The next stage of the Australian 2018 World Cup campaign begins as we announce the appointment of an Australian National Team Assistant Coach, the timeline and process for team selection, and invite people to apply for the position of Team Selector.

A full timeline of events can be found here.
Exact dates subject to change. Locations will be announced closer to the dates.

Assistant Coach
Quidditch Australia is excited to announce that Daniel Fox has been brought onto the Dropbears leadership team as Assistant Coach. He will help Coach Genevieve Gibson with her duties and responsibilities over the course of the next year.

Dropbears Development and Selection
This year, national development, selection, and training will occur over a period of several months as Quidditch Australia aims to put its best foot forward for the upcoming IQA World Cup while also seeking to improve gameplay across the country. This process will be overseen by the Dropbears Selection Committee. This committee will comprise the selectors, team coach, assistant coach, and selection committee chair.

Firstly, Quidditch Australia will host a series of development camps. Attendance at these camps will be determined by applications submitted on behalf of players by their team coach/es and captain/s. Players will be selected and invited by the national coaching team and the selection committee. The focus for these camps will be two-fold – generally improving the skill of all players who attend, and understanding the current level of national talent across the country. At least one individual from every willing and available team will be invited to participate in these camps in some way to ensure Australia-wide development. Up to fifty individuals will be invited to participate in each of these camps. These camps will in no way represent a shortlist for the 2018 Dropbears. They will be held in August and September in Sydney and Melbourne.

Secondly, Quidditch Australia will hold a series of invitation-only selection camps. These camps will serve as one of the principal opportunities for selectors to review potential candidates for the Dropbears. Attendance at these camps will be based on personal applications for the team; players will be selected and invited by the selection committee. A shortlist of fifty individuals will be invited to attend selection camps. The camps will occur in November and December in Sydney and Melbourne.

Thirdly, following the selection camps, up to thirty individuals will be chosen to form the Dropbears Training Squad. These individuals, chosen by the selection committee, will train together in January and February 2018. From this group, the final 21 players and reserves will be selected by the coaching team, assisted by the selectors, by mid February.

Selectors
Team Selectors will be tasked with inviting players to the Quidditch Australia Development Camps, inviting players to the QA Dropbears Selection Camp, and forming the Dropbears Training Squad. Applications for Team Selector are open as of today and will remain open until the 29th of June. Quidditch Australia is seeking four individuals to take on this role and are currently only considering non-playing selectors. Selectors that intend to try out for the team are welcome to apply but are unlikely to be successful. A more detailed position description is available in the application form. Selectors will be chosen by the Quidditch Australia board.

Apply here: https://form.jotformpro.com/71559389747981

Please send any questions, comments, or queries to [email protected].