come to fruition until 2018, the first Minor League Quidditch team to emerge was the Orlando Sirens, created by Steven Paisley, in 2017. In their inaugural year, the Sirens played in exhibition series against MLQ’s Washington Admirals and New Orleans Curse and US Quidditch’s Terminus Quidditch.
In the following year, the Carolina Diamondbacks and Palmetto Phoenix would emerge to compete against the Sirens in an independent division. The Diamondbacks, led by Lee Hodge since the creation of the team, host players from the Triangle Area in North Carolina. The Palmetto Phoenix, led by Joe Goldberg, boasts players from South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.
In the league’s first year, the aforementioned teams competed in two series prior to the Minor League Quidditch Championship that was held in Columbia, S.C. After a series of hard-fought games, Palmetto Phoenix won the 2018 Championship and ended their season with a 6-5 record.
This season, it’s anyone’s championship. The current rankings are Carolina Diamondbacks (4-2), Palmetto Phoenix (3-3) and the Orlando Sirens (2-4). The teams will converge on Orlando, Fla. on Aug. 3 to battle for the 2019 title. The championship will be determined by a single-elimination tournament. It will be livestreamed on the Palmetto Phoenix’s Facebook.