Y34 Gryffindor Quidditch Tryouts

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob was excited about tryouts and even more excited that he'd beat Marcos to the pitch. The teen went about preparing the pitch for tryouts, using magic to grab some school brooms. The good ones. He was excited to see who would turn up for tryouts, hoping that his friends Onyx and Willow were among them. Willow stood a real shot of making the team with Syrus having graduated.

Working to tighten his gear on his lanky frame, Jacob waited for everyone to arrive. "Welcome to Gryffindor tryouts. I'm one of your captains, Jacob Kingsley" he stated proudly. "That's Marcos Morales, the other captain" he said, nodding in his - direction. Jacob could just about carry a conversation with him these days. "This is how it's gonna work. Returning members, get in the air and do your thing. Everyone else, step forward, tell us your name and what position you're trying out for. And then show us your stuff- speed, skill, you name it. Leave it all on the pitch. Anything else, Marcos?" He waited a moment. When Marcos had finished, Jacob clapped his hands, sheer glee in his voice. "Ok, let's get to it!"


Current Team
Seeker
Open

Keeper
Marcos Morales

Beaters
Jacob Kingsley
Gwen Owens- Lee

Chasers
Gabriel Rosenberg
Jessica Cade
Jemma Potter

Alternates
Open

Out of Character:

Returning players are guaranteed their spots as long as they post attendance in this thread before tryouts are over. Returning alternates must try out again.

First years must PM me or Marcos Morales if they want to try out. No first years will be allowed to try out unless there are not enough older students.

 

[Marcos Morales]

Marcos arrived at the quidditch pitch. This was his final year and he had plenty lined up for when he'd leave. The teen was keen to get started on a new semester of quidditch. he joined Jacob on the pitch as the team and some new comers turned up to try out. He gave the younger boy a little smile and nod as he helped get the last few things together. he nodded in agreement as jacob went over a few things. He gave a little smile but shook his head, "Nothing to add," was all he said. With that the try-outs got underway and he could wait to see what kind of talent the team would have this year.

 

[Willow Cullen]

It was Gryffindor quidditch tryouts day and willow was excited. maybe this year she would get a full position on the team. It had only half sunk in that syrus was no longer at the school. While she knew his seeker position was open she also was sort of surprised when she didn't see him standing on the pitch and realised that he wouldn't be joining her they had spent a lot of time together the previous year practising and he had been her friend in the school as much as he had been a teammate.
When she reached the pitch there was only Jacob and Marcos there. "Hey guys. how was your holiday?" she asked pushing her newly short and more vibrant than ever hair out of her face.
once the introduction was over she wasn't sure if she was a returning member or not. so she stepped forward and smiled. "I heard the seeker position is open." she said raising her eyebrows not feeling the need to introduce her name as she had been on the team for two years and been the alternate seeker last year.
She took her broom and took to the air. making a lap around the pitch before starting to look for snitches. she was pretty sure there were a few of them about. one caught her eye and she went speeding after it darting between two people trying for chaser. she climbed up a bit her arms outstretched and managed to catch it. she lapped the pitch before letting it go and searching for another. the next took her a little longer to spot hovering just above the ground at the other side of the pitch. she bent forward and sped towards it feeling grateful to her small size as she dodged a bludger. this time it was a dive and not a climb which was harder as you also had to avoid hitting the ground. she dove trying to show off her skill but the snitch darted as she drew nearer. she pulled the broom out of the dive and flew after it along the ground and after a few minutes managed to once again have a walnut ball secure in her hands. smiling she let it go and took to the air again taking a few minutes to see who else was trying out and how her friends were going. before starting another search for the snitch.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander wasn't supposed to attend the try-outs for Gryffindor's team, but he didn't want to miss out on the perfect opportunity to see what his house's team was like - or to take a few notes along the way for future reference. Kida had given him a few pointers over the years, but he was eager to see what the older students were doing, and just how different a school match was compared to the real ones. Perhaps even just showing up and making sure that they had seen his face around would be enough to help his own chances of making the team at some stage. Arriving at the pitch with a half-eaten box of Bertie Botts, Lysander waved at the group gathered there, bearing a grin to mask the fear he had of being told to get lost. "Hey! Do you guys mind if I watch?" He inquired, glancing toward a comfortable looking patch of grass on the pitch. Surely he wouldn't be in the way if they were all flying around? At the very least, that was his hope.​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur had enjoyed being part of the team fort he past two years and was glad she had convinced her brother to try out for his own team too. She was looking forward to the upcoming Quidditch season, even though she knew she was probably going to be an alternate for another year. She didn't mind. It was pretty fun to be on the team, and there was less pressure on her. Though she was happy to fill in whenever she was needed. She waved at her fellow teammates, hoping she would be a part of it again this year. She was also hoping that her friend Willow would get a permanent position as seeker now that Syrus was gone.

When it was her turn, Fleur stepped forward with an easy smile. "Fleur van Houten, trying out for chaser." She said with a smile. She mounted her broom and caught the quaffle as it was passed to her. Fleur flew a circle around the pitch to warm up quickly, then raced to the nearest goal and threw the quaffle at the goalposts. She was happy when her first attempt went in, and flew off. She got hold of the quaffle again after a while and attempted to score again. Her practices at home during the break were paying off, and she smiled as she managed to score again. She got to attempt three more times, and missed two of them. Three out of five wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Fleur wasn't too bothered though, and flew down to the ground.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noel was really excited. He really wanted this. He walked towards the pitch and saw a group of students standing. He than smiled as he noticed Gabriel and waved excited. He was curious if Mark would come, he was scared but Noel wanted to help him out. Noel had been thinking of positions he wanted to play and he came to the conclusion that he wanted to follow Gabriel, he knew there was no place but as an alternate he could also be a part of it. When it was his turn he smiled. '' Hi I'm Noel and I'm trying out for Chaser. But I can play any position I guess. I like it all!'' He than added towards it. When he was ready he mounted his broom and flew into the air. He flew some circles to warm up and felt that the speed was good. He could not stop smiling and when he saw a change to take possesion of the quaffle he did. He than flew fast towards one side of the hoops and threw the quaffle he missed but it was close. Later the boy tried again and took posession, this time he just had to go through. And it did! Noel cheered and was happy he scored. This was kind of feeling good. The brown haired boy than made another attempt and scored a few times again, but missed also. Good keepers were important too. He than flew back to the ground and smiled. '' Thanks. Good luck today.'' He than added and left the pitch after waving to Gabriel once more.

 

[Gabriel Rosenberg]

Gabriel was so ready, more than ready. He had been having a nice break in Sweden, helping out his dad and all but it was strange leaving to Hogwarts without Sofia. Though he was now free to do anything with Quidditch, and her not yelling at him. But actually one thing that was on his mind was walking into Sophie at the start of their break. He just thought about the girl and it was kind of strange. He still was dating Sara and he thought of both girls. He hated himself for that. Sophie was annoying and had no interest for quidditch that Sara had. He joined Marcos and Jacob on the field and greeted them. Than he noticed Noel waving at him, and smiled back at his younger cousin. It would be nice if he left, that a family member would continue. He hoped Noel would do fine. Gabriel flew into the air himself and flew along to help some people that tryed out threw some quaffle himself to practice some more. He liked some competition ofcourse.

 

[Gwen Owens-Lee]

After successfully getting the beater's position on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team last year, Gwen did not need to try out again. Despite this, the girl still had to make her way down to the pitch to watch some new people try out. She had enjoyed the time on the team, despite not having played to the best of her ability, but it was good for her to be a part of something. The girl gathered around with everyone else as one of the captains spoke, and when the tryouts began she took a seat on the bench, smiling at the new people as they took off into the sky to try out.

 

[Sierra Woodlock]

Sierra knew more about Quidditch this time around, more than the previous try out. She had also done a lot more practicing and gotten a lot of help from her brothers as well. Holding her broom, Sierra skipped excitedly out to the Quidditch Pitch, ready to fly. She enjoyed the feeling of being in the air.
Taking a deep breath, Sierra walked up to introduce herself. "Sierra Woodlock, trying out for seeker!"
Taking to the sky, Sierra shot around the pitch a couple of times, just to prove that she could fly. It was time for her to start looking for the glint of gold in the sky, so she flew around slowly, her eyes scanning everywhere. It took her some time to find it but when she finally spotted it, Sierra gave chase. She was so close!! Sierra reached out her hand, wobbled a bit but managed to straighten up before closing her hand around the little gold ball. Sierra let out a woop, and showed the captains that she had caught it, before letting it go. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, then set off to find it again. Thankfully, Sierra found it quicker the second time, and even managed to stay stable on her broom as she reached for it. Closing her fingers over the Snitch, Sierra cheered for herself again as she managed to keep hold of it. She was glad she was able to find it again before the end of try-outs; she didn't want to be responsible for it being lost forever.

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio had always wondered whether or not he’d make a good Quidditch player. He’d watched a few games, sometimes even getting into heated competition (with a certain Hufflepuff) on the sidelines, but what if he was missing out on being a member himself? This year, he didn’t want to take his school for granted, and so he make his way down to the pitch with the others, excited to soar up into the skies. “Elio, trying out for Keeper,” he announced proudly with a grin to Jacob, wondering why it had even taken him this long to even have a go. As he mounted his broom and pushed off into the air, the boy was looking up high towards to hoops as he made his ascent, climbing higher and higher to get himself into position. He believed the role would be fun because he could observe everything going on, and hopefully wouldn’t be taken out by many beaters.

As he turned his broom to face the incoming chaser, his gaze lowered and his eyes fell to the floor. All the blood from his body drained to his feet, and the Gryffindor quickly became pale with fear. It had been a while since he’d climbed anything, and he always got himself carried away in excitement, overlooking his fears until they were slapped in his face. Now, he was going to faint he was sure of it. His broom wasn’t enough to keep him steady. Ignoring the Quaffle that came barrelling towards him, he instead backed up to the only solid thing on the pitch with his heart hammering in his chest, climbing off his tiny thin wooden broom and planting his feet on the solid surface of the left hand hoop. It still wasn’t enough to contain the dizzy feeling as he saw the reality of just how far away the grass was from up there. It looked so much smaller from the ground. Very very carefully, Elio crouched low until he was able to grip the white hoop with both arms in a bear hug, eventually laying himself out flat and pressed against the goal.

From inside his hoop, hands turning white as he lay with a tight grasp against the wood, he could vaguely hear Jacob calling out to him. It was hard to concentrate on what the captain was saying, but all the fourth year knew was that eventually he was going to have to let go if he wanted to make it back to the floor. What if he didn’t? Would he be rescued? Would one of the Professors come and prize him off and onto their brooms to safety? Perhaps he’d be left there all night until he passed out and dropped off naturally, waking up in the sand, or the hospital wing, a few days later? He didn’t like to think about it.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed. He was semi aware that chasers were coming and going, and the tryouts were continuing around him. While students seemed to be using the other hoops primarily, there was one nerve wracking occasion when the quaffle soared straight over his head and for a half a moment he thought he was going to be knocked cleaned off. Realising that if he was hit by one of the bludgers he most definitely wouldn’t stand a chance at holding on, the Gryffindor knew he was going to have to grow a back bone and actually move, but his muscles had other ideas as they refused to relax enough for him to return to his broom. He was losing the feeling in his hands as they were going numb, and he was beginning to wish he’d visited a bathroom before he came out here too. Slowly he began to move his head around, refusing to drop his attention to the floor where he was bound to freeze up even further, and tried to work out a plan in his head as to how to get out of the situation. Trying to focus only on things he could hear instead of see, the voices of those both around him and back on the field, he carefully inched his way over the side of the hoop, allowing him to tuck his broom back under his body. The last thing he needed was to forget how to fly, and doing his best not to concentrate on what would happen if his broom gave way beneath him, he took a deep breath and a leap of faith, and launched his weight back over onto his travel companion.

He thanked his lucky stars when he was able to hover, and staring at his hands that gripped the handle as to not focus on the field below him and the vast amount of nothingness that separated him from safety, he carefully made his way back down to the ground with a knot in his stomach. Yes he was mortified, embarrassed that he had been such a wimp stuck up there for so long, but the only thing Elio could think as his feet touched the ground was that he was never going to fly ever again. He instantly flopped onto the grass, kicking his broom away and laying on his back as he appreciated the solid comforting earth pressed against his body. “I think.. you should pick someone else..” he managed to say eventually, hoping the Captains were close enough to hear him. As his heart rate began to return to a normal speed, and the tension running through him began to evaporate, he knew the best place for him at a Quidditch game was going to be with both feet firmly on the ground.

Godmod approved

 

[Jemma Potter]

Jemma Potter had tried out twice for seeker before she was ultimately made a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It was a position that she loved, and she was happy to finally be on the team. She knew her parents would be so proud of her if they were still around to see her. Jemma knew that Aunt Cyndi was certainly proud and frequently reassured her that Kiera would have been proud too. Still, as much as Jemma loved her position as a chaser, it was not her preferred position of seeker.

Today, Gryffindor was having tryouts for the open spots on the team, and one of those was the seeker position. Jemma knew that there would be other people who wanted that spot, but she wanted to try out for it anyways. The redhead made it down to the pitch early and stood with the rest of the returners. She was guaranteed her spot as a chaser-- or she hoped she would be even though she was going to try out for a different position.

After Jake finished his speech, Jemma approached him. She hadn't told her cousin what she planned to do, but he knew how much she loved playing seeker. They had learned to fly together after all. Quidditch was a big thing in both of their families. "Jake? Sorry to interrupt, but I want to try out for seeker. If you decide not to pick me, I understand and I'll keep playing chaser because I love being on the team." she said, not wanting to seem ungrateful with the position she was already in. With what she needed to say done, Jemma turned and got on her broom.

Once up in the air, Jemma decided to go ahead and do her tryout for seeker before helping the other chasers and keepers. She knew there were a couple of practice snitches flying around the field. She did a few laps around the pitch, keeping her eyes open and looking for the glint of gold. It only took two laps around the pitch before she saw the gold glimmer by the north hoops. Jemma took off after it, but by the time she got there, it was gone. She turned her broom, trying not to feel frustrated, when she saw it down by the bench. Jemma dove after it, pulling her broom up just short of crashing into the ground. The risky move paid off because she had the snitch in her right hand. She smiled proudly before releasing the ball into the air. The next time it took her twice as long to find the snitch, but she did find it. In fact, Jemma found it three more times before she switched back to playing chaser.

At the end of the tryouts, Jemma landed lightly on the ground. She felt confident in her abilities, but she would continue to do whatever was in the best interest of the team. The Gryffindor girl waved goodbye to her captains and teammates before going to the showers.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jake grinned at the little kid who'd come onto the pitch. He admired his bravery, and nodded his head. "Long as you stay out of the way." He turned his attention back to the players as they continued to state their names and what positions they planned on trying for. Turnout for the seeker position was strong, even stronger than he'd anticipated as Jemma stepped forward. She surprised him momentarily but then his grin widened. He knew how well she played quidditch. They'd been playing forever. But he knew he had to keep an open mind. It was only fair to the other people trying out.

Watching his fellow house mates, Jacob's attention was caught by some commotion by the hoops. It was that guy, he'd seen him around taking pictures, admiring his camera and his face alike. But he wasn't very attractive now as he hugged the hoop. Jacob threw an alarmed look at Marcos before heading over, his broom low enough that his feet could skim the sand. He yelled up. "You ok?" Then after another few seconds. "Should I go up and help you down? And then, " Dude...can you hear me?" He wasn't sure what else to do but eventually the guy came down and flopped on the grass, speaking words that rang true to Jacob. He had to contain his grin, amusement at the guy's astute observation of himself. Tryouts were always an adventure.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander saluted the older boy as he gave him permission to watch, and laid back against the pitch's grass to better view everyone who was flying overhead. It was a lot of fun to see people trying out all of the different roles, and he played his own game of trying to spot the snitch before any of the seekers did, but the tiny golden ball was impossible to see until it was already caught and held stationary in someone's hand. He didn't know how they could keep track of it while flying around up there, and he found it all really impressive. Sander was particularly entertained by another boy who made an attempt at the Keeper position, giggling to himself between bites of his bertie botts while he watched him struggle and flail about on one of the hoops. Lysander had been to a few Quidditch matches, and though he was no expert, he was pretty sure that wasn't how the boy was supposed to block the goals.

The spectacular failure of the older boy's try-out did have one benefit. Lysander felt confident that he could do a much better job of flying around than that, despite being so much younger. He closed the lid of his bean box and jumped to his feet, brushing off the stray blades of grass that had caught on his pants, and purposefully made his way over toward the captains. "I'd like to try out! I really think I could do better than-" He trailed off, glancing toward the spot on the grass that the older boy had flattened himself against. "Well, I think I could be good. My aunt is a beater and I've watched her play a lot! Can I please have a go?" He asked, his face lighting up once he had the affirmative.

Sander took a spare bat and mounted one of the brooms laying idly by, which were nothing like the smaller children's brooms he was used to playing Shuntbumps with. The broom jerked him a few metres up into the air before he managed to get a hold of it, using both hands to grip the wood while he tucked his bat under one arm. "Waaoh boy, okay." He breathed. This was fine, he could handle this. He'd been on brooms like these plenty of times before, though in those instances he was more often than not holding onto the back of an adult. Hugging Kida's waist while she smacked around bludgers in the backyard was probably the closest he'd gotten to playing actual Quidditch until today.

Once he was at a comfortable height, Lysander spent a minute zipping about the sky, turning left and right the same way he was used to on his toy broom and realising it wasn't too big of a leap from it. The main issue was the ascension and descension, where he was used to floating at mere feet, rather than the metres he now had to become accustomed to. Though his movements ended up looking a bit janky, and feeling just as such, the youth felt suprisingly at ease on the broom, and found the confidence to take one hand off in order to grab hold of his bat. He drifted around the sky, his eyes peeled for any stray bludgers, which were far easier to spot than the tiny little snitch had been, When one of the iron balls thundered by, Lysander raised his bat to swing at it, and frowned when it missed, skimming harmlessly across the top of the ball as it sailed by him. "Oh c'mon!" He grumbled, leaning forward to chase off after it. After overshooting it twice, he managed to keep up alongside the zooming ball and made another attempt at swinging. It connected, pushing the bludger off of its course, though its weight threw shock back through Lysander's arm and he found himself veering off in the opposite direction. He quickly braked, the sudden stop threatening to buck him completely off the broom, and took a moment to rub a sore muscle in his shoulder before giving those below him a reassuring thumbs up.

By the time the boy came across a new bludger, he'd decided against making his first mistake again. Instead, he released his broom, using both hands to hold onto the base of his bat, and wildly swung at the heavy ball. The bat met the ball with a solid thunk, and he watched it spiral in a random direction with a stupid grin. That had been much better! Though he wasn't aiming at any particular thing, he was more than pleased to be able to actually hit something.

A few misses, and even fewer lucky hits later, Lysander tentatively returned to solid ground, and dropped the bat at his side. His fingertips felt numb from all of the swinging, and the vibrations of his broom from all of his sharp turns and janky movements, but he was thrilled to have just gotten a chance to fly around. His dad and aunt were going to be so proud. He approached the boy he'd spoken to initially with a broad grin. "Thanks! Um, you're a beater right? Do you have any pointers?" ​

 

[Jessica Cade]

It was the final year of her school career which meant the final season of quidditch for Jess. She had considered not returning to the school at all but for one final year it wouldn't hurt to return to the school and at least she could see out her time with the quidditch team. Jess made her way down to the quidditch pitch and walked out to where the others members of the team had gathered waiting for the tryouts to start.

 

[Marcos Morales]

The tryouts will close tomorrow so be sure to post before its too late.

 

[Marcos Morales]

Seeker
Willow Cullen

Keeper
Marcos Morales

Beaters
Jacob Kingsley
Gwen Owens- Lee

Chasers
Gabriel Rosenberg
Jessica Cade
Jemma Potter

alternates:
Fleur van Houten - chaser
Sierra Woodlock - Seeker
Lysander Summers - beater