A beautiful farewell address, sent out via email, by captain Kevin Engberson of the the Utah Crimson Fliers:

Dear Fliers and supporters,

looking back at 2011, it’s amazing what we were able to achieve in our first year as a team. Here is a sample of some of our accomplishments-

-Designing and building the best hoops ever and having them included in the official IQA Handbook.
-Designing and handmaking the coolest team uniforms in the league.
-1st place, Utah Snow Cup.
-1st place, Northern Colorado Quidditch Cup.
-Competing at the Western Cup in LA.
-Traveling to New York City and competing very well in THE Quidditch World Cup, placing 20th out of 60 Division 1 teams.

I think it would be hard to find any team in the league that accomplished so much in their first year. We have cultivated an attitude of passion and competitiveness while never forgetting the fun and wonder of the sport, and we are known for it. I think our team can be best summed up in a comment made by a competitor at a tournament. Talking about the Fliers, they said, “On and off the field you are complete opposites. On the field you are so intense and intimidating, you scare every team you play. But off the field you are the friendliest, most fun team.”

I love this team.
And so it is with great pride in everything we’ve accomplished together that I am stepping aside as captain of the Fliers to focus on working and going to school full time, and turning my position over to Brady Groves, who will co-captain the team with Matthew Williams.

Brady, in his short time on the team, has shown an unmatched passion and love for the game. Matthew has been a driving force behind our accomplishments from our first meetings and practices. I am very excited to see what they can accomplish. The future holds great things for the Fliers.

This is my final advice as captain:
Our sport comes from Wizard high school.
We are grown men and women who run around on brooms.
And that is a beautiful thing.
Quidditch is about embracing life and challenging assumptions- just because we’ve grown up, it doesn’t mean we have to stop having fun. Just because we’re having fun, it doesn’t mean we can’t be passionate and competitive and knock each other to the ground. Just because we’re competitors, it doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. And hey, sometimes friends wear capes and duel with wands.
It doesn’t mean we’re not obviously completely awesome.

Because Quidditch is like life:
even though you fight hard, you compete passionately, you need to stop every once in a while and just take in the moment. The cheering crowds. The adoring fans. The costumes, the players, the broom between your legs. The fact that all these people have come together to celebrate something so absurd, and yet so beautiful and exhilarating.
The key to Quidditch, as in life, is to never take yourself too seriously-
if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.

Signing off,
Kevin Engberson
Captain-
Utah Crimson Fliers