Queensland’s Quidditch scene continues to strengthen – the strong performance of the Queensland Thunderbirds at last year’s State Shield was a testament to that, as was the selection of Simon Spann to the Dropbears squad. Now Queensland adds its first community team to their state competition, in another sign the third-largest Quidditch state is catching up to its southern rivals.

Brisbane City Quidditch Club, affectionately known as the “Bin Chickens”, started this year and has already made an impact in the QAQ State League. QA Today caught up with the President of BCQC, Belle Hammond, and their Coach Daniel Scharf, to talk about the new club.

Who/what started BCQC? Did you all come from one team, or from multiple teams?

Belle Hammond: BCQC started at a macca’s pit stop on the way back from a QAQ Development day. I had just come back from living and playing in the UK and was keen to start my own team and a few ACU players had been toying with the idea of starting a community team. We all agreed we wanted to focus on being a competitive club. When we talked to the rest of ACU pretty much everyone was on board to join us so BCQC was born.

Daniel Scharf: The foundation of the team was from ACU Paladins. The sports team at the University was fantastic, but it did constrain a number of the community members at times.

Most teams in Quidditch use names directly from the Harry Potter universe, or at least sound like they fit there. BCQC seems to have… not gone with that. Why the Bin Chickens, and Ibis theme?

BH: As quidditch becomes more competitive, I think the quidditch community on the whole is moving towards disassociating from the harry potter image to help establish quidditch as a legitimate sport and making it more accessible to non harry potter fans. I actually don’t know what inspired the name just that it’s Kia’s [Co-Coach/Founding member] brain child and it was the only name ever really considered for the team. Like most people, I just laughed when I first heard the name but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. While they are seen as a bit of a joke, Ibises (Ibi??) are actually pretty badass when you think about it. They are resourceful and opportunistic as well as not afraid to get scrappy with someone which is exactly what we want from our players. It took some time for me to get on board but now I can’t imagine us being anything but the Bin Chickens!

DS: We’re not capes. [in regards to it not being Harry Potter related]

BCQC’s social media presence sure is… something. What prompted the meme-focused approach? Has it worked?

BH: The shitposting/trash talk/meme posting just naturally went hand in hand with the Bin chook image. Again, we were keen to steer clear of the usual tropes of Harry Potter puns and what not. Ajantha Abey’s marketing guide was also a great help so credit goes to them as well!

DS: The fact people are talking about it is cool. Our stats are mixed. Mostly just came from Ajantha saying put a picture with everything and we are starved of creativity.

When posting your team for QAQ Round 1, there was an implication you had the numbers for two teams. Is this true, and what name would the second team take on?

DS: We are sitting at that mega awkward 22 member mark.Our original plan was to start with a team of 10 and 14 so that players will get the time they need to improve their match awareness. Those 14 wouldn’t be super far behind the 10, but when the number 1 objective of our club is to win it can be hard to find the minutes for everyone to get longer periods of gametime.

BH: There have been a few names thrown around for our second team and some of them are real crackers. People are just gonna have to wait to find out!

After the first QAQ State League round, BCQC came away with three convincing wins – how’s the team feeling about their early success?

BH: We definitely are not complaining but we are also not complacent. We still have a lot we want work on.

DS: Not entirely sure. Haven’t trained because Easter and SCF. Mood was pretty good during our “worst team chant” ever performance after the USC match.

What’s next for BCQC?

BH: I think first and foremost we want to keep growing as a club and get more people playing the game. The end goal though for this year is final 4 at QUAFL. We want to be the one of the first QLD teams to be a real contender to win. At the very least we hope to ruffle a few feathers!

DS: Try and catch more snitches. Post some memes. #keeprecruiting #squablesquable #staytrashy

If people wanted to join BCQC, how could they do that? When are trainings?

BH: We train every Sunday arvo at Raymond Park, East Brisbane. Chuck us a message via our Facebook or email us ([email protected]) and come join us!