Y38 Gryffindor Quidditch Try-Outs

[Lysander Summers]

It had been Sierra who'd lead the opening to the last Gryffindor try-outs, and while Lysander had expected it to be his turn this time around, he hadn't known then that he'd be doing it on his own. After last year's hurdles, he was more prepared. It had been a janky, sudden shift from being a co-captain to just a captain, but he was getting the hang on managing on his own, he thought. It was still a large blow to the team, and it may have been what cost them a win the previous year, but he was set on turning things around this year. The Gryffindor stood on the pitch with a clipboard board in hand, and a line of brooms and equipment lining the base of the stands, ready for the players heading over to try their hand at a spot, if they had no equipment of their own.

When the hopefuls started to arrive, Lysander straightened up to appear more authoritive and confident. He kept an eye out for Emma, and made small talk with some of the current team members until it seemed like everyone who was going to arrive, had. He cleared his throat. "Can I get everyone's attention! First of all, I want to say thanks for coming today. It's great to see everyone here. I'm sure we all want to see Slytherin finally knocked off their pedestal, right?" He asked, before quickly moving on. "Can I have everyone whos returning to stand over here for now." He gestured behind him to split up the group, and get a look at how many people had come to try for an open spot, or an alternate position. "Great, okay. So, just come up and give me your name, unless you've been on the team before, then grab yourself some gear and show me what you've got. Returning players, you guys can warm up if you like. Any questions, hit me with them now, otherwise let's get started!"​

Position	Player
Beater/Captain	Lysander Summers
Beater	Emma van Houten
Chaser	Chloe Thompson
Chaser	Solomon Tofilau
Chaser	Noel Waldgrave
Keeper	Christian Cade
Seeker	Open
Alternates	Open

Out of Character:

Returning players are guaranteed their spot as long as they post, otherwise it's up for grabs!
Try-outs are not open to first years without PMing me first. Even then, I cannot guarantee you'll be able to post, unless there are too few older students to fill spots.

Please take into consideration your availability before joining or returning to the team, as well as how active you'll be able to be during practices and matches. Every post counts!

 

[Ronald Lazarao]

Ronald try his luck for this year he wish he grab the position, Alternate is good but an open position seeker is better, I'm Ronald Lazarao 3rd year student, last year I try out in y37 but I'm not choose, but I try again this year I want to become a seeker or an alternate position for a keeper. Ronald waits for the actual practice for this year, and he is excited to sees his skills to Lysander and Emma.

Ronald is in the field, he tries to catch the snitch when he see it he grab his broom and fly at the opposite side of a snitch and his technique was a success he grab the snitch when he fly at the right side, and Ronald accompanied but in the other back of a snitch in has the opportunity he grab the golden snitch and its felt amazing for this time, Ronald so happy at a result of his try out to become a seeker

When the time to try out as the keeper Ronald wear his gear protection and fly at the ring and his goal is not to enter their quaffle, and he ready, every player try their quaffle to entet but all of their attempt is not successful because I always catch or bounce back the quaffle in their side, Ronald is happy again for his try out at keeper.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Flynn somewhat hesitated as he stepped out onto the pitch for the try-outs this year. He wasn't all too sure that they would want him back on the team after failing them in the finals the previous year. So, he supposed he wouldn't be too surprised if they picked someone else over him. But he was still going to try, offering a small smile to the team as he wandered over and waited for his turn, his fingers wrapped anxiously around his broom.

"Hey it's me,"" he didn't think he really needed to give his name as he was quite sure Lysander would know who he was. "Here to try out for seeker... again." And extra pressure as well because the position was actually open this time instead of just being an alternate. But he did try and not let that bother him too much as he swung a leg over his broom and kicked off to set off in search of a snitch to catch. It did take him a moment to get back into the swing of things after the whole break not being able to fly. But it did take very long until he had a snitch in his hand for his first catch, letting it go again to try and chase after it again. By the end of the try-out, he was feeling ever so slightly more confident about things again, landing softly back on the ground.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara had been exchanging OWLs with her sister ever since she returned to school, and while Assia may have been the only one that currently understood why Elara wanted to tryout for quidditch, the Gryffindor hoped she would make the team and prove to her family it was possible to be successful at more than one thing. Her grades hadn't been quite where she wanted them last year, but that's just because she wanted to participate in EVERYTHING and overwhelmed herself. This year, Elara promised to tone it down, but seeing as she wasn't going to drop her clubs and was now trying out for a sport, it seemed like she was venturing on her own path. At least they didn't take flying again this year.

When Elara finally stood on the pitch, she took a big deep breath in so she could stretch before they went to the air. The boy in charge, who didn't seem to introduce himself very well, instructed them how the practice was going to go. It was then she noticed Flynn, the seeker she had bothered been talking to in the common room. She didn't think she could totally show him up, but she had to try. After all, Gryffindor only deserved the best players. Elara grabbed some of the quidditch gear and tried to figure out where everything went on her body. She wasn't used to wearing protective equipment and struggled as she ended up putting her helmet on backwards. Quickly fixing it, she walked over to the older boy.

"I'm Elara Chatelain, and I also am trying out for seeker," she said, smiling at Flynn. Elara quickly flew off the ground and started flying fast in circles which quickly made her dizzy. She eventually stopped and hovered, trying to see anything gold with all the people flying around. It seemed like identifying something that small in the air was a lot harder when you were also looking out for bludgers and others trying to score. Elara saw Flynn catch the snitch. "Corn nuts," she muttered under her breath, watching the snitch quickly shoot off into the distance once it was released againl. Elara was probably up in the air for a good 20 minutes, unsuccessfully noticing anything until she thought she saw it. And she did! Trying to keep up with the bewitched ball, Elara overeached and could feel her broom tipping forward. Pulling back, it forced her trajectory straight up, and after a minute or two, she finally got herself back on a path for the snitch... that had now disappeared. As time went on, she knew that if she didn't at least come close to catching something, her chances of making the team were done for.

Elara saw another shimmer in front of her face and didn't quite pay attention until she realized the snitch was literally hanging out right in front of her face. Letting go of her broom, she clapped both hands around the sucker and squealed. "I got it!" she called to the boy in charge, holding it in her hands for a moment to admire its wing and then releasing it. She didn't catch anything else the rest of the tryouts, but maybe everyone should just try letting the snitch come to them.

 

[Nikko Blackwood]

Nikko was could feel his hands sweating the whole way out to the quidditch pitch. He had spent last year as an alternate and even played last year so he was more confident in his ability but now he was even more worried about keeping up with the rest of the team. "Hi, I'm Nikko Blackwood and I'm trying out for keeper." he said with a nod, before kicking off and taking up his position at the north end of the pitch. It didn't take long for the chasers to start coming at him and he got ready. The first shot that came at him fell a bit short and he had to race to meet it before it fell. He threw it back into play and got ready to do it all over again. He caught the next shot and started to feel like his body was finally warming up. Soon he got into a groove even though he missed a few, the chasers were good and he couldn't take it too personally. By the end of the try outs he was out of breath and exhausted. He landed and shook out his arms, and knew the wait for the line-up would feel like forever.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

When Skylar had seen the notice that said the Quidditch try-outs would be happening again, she couldn't wait. She'd tried out last year but hadn't gotten in but it had been heaps of fun nonetheless. And the year before she'd been a first year, so she wasn't allowed to try out, as much as she'd wanted to. But she was determined to keep trying out for the team, even if a small part of her thought that she probably wouldn't get in no matter how well she did, since they'd likely rather take 2nd years who could get better over time than older students who would only play for a few years. And having talked to the Gryffindor chasers after the Slytherin match last year, she knew they weren't anywhere near the graduating stage yet so there was a good chance she'd never get to be a chaser... shaking the negative thoughts from her head she decided she'd give it all she had anyway, and have fun. She'd gone to all the house matches last year, so she was sure that even if she hadn't played as much as the team members and alternates, she had still picked up some of the tactics they had used during the house matches, so hopefully her chances at getting the spot would improve this year.

When it was time for them to introduce themselves, she grinned at them, wanting to make sure they knew she'd be a fun addition to the team. "Hey, I'm Skylar! I'll be trying out for the position of Chaser." she introduced herself, and before long it was time to begin. Although she didn't have a broom back home on her family's farm, because of the muggles that lived around her, she had spent the holidays outside anyway, whether it was climbing trees, biking or even horse-riding, so thankfully she wasn't too rusty. She grinned as she caught the Quaffle first, knowing that it meant she was off to a good start, and wasted no time in heading over to the hoops to try and score. Unfortunately, she underestimated the distance to the hoops, and the Quaffle didn't make it all the way in, but at least her aim had been good? Determined not to let it bother her, she raced back to where the Quaffle was being passed around, and once she'd caught it, she passed it to another person who was closer to hoops and saw them score. Pleased with how that had worked, she continued like this for a while more, passing the Quaffle to others when she was too far away or in a bad position and even managing to score again before the time was up and the try-outs were over. Happy with how it had gone, she flew back down to the ground, and quickly tied her hair back again since it had gotten messy from all the flying, before waving a goodbye to the rest of the players, and hoped that this year she'd finally get a chance to be on the team.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully had to admit he'd half been waiting to hear from Lysander all Winter about taking on co-captain with him. He'd also wondered if he'd walk out to the pitch to see Noel or even Emma had been pulled on board (since he was sure Chloë would have told him by now if it was her), but it seemed Lysander was going to tackle captaining on his own this year. Not that he'd done a bad job by any stretch, Sully supposed, so he'd support their captain whole heartedly. Even if he was a dork.

He listened as Lysander did his opening speech, giving a cheer when Lysander mentioned taking Slytherin down a peg this year. They'd come so close the previous years, and he was sure it'd be their turn at the cup any day now. He stood with the rest of the team, stretching some as he watched the first few new hopefuls starting to try out before he couldn't stand another second on the ground and kicked off. Sully knew this wasn't his time to steal the show, so he mostly hung back, chucking the quaffle to a few of the new kids and flying slow laps, enjoying being back in the air.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah had been thinking about quidditch throughout his first year at the school, deciding he was for sure going to try out when he was old enough. Which he now was. With both of his older cousins playing cousins he felt like he couldn't be left behind. Not only that but being on the team was also bound to make him more popular or at least make more people pay attention to him which was always a good thing. Filled with excitement he had made his way over to the pitch, standing with the other hopefuls when the captain seperated returning players from those of them trying out. The surprised look Chloë shot him didn't go by unnoticed and he grinned at her, quite pleased that he had managed to keep the element of surprise. Even if she also looked a little bit offended that he hadn't told her he'd be trying out.

When it was time for the actual tryouts to start he confidently walked up to the captain. "'Sup, I'm Zay." He introduced himself with a nod of his head before realizing the boy might actually need his full name. "Uh, Isaiah. Thompson. Trying out for beater." Zay smiled. He picked up one of the beater bats and twirled it around in his hand for a second to get a good grip before he hopped on his broom and pushed himself off into the air. Right. He could totally do this. The chaos of having so many people fly around distracted him for a second and he shook his head to clear his mind. Bludgers. That was what he needed to focus on. Well, that and not flying straight into another player. Looking around he noticed one of the bludgers fly by, quickly pushing forward to chase after it. It took him some effort to catch up with it but when he did he gave his bat a swing, grinning when it made contact with the bludger. He hadn't aimed for it to go anywhere in specific so it didn't hit anyone, but he had hit it nonetheless. Zay continued to chase after another bludger as it passed him, swinging his bat and trying not to look too disappointed when he completely missed it. He swerved for a second to avoid colliding with another player, which caused him to fly right into the path of another bludger. This time he did try to aim it and swung at it with all his might, watching as it hit one of the other players. Determined to show he'd also be able to defend the other players he flew around, keeping his eye on the bludgers and shooting forward to hit one away from another player. See, he could totally play defensive too. As tryouts continued on he managed to hit a couple more bludgers, hitting some of them away from other players and others at them. He missed a some as well but he'd seen plenty of players miss in the matches last year as well. When they were called off Zay headed back down to the ground, definitely feeling his arm hurt from all of the sudden action.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noel had been irritated about losing again from Slytherin. And the fact that Liam went visiting them and he had to be all confident about Slytherin and his team as an captain made it even worse. They still had two years at this school to try and win the cup and Noel had some more time to practice, since the OWL's were done. But still his study was also important and he also got the brotherhood now to run with Simon. But he came with an better feeling this year, and was ready to enjoy life again at the best. And look at the positive things in his life. Minnie had been ignoring him all the time, and he was not gonna give her any attention. If she wanted to be friends ever again, she could come to him herself. The brown haired boy entered the pitch with his broom and spotted the team quickly. Smiling at them each. He agreed with Lysander and cheered. He was curious which the new seeker would become, since Sierra had quit. It was hard to pick another one, but he was thinking Flynn made an good chance, althoug he needed to control his temper an bit and focus. When the try-outs began he waved at his friends and was ready to see who would be joining the team after this. He flew of into the air and did some laps to warm up.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë felt more than ready for another year of quidditch, heading up to tryouts feeling confident that this was going to be their year. Mostly though she was curious about who would be trying out for the team this year. She figured there'd be at least a few faces that she had seen at tryouts last year as well and she knew there were some kids in the years below them that definitely were enthusiastic about quidditch. She happily greeted her friends when she reached the pitch, stepping to stand behind Lysander when he asked them to. It was only then that she got a good look at the group of hopefuls, barely managing to keep her mouth from falling open when she noticed her younger cousin between them. She was sure he had never mentioned trying out for the team before and whilst she was mostly surprised she was also just the littlest bit offended he hadn't told her about it or asked her for tips. Whilst everyone trying out was introducing themselves Chloë stretched for a little while before picking up her broom and pushing off into the air, taking a little lap to warm up. After she finished her lap she flew around, watching everyone who was trying out and occasionally passing the quaffle on when it came her way.

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma was very proud of Lysander for being in charge of the team on his own. She grinned at him as he gave them a speech, nodding encouragingly. Then she flew into the air and helped during the tryouts. Well, if by helped you meant hitting bludgers at people. But Emma thought it'd help Lysander see who could dodge them and who couldn't. She was curious who would be joining their team, though she didn't think a whole lot would change.

 

[Knox Ivers]

Knox had been itching to return to Hogwarts after the winter break. Living at home was dull, and without the everyday excitement of Hogwarts and being able to use magic, Knox had quickly realized how bored he was, especially without spending time with his friends or boyfriend. Going to work at Honeydukes helped a little bit, but by the time Knox returned to the castle he couldn’t wait to get the school year underway again. Even if that meant actually looking forward to classes and what he expected would be an awkward but stressful lull between his OWL year and NEWT year, anything was better than being at home, where he wasn't allowed to have any fun. Fortunately on the subject of fun, returning to school did mean an opportunity to play another year on his house’s quidditch team. Knox had enjoyed being an alternate, and being part of a team even if he hadn’t played a proper game yet. It was fun to fly around and practice to compete against the other houses. Even if Gryffindor hadn’t won the quidditch cup last year, Knox wanted to do everything he could to help Gryffindor win this time around, and he was hopeful they would.

Arriving to the pitch with his broom, Knox smiled to the students around him, and gave Sully and Chloe a wide smile when the group was then separated. Knox stood with the group of students trying out, and got his gear on, waiting until it was his turn to approach Lysander. “Knox Ivers, trying out for chaser.” Knox said confidently, squaring his shoulders and nodding his head before he turned around and got on his broom, quickly flying into the air. Knox had been practicing a bit on his own, and also with Chloe, and he hoped that putting in extra time to better his skills would work out for him. Knox flew around the pitch to warm up, soon spotting an opening and catching the quaffle. With it tucked under his arm, he headed towards the closest set of hoops and threw it with all his might, cheering to himself when it managed to go through. He couldn’t help but wish he had the same luck when he played practices in the past, and then began to swerve and follow the person that caught the quaffle next. Knox spent his try out playing as well as he could, and for the most part he focused on flying as fast as he could to catch up to the person who had possession of the quaffle and follow their tail in the hope of intercepting and stealing it. When the try outs were over and Knox touched back to the ground he was out of breath and his face was flushed, but he was smiling and happy to be there, and felt as if he had done his best.​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah had been waiting for this his whole first year, trying out for the team. He was excited about quidditch since day one, actually, it was before day one, when his sister came home during the the Christmas holidays on her first and talked to him about it. He had a passion for sports since a very young age and started trying out sports since he was five. Until now he had never settled for anything but ice hockey when he was back in Canada but here in New Zealand ice hockey wasn't very common so he decided to try quidditch.
He arrived at the pitch to see a lot of familiar faces, both his friends Zay and Elara were there which made everything a little less scary. He wasn't surprised to see them there since they had talked about it on the train on their return to Hogwarts and even in their first year. "Hi, I'm Noah Mendes and I'm trying out for beater" he stated. He grabbed a nearby broom and mounted it. He also grabbed one of the bats too and headed for the sky. He knew that a beater's job was to hit other players with a bludger so it was like baseball basically except that the point was to hit people. He would constantly do that on his baseball practices without even trying when the point was not even that so this couldn't be very hard right?
The Gryffindor boy saw a bludger flying near him and went straight for it trying to avoid other players, and eyeing a player to hit with it. He reached the bludger and swung his bat while aiming for the player. The first thing crossing his mind was that a bludger was lot heavier and a lot more difficult to make fly than a baseball ball and the second thought that crossed his mind did it when the bludger missed, he had stopped playing baseball five years ago, maybe he was out of practice on hitting people.
He decided to play defence then, defense was easy enough for him, he only needed to hit the bludger and protect the player without aiming it to any specific direction.
Noah was looking for a bludger when he noticed one going right at his friend Elara, and she seemed to be looking for the snitch, the last thing she needed was to be hit so he held tight to his broom and flew as quickly as he could to prevent the impact. Luckily he was fast enough to reach the bludger and with a strong swing he made the bludger redirect its route, Elara didn't seem to have noticed anything so he'd be sure to tell her after the try outs that he had just saved her from having a bruise.
To his surprise the bludger, who had not been aimed at anyone hit another player and Noah reacted only by grimacing but it took him only a second to regain a confident posture and say "I totally meant to do that" in case anyone was paying attention to him, he did't want to seem unexperienced. The try out ended soon after that and they were all called to the ground again, Noah wasn't sure if he would make it to the team but no matter the results he knew that at least he had a fun time trying out.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Out of Character:

Try-outs will close later today/tomorrow, so make sure to get any last-minute attempts in while you can!

 

[Lysander Summers]

Out of Character:

And that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who tried out. I'll post a list on the bulletin board soon!