USQ Fall Regional Championships Canceled
As previously announced, there should have been Muggle quidditch Regional Championships for US Quidditch (USQ) in fall 2020. Not anymore. On September 21, USQ staff decided to cancel the Fall Regional Championships.
Two months ago, US Quidditch announced a program for the 2020–21 season that included Fall Regional Championships and Spring Regional Championships. The decision to cancel the former was made to ensure the health and safety of the quidditch community.
This update comes after months of USQ’s events, gameplay, and risk management teams working through various contingency plans to host these championships: such as, restricting the number of teams, prohibiting spectators, and increasing sanitization procedures. With the health and safety of the quidditch community as our top priority, USQ has decided to not move forward with the execution of these regional events.
The Fall Regional Championships would have included the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships and would have happened in October and November. It was not mandatory for teams to participate, but every regional championship was open to teams from all regions. All matches would have been played without spectators.
Other regional championships and USQ Cup 14 haven’t been canceled. The Spring Regional Championships are scheduled to take place in February in Columbia, South Carolina; in Round Rock, Texas; and in Livermore, California. USQ Cup 14 will be on April 17–18 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Currently, all USQ teams have been in Stage 2 of the return-to-play guidelines since September 4. The difference between Stage 1 and Stage 2 is that practices can be with 25 people, rather than 10 or fewer. Indoor meetings are allowed, but indoor practices are not. Every drill and match has to be noncontact, and all players have to wear face masks. USQ should announce on October 2 if teams will stay in Stage 2 or move to Stage 3.
These guidelines are obligatory for every team to follow. US Quidditch worked on them together with Major League Quidditch.