This year the quidditch team introduced a new president, sophomore Ashlen Bellin. The Shield sat down with her to talk about her start in quidditch and this years team.

The Shield: What position do you play on the team?

Ashlen Bellin: I’m primarily a chaser, but sometimes a beater if it’s needed.

Chasers score goals with the quaffle (volleyball) by advancing the ball down field running with it, passing it or kicking it. A beater’s primary role is to “disrupt the flow of the game by hitting other players and knocking them out of the game.

The Shield: Were you expecting to be president this year?

Bellin: Our coaches last year asked me to run. It was a pleasant surprise.

The Shield: How did you get involved with the quidditch team?

Bellin: I had heard about (quidditch) from Harry Potter. I thought it would be a fun way to stay active and not gain my “freshman 15.”

The Shield: Was it what you expected when you first joined?

Bellin: It was definitely a lot more than I thought it would be. I just kept coming back.

The Shield: What about it made you keep coming back?

Bellin: I honestly just really liked the people. I liked the travel.

The Shield: Did you know any of the team members before you joined?

Bellin: I hadn’t know anybody, but the first practice I automatically made friends. Some of the team members now are my closest friends.

The Shield: What do you enjoy about the travel tournaments?

Bellin: It’s really cool to see a lot of people from other states come together and play something that not a lot of people know about.

The Shield: Are there any overarching team goals this year?

Bellin: We’ve never made it to nationals. We’ve always gotten to regionals… It’s definitely a rebuilding year for us, a lot of our key players graduated. Our new ones are picking up. I think this season will be good.

The Shield: Is there anything specific the team needs to do to make it to nationals this year?

Bellin: I think definitely just focusing on having a strong team community. Having everyone work at the same level. One of our biggest weaknesses is people won’t be able to make it to all the practices, so we don’t get to work on us as a team.