YR35 Beauxbatons Quidditch Try-Outs

[Orélie Manuel]

While Orélie had known without a doubt Nadine would make captain this year, the second co-captain position falling to her had been a surprise. With Theodore leaving the team, likely to focus on studying for his final year or something, Orélie could admit there weren't many other choices on the team to help Nadine (they weren't about to pick Simone), but she liked to think she had made a good impression on the captains last year regardless.

Swinging her hair over her shoulders as players began to arrive on the pitch, Orélie smiled indulgently at Nadine before addressing the gathered students. "Bonjour everyone, my name is Orélie and this is my lovely co-captain, Nadine," She said, eyeing up their potential recruits. They had some returning faces as well, and Orélie was hopeful they'd have some good turn out to replace their senior students. "To our gorgeous returning players, hi, I missed you, please practice as normal and lead a hand to our potential players as needed," She said, trying not to speak too pointedly at only her friends on the team. "Alternates, you'll need to try out again this year, but we have some open positions so why not try your luck at being a starter this year," She said encouragingly. "When you're ready to try out, please state your name and position and show us what you've got." Orélie finished, stepping aside to let Nadine address the team if she wanted. It still felt weird being in charge when Nadine was the clear cut choice, and Orélie quietly hoped it didn't bother her friend too much that she was here, but if Orélie was going to be captain, she was going to do it right. After last year's final game she wanted this year to be as perfect as possible, for both her and the team.

Players	Position
Nadine De Rosier (Co-Captain)	Chaser
Orélie Manuel (Co-Captain)	Chaser
Simone Moreau-Chen	Chaser
Bijoux Laurent	Keeper
Vacant	Beater
Grace Martinez	Beater
Vacant	Seeker
Vacant	Alternate
Vacant	Alternate
Vacant	Alternate

Out of Character:

Returning players can confirm their spot on the team by posting attendance in tryouts. Returning alternates will need to try out again.

Beauxbatons works a little differently from the school teams, so some quick housekeeping for those intending to tryout:
- Please have your OOC name connected to your account or mentioned in your post as an OOC note so we can contact you as needed for important team news. We understand Beaux students are not always as active and it's important we know how to get ahold of you.

- While the Beauxbaton team only currently participates in one match a year, we expect team members to stay active in team practices and/or team threads whenever possible. This helps us keep the team active and build these characters in the lead up to our HNZ game and is important to the continued existence of the Beaux team

- Lastly, please make sure it is clear which year level your character is. We recommend listing it in your member title or mentioning it in your tryout post. We also recommend considering adding your character to the Other Student list to help keep track.

 

[Mualla Avar]

After the match against Hogwarts, Mualla had been certain of one thing and that was that she would try out for the position of Beater during the following school year's try-outs. With her broomstick in hand, Mualla stepped onto the pitch and walked to where everyone else was. She was both nervous and excited about today's try-outs. Surely new people would come and have a go at the vacant positions, people who were probably a bit better than her, but she had the advantage of having played an actual match against the school they'd be facing again at the end of this year. She smiled at the captains when she joined them and waited patiently for them to begin. Last year she had proven her parents wrong by being able to get a spot on the team, even though it was only that of an alternate. If she could secure a spot that would be even better, it'd definitely stop them from talking her out of it.

She walked to the co-captains and smiled widely. If everything would go according to plan she would have a proper chance at the vacant spot. ''Mualla Avar, I'm trying out for Beater,'' she said. She picked up one of the bats and once everything was all set and done mounted her broomstick and kicked herself up into the air. She was determined to show them that it hadn't been just luck during their international Quidditch match, but that she legitimately skilled in the position - it also helped that Mualla had practised a little bit over the break. Once in the air, she focused herself solely on the target who she was supposed to hit as well as defend. It was going alright, or so she thought. She had done well on the targeting part, hitting the target four out of five times. Only missing once because she had been distracted by another player. Her defending skills were a little rusty, though she swore that she would be able to do a lot better if she could by herself new broom. Her current one was old and twigs were falling out. At the end of the day, she returned to the ground and thanked the captains for their time. Now she would have to wait.

 

[Bijoux Laurent]

Bijoux almost didn't want to show her face at tryouts. The loss to Hogwarts had been humiliating, but Bijoux had lost much more, a hope she had been carrying close to her heart for months. If she hadn't managed to find her sister during their trip, maybe she never would. She was devastated. A year ago, Bijoux never would have considered returning to Quidditch after such a crushing defeat. She had come to actually enjoy the game though... Nadine had been right, she supposed, so Bijoux dragged herself onto the pitch, her usual sunny disposition dampened. She was happy for her friends who had been named co-captains but found it hard to really focus on much that Orélie was saying, just kicking off when the tryouts began and spending the time defending against those trying out for Chaser.

 

[Nadine De Rosier]

It would be arrogant to say Nadine had expected the captain's badge when she'd heard Theodore would leave the team, but it was slightly true. She had been on the team the longest, and felt like she worked very hard. So it hadn't been a surprise to her to get the position, but it had been a surprise to realize she would have to share it. Nadine liked her friends a lot, but it felt unfair that Orélie had been given the same position she had when Nadine had been on the team since her second year and Orélie had only joined last year. Nadine knew her friend was a good leader, but that only added to her frustration. She wanted a chance to prove herself, and she feared she wouldn't really get to do that while sharing this position with Orélie. Her fear seemed to be proven when Orélie started the speech to people trying out as well as returning players, without even seeming to consider that Nadine may have something to say. She spoke for a long time, not leaving much for Nadine to add. Nadine couldn't help the slight frown that had appeared on her face during the speech, wiping it away with difficulty when it was finally her turn to speak. "Welcome back to the team for those who are returning, and welcome to those trying out." She said, even though it was a bit of a repeat of what Orélie had already said. "If there is anything you need or if you have any remaining questions, I will always be there to answer them. We look forward to seeing what you guys can bring to the team, so good luck to you all!" She said, trying to be her usual bright and cheerful self. But she knew that if anyone could see through it, it was her new co-captain. Nadine resolutely didn't look at her, focusing instead on the first player who stepped forward to try out.

 

[Simone Moreau-Chen]

Simone smiled slyly as she leaned against her broom and listened to Orelie address the team, and she winked and blew a kiss when Orelie mentioned gorgeous returning players. It was kind of amazing that her friend had managed to make co-captain considering they had lost their game in New Zealand and she had only been on the team a year. Simone wondered how Nadine took the news, she was probably glad for help but from the way she gave her own speech Simone could sense some tension in Nadine's voice. Simone just hoped they had worked out any hard feelings already and weren't going to take it out on the team...or their friends. When the captains were done she gave a mock salute and Simone decided to be a good example for once and took off to practice with Bijoux and the others.

 

[Grace Martinez]

It was Grace’s last year on the team, and at school, and she needed to prove herself for real this time. She loved Quidditch and playing with the team and it was kind of sad that a lot of members had left after last year. It was also sad that she would have to leave, too. It didn’t seem very fair but at least she could always try out for professional team. She arrived to the pitch, broom in hand, and raised her eyebrows slightly at who had been chosen as captains. Well, hopefully they would do really well. She didn’t have anything against them, of course, but she did want to win. Hopefully, the returning members would be able to teach a thing or two to the new members. After the speeches, the girl did a few laps around the pitch in warm up, before going around and seeing if there was anyone who wanted her assistance with anything. Preferably, anyone who was trying out for beater, as that was her thing.

 

[Penelope Clement]

It had only been a short few months since Penelope had found herself developing an interest in playing as a seeker - practicing at home with her brother in her spare time, but she felt she was ready to take things further, and therefore she was determined to make the school team. She believed she was good enough to stand a chance, and making it onto the team would mean that she would have the best opportunity to stay active in her new found skill-set. She felt she was good considering she had no training, but being on the team would mean she could refine and develop her technique.

She arrived at try-outs feeling energized and ready to fly. "Hello, my name is Penelope Clement and I would like to try out for the position of seeker." She jumped onto her broom, took off upwards and clear down the length of the pitch. Once she reached the end, she turned and scoured the skies for the tell-tale twinkle of the snitch glistening in the sunlight.

Penelope flew up a few feet higher, and decided to fly down the left side of the pitch, back to the other end to get a different view of the pitch. Half way there however, to her right she caught a glimpse of something shimmering, and quickly began to fly across the width of the pitch to investigate. As she moved, the shimmering did too, and the girl knew if she flew in a straight enough line, she could intercept the snitch as it seemed to be darting around in a small zig-zag motion.

She leaned to the right, and zoomed over to the snitch. It only took a few moments before the girl felt she was close enough to reach out and grab it - her speed and the force she put into grasping the snitch caused her to roll right under her broom and back around up onto the seat again, all while remaining high in the air. She zoomed back down to the ground with the snitch in hand, feeling quite pleased with her performance. She held up her fist triumphantly, hoping nobody important had missed what she had just achieved!

 

[Aidan Bain]

Aidan sprinted onto the pitch, hoping he wasn't too late. He had been determined to spend less time cooped inside studying this year, and somehow on the day of try-outs he had still managed to find himself reading his school books for a little longer than he had planned. He had just barely noticed the time, threw on his shoes and managed to make it down to the pitch, but he may have been pushing his luck. He nervously approached the group of older students.

"My name is Aidan Bain, fourth year. I'd like to try for seeker" He breathed. Just as he did however, a girl landed next to him, with a snitch in her hand. Oh well, Aidan thought to himself, he still had a chance and he wouldn't mind being an alternate, he'd still have an excuse to be outdoors just as much.

He leaped onto his broom and started off by taking a quick lap of the quidditch pitch, not spotting anything the first time around. He zoomed up a little higher, crossed the middle of the pitch, veered down lower to the ground again, and still no luck. He had just decided to make another full lap when he heard something buzz left to right over the top of his head. Without hesitation, he spun to the right, and immediately began to chase down the snitch. He stretched out his arm, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As he felt his fingers close over the snitch, he opened his eyes just in time to give himself a chance to swoop upward and avoid slamming into one of the goal posts. He knew it wasn't a great catch- to anyone paying full attention it probably looked slightly ridiculous- but Aidan was still proud. He'd definitely need training, but he hoped that somebody might see some potential in him.

 

[Orélie Manuel]

Out of Character:

Happy Holidays! Try-outs will be closing tomorrow~

 

[Nadine De Rosier]

Beauxbatons team for Y35:

Players	Position
Nadine De Rosier (Co-Captain)	Chaser
Orélie Manuel (Co-Captain)	Chaser
Simone Moreau-Chen	Chaser
Bijoux Laurent	Keeper
Mualla Avar	Beater
Grace Martinez	Beater
Penelope Clement	Seeker
Aidan Bain	Alternate Seeker

Thanks for trying out!