Dear US Quidditch players, coaches, officials, volunteers, staff, fans, family, friends, partners, and supporters,
Thank you so much for a fantastic season and an amazing World Cup 8 – by far our most successful yet. I am so appreciative of all our staff, volunteers, officials, and players for pulling off that event in such spectacular fashion, and I am grateful to our city and venue partners at Rock Hill, York County, and Manchester Meadows for hosting – and to our fans, partners, and donors for attending and supporting.
I come to you tonight with a major announcement. It is with mixed emotions that I must let you know that after 10 years at the helm of the sport and 5 years launching and growing our nonprofit, I will be stepping down from my position as US Quidditch CEO, effective May 1.
It’s been a fantastic ride and I am so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had not only to develop as an individual and leader, but to offer life-changing experiences to so many others. However, every chapter comes to an end, and I’ve been thinking for some time now about what I would do next. A fantastic leadership opportunity was recently offered to me in the sports world to direct another emerging sport, and while I cannot be specific at this point in time, I am excited to take on this new role and will announce more details as soon as possible.
Additionally, our COO Alicia Radford, who has been with the league since 2008 when she formed the University of Washington team and attended World Cup II, will also be stepping down, in early fall 2015. Alicia has been integral to legitimizing our league as a 501©3 non-profit organization and taking the right steps towards creating a robust membership base and full-time staff, and while she will be missed, I know she will help us take all the right steps to leave the league’s operations in amazing hands. She will take over as interim CEO after I leave on May 1 until the Board of Directors appoints a successor as Executive Director, with a background in professional management. The Board will also be assessing other paid staff positions to be added to our team.
The search process will be led by a nonprofit executive search consultant, and I am confident that at the end of the transition we will have an even stronger and more experienced leadership team in charge of the organization, along with our core staff group: Sarah Woolsey, Events Director; Katie Stack, Membership Director; and Mary Kimball, Assistant Events Manager. We have also recently appointed two new board members, Alison O’Neil and Matt Hayden, who will only serve to amplify our team moving forwards.
This is a bittersweet moment for me, as I am personally excited for growth and change in my own life and in US Quidditch, but I am also sad to leave a position in an organization that has been the central aspect of my life for the last ten years. However, this is not so much a “goodbye” as a “see you later,” as the Board has voted to keep me on in an emeritus (advisory) position, and of course I will be back for our first ever National Cup next year. Alicia will be staying on in a full-fledged board position, and we both hope to help with fundraising, networking, and long-term planning as much as we possibly can.
I must at this point offer my sincerest, most heartfelt thanks to everyone everywhere who has ever helped us grow our sport and league to where it is today. I’ve gotten to be a part of the evolution from 20 kids running around with towels and shooting balls in a garbage can behind their dorm, to 4,000 players and 150 official teams in a nationwide league (with dozens of other leagues and thousands of players and fans around the globe), and it wouldn’t have been possible without so many individuals putting so much time and effort into growing the sport.
I have a lot of people and groups to thank here at the end of my role as Commissioner / CEO so please forgive me if I leave anyone out, and please know that your inclusion here (or not) is not the be-all and end-all of the significance of your contribution to the league and sport.
First and foremost I must thank Xander Manshel, good friend and inventor of the real-life sport of quidditch, and Rainey Johnson, the first human snitch, for proving that JK Rowling’s fantastical vision could be translated to real-life.
I must also thank Lizz Herron-Sweet and Justin Bogart for being two of the longest playing original quidditch players, who started in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Lizz only recently stopped playing in the last few years, and Justin still plays today on The Warriors, a New York City community team, and he also contributed ample footage of the first days of quidditch at Middlebury to the Mudbloods Documentary.
Next up I have to thank Middlebury College, for embracing with open arms a really unique and strange concept. I must especially thank Deans Matthew Longman and Linda “McGonagall” Schiffer for their early support of the sport, ranging from funding to morale boosting. I must also thank Doug Adams, Tammy Grant, and Dave Kloepfer in the Center for Campus Activities and Leadership (CCAL) at Middlebury who tirelessly helped me schedule and plan the first three World Cup events, as well as Ben Schiffer who was both a DJ and medic. And last but not least, Then-Dean of Students Tim Spears, who funded and supported the first quidditch road trip in 2008 that exploded the sport into the public sphere, and President Ron Leibowitz who approved even more funding for the team after I graduated and always made sure to show up to every World Cup.
I must also deeply thank a trio of dedicated players and organizers at Middlebury College, including: Kate Olen, Charlie Hoffman, and Chris Free (who invented the idea of position color-coded headbands). There were many others who made quidditch at Middelbury successful but they are too numerous to do justice to here. One cannot forget Vassar student Woodrow Travers, who founded the first team there and helped them travel to Middlebury in 2007 for the first World Cup. I am also so grateful to Craig Wilson, who wrote the famous front-page USA Today story that fall “Collegiate Quidditch Takes Off,” which of course became a self-fulfilling prophecy, as well as Producer Paige Kendig and Anchor Dave Price of CBS news who pushed us live to millions of viewers in early 2008 on our road trip (which is how Alicia Radford learned about quidditch and got involved, much to everyone’s benefit). I also cannot forget to recognize Sopheak Chheng who organized the first webcasts at the Middlebury World Cups.
I must also at this time acknowledge the legendary Donny Dickson, the second snitch ever in history, who sadly passed in 2013. Included in his sermon, the pastor described Donny’s role in quidditch: “Smiling, the golden snitch in his golden costume, working his own magic, running around the Quidditch Pitch. Donny, the uncatchable, unquenchable spirit of fun.”
The next major player in shaping the future of quidditch was Andrew Slack and the Harry Potter Alliance. Andrew got me started on the path towards incorporating as a non-profit entity and advised me on all the necessary steps to get started. At this time, I must also thank Dave Gurtman at the firm of Dinse Knapp McAndrew in Burlington, VT who provided pro-bono legal counsel in our incorporation while I lived there after graduation.
Following Andrew’s advice I incorporated the International Quidditch Association on March 10, 2010, and recruited the first ever Board of Directors, including myself: Alicia Radford, Jared Kowalczyk, Alex Terry, Kristen Howarth, Aimee Howarth, Peter Chen, Xander Manshel, Max Kaplan, and Kate Olen. This group not only guided the long-term direction of the organization but also worked tirelessly in the trenches of each event, starting with World Cup IV in New York City, to hold the league together.
I also have to thank Warner Bros. the trademark owners of Quidditch and Harry Potter. They’ve been incredibly reasonable, permissive and communicative with me ever since I reached out to them in 2008, and very generous in their allowances with us to exist and operate as a non-profit entity. Another rights holder might have taken much more objection to our group, yet they’ve been very accommodating and respectful of us as fans and athletes and innovators and I am very grateful to them for that.
At this point the league has gotten so large that it would be impossible for me to thank each and every person who played a role in helping us grow, ranging from every founding captain to every early volunteer. I must at the very least first recognize Harrison Homel, who defined what a Regional Director could be in terms of growing the sport in a new part of the country, creating cohesive regional identity, and adeptly balancing the challenges of creative initiative while working within the confines of a larger organization. Harrison now heads up the newly-formed IQA and there couldn’t be a better person for the job, and of course I am excited to see what Brian Gallaway can do in his position as President of Congress.
Right around this point I MUST thank my parents Charlotte and Adrian and my brother Erik and extended family in general for putting up with so much over my years of getting quidditch off the ground. Between letting their son move back in and trying not to fret too much while he was earning no money (for a couple years at first) with a college degree launching a sports league based on a fantasy novel, to hosting probably over 100 random quidditch players and volunteers over the years, to having all of the World Cup IV boxes and equipment in our living room before that first World Cup in New York City, they put up with it all and believed in me, and without them and their support this would not be possible
I must also thank a few other key volunteers, who are currently working with us and have been for a long time. I wish I could list every volunteer who ever worked with us here but the list is again, unfortunately far too long to do everyone justice.
Alex Krall, longstanding web developers/gurus. I am already going to break my rule a little to also recognize Dan Panzarella here, who put up with our technological needs far beyond common human endurance.
Alexis Bristor, ASU team founder, event director, regional director, teams director, and general long time volunteer.
Kathryn Mudgway, who has always helped behind the scenes anyway she could, including handling inquiries to our info@ email address for years.
Logan Anbinder, who has served in event roles, as marketing director, and been a fan and supporter of the league for over half a decade.
Carly Taylor, a long time volunteer in our membership department who has helped to launch and maintain our membership program.
Megan Anderson, my tireless volunteer executive assistant who is perhaps the fastest email-responder and project-completer in the world and has now expanded to encompass major event leadership positions as well, particularly at World Cup 8.
Clay Dockery, who has played perhaps the second largest role after Will Hack in defining and growing and developing the quidditch rulebook. And of course, Will Hack himself, who professionalized our rules for the first time.
Crystal Hutcheson, Meaghan Prenda, and Michael Mason, who are currently major members of USQ’s communications team, have been in their roles for years and have triple-handedly defined the league’s visual branding, photography, social media, and more throughout our history.
Kevin Oelze, Martin Pyne, Sarah Kneiling, David Brownman and Josh Maher, who have stuck with the league’s gameplay and referee development through thick and thin to keep the sport organized and as official as possible.
Joan Marie Todd for tirelessly assisting us with our annual tax filings each year.
I’m going to break my own rule of current volunteers again here a bit - I also need to thank Hannah Lindgren, who was the first non-executive leadership director of World Cup, and revolutionized the level of organization and staffing at the event in the groundbreaking World Cup VI in Kissimmee, FL in 2013. Along with Hannah I need to thank Alison Gillette, Hannah Pohlmann, Luke Zak and Alex Clark, who were among the amazing executive staff team on that Cup, as well as our first office interns: Danny Mendelson, Annabel Cryan, Sam Harris, Sara Belasco, and John Segarra, plus our stalwart volunteer Winter Schwaid-Linder, who were crucial that prior summer in helping us plan our events and pack and ship thousands of merchandise items to fans and players. Some other non-current volunteers I must recognize are Andrew Canto and Chris Beesley for their vital contributions that helped revolutionize refereeing. I also must take this time to recognize a mix of current and former volunteers for pushing forward snitching in a major way: Max Parks, Austin Nuckols, Ethan Giventer, Jeff Brice, and Rob Szabo
I must also thank our current and recent staff team:
Alicia Radford, above and beyond all others, who sacrificed the most and worked the hardest to upgrade our league from a loose collection of teams to a regimented non-profit organization with a gold Guidestar charity rating, a robust membership base, full-time staff and ample funding.
Katie Stack, who has revolutionized our structure by developing and implementing a membership system and tirelessly served as a board member and general volunteer, in addition to founding the BU team (which saw three other Stacks playing on it over the years).
Sarah Woolsey, who came up the ranks as a player and distinguished herself early on as an utterly punctilious event director, and eventually became our first league events director and now personally has headed up the past two World Cups.
Mary Kimball, a new addition but perfect fit in the organization as Assistant Events Manager, who played a crucial role in making World Cup 8 so successful.
Brandon Kreines, who helped us overhaul and create a new in-house refereeing testing and reviewing process
I must also thank new board members who have recently or very recently joined us, including Board Chair Jacob Adlis, as well as Katie Stack, Dan Hanson (who has also played an essential role in our long-term referee development), Alison O’Neil, and Matt Hayden.
We’re getting close to the end I promise!
I must thank our donors and major partners, especially Joe Pickett at OAN, who revolutionized the way US Quidditch could organize events and brought in tens of thousands of dollars of city support to raise the quality and professionalism of our events everywhere. I must also thank:
Marie and Ken Herdegren and everyone else at AAGT who provided great hotel services for years.
Our new agency Traveling Teams who has also provided great hotel services to our staff and teams this season.
Breakleft and DFTBA for providing merchandising operations.
Dave Wedzik at Alivan’s for providing high quality brooms and thousands of dollars in donations to US Quidditch over the years.
Kevin Peterson at Peterson Brooms for hoops and trophies over the years, and now Snitch Shorts.
Row West, Quiyk, Savage, A-Line, and every company who has ever provided jerseys and apparel for our teams.
Dawn, Gary, Elizabeth and Jaden Karpoff for their loyal support of our events and recent donations to support our tackle project, which we must also thank Augustin Brajeux for heading up.
My personal advisors, including but not limited to Courtney Hall, Linda Schiffer, Max Levine, and Katherine Booth.
The Harry Potter Alliance, Harry and the Potters, Leaky/Geeky Con & Melissa Anelli, Hypable, GeekDad, Mugglenet, Spartz Media, and a myriad of other fan groups and websites that helped us promote and organize our sport.
Ethan Sturm and Amanda Dallas, who both served with us for a long time as volunteers and eventually jump started and revolutionized quidditch journalism through the creation and management of The Eighth Man, the first dedicated, organized quidditch news website.
Andy Marmer and Lindsay Garten, who have been instrumental in publishing content on our league website and creating perhaps the second most-recognized quidditch news site, the Quidditch Post.
Jack “ThePhan” McGovern for running an amazing quidditch blog and helping run editorial operations on-site at every World Cup.
The city of Rock Hill, York County, and Manchester Meadows for co-hosting the best World Cup yet, along with every other city that has ever hosted a USQ or IQA event.
And last but not least, every single Team, Player, Member, Official, Fan, and Volunteer, with USQ/IQA now or in the past, who helped make this wondrous dream possible.
I deeply apologize to anyone I’ve left off here, and please email me at commissioner@usquidditch.org if you feel I’ve overlooked you in a category - I’ll be hugely embarrassed most likely and will probably add you to the list right away, although also please be understanding if I don’t respond because it is a crazy busy time right now!
I am so grateful to all of you and wish you the best, and I look forward to seeing you at the first US Quidditch National Cup (and perhaps even some international tournaments) next year!
Brooms Up!
Alex Benepe
swools42