UPDATE
The Milano Meneghins are NOT going to World Cup
Hello everybody!
Yesterday night I sent an email to Logan Anbinder from the IQA to tell him that, sadly, we won’t be able to be there.
We have tried until the very last moment to make the impossible possible in this little amount of time and, despite still being very distant from the goal we set for ourselves on this campaign, we have been, two or three times, on the verge of saying yes to the World Cup. Thanks a billion to everyone in the IQA who tried until the very last to have us at WCVI!
We can’t be present, and we won’t be able to meet most of you in person as soon as we would have liked to, but we are happy you could get a glimpse of who we are. We are getting you your perks at the world cup anyway thanks to the friends that are willing to help us! That and having you there, you who supported us, will be our way to be somehow present at World Cup!
What will be left of your contributions after the cost of perks and shipping is deducted is going into travelling costs for the team in Italy and Europe: since we aren’t coming to Florida we will be concentrating our efforts on playing over here, getting better and helping quidditch grow where we live. And getting ready to kick ass at next World Cup ;)
So, thank you, thank you, thank you, and good bye for now!
P.S.: for those who chose the postcard, video or jersey, please let us know the details, so that you can get exactly what you want! For jerseys especially I will very soon get in touch with people I don’t have details for.
Long story short![]()
We are the Milano Meneghins, and we play quidditch! Yes, the one with brooms. No, we don't fly. Yes, there is a Snitch. No, that one doesn't fly either.
The story a bit less short
Ok, let's try it again. We play quidditch, or muggle quidditch, an adaptation of the sport invented by J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series, that was born in 2005 in Middlebury College, Vermont.
The sport is a fun mix of rugby/european handball for some of the players (keepers and chasers), dodgeball (beaters) and tag (seekers with the snitch runner). 4 balls in play, well, 5 if you count the Snitch, which is tucked into the snitch runner's shorts, 7 players per side. It's a contact sport and fully co-ed, the rules state that every team must field at least 2 athletes not recognizing themselves in the same gender as the others, at all times.
And we use a broom. Why? Because it's fun, and an element that increases the importance of skills. And because it's quidditch, duh!
The idea slowly made its way to Europe, then Italy, and here's us!
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The Milano Meneghins!
The team met for the first time in april 2012, in a public park where we still practice most of the times. We are a community team, ages ranging from 18 to 26, and our quidditch story so far includes winning the first Italian tournament in June 2012, being the first italian IQA official team shortly after that and getting the 3rd place in the first European Regional in Lesparre-Médoc, France.
The group is slowly getting bigger, and we're improving our game, while quidditch spreads in the rest of Italy too. We are looking forward to a final tournament with all the active Italian teams this June, where we hope to finally get to meet all the italian quidditch players we haven't met thus far.
Quidditch has brought together all of us, despite us coming from really different backgrounds and having different ideas, and all our new players have seen how they can feel like they belong even only after one game. Sports in general are awesome, but this one has something inexplicable to it that makes it (you already know the word I'm going to use: sorry!) magical!
What We Need...![]()
Despite not qualifying immediately, we were very recently offered a spot at World Cup VI as the 3rd classified team at the European Regional. We are absolutely determined to be present at this extraordinary event, and ready to dig into our savings, but even that wouldn't be enough for some of us.
We still don't know exact prices for the tickets, because we are in contact with All About Group Travel and waiting to hear more from them about flights. If that isn't going to help, we will be paying
- $700 approx. : plane ticket
- $25: registration fee
- $110 approx. : passport (for some of us)
- Plus expenses for food and some transportation once in the U.S.A.
Plus an hypothetical extra of
which would be a great occasion to meet even more quidkids from around the world if we could afford the expense.
So, even if we don't reach our goal, you will still be helping us by making the costs a bit less harsh. In the hopefully unlikely event that our presence at the Cup won't become a reality, all the money raised will be used to give us the chance of being present at as many tournaments in Italy and Europe as we can, so that we can spread quidditch around the world!
... & What You Get![]()
We are currently figuring out what kind of perks we can offer you so far, but here is what we have in store for you:
- small gadgets (pins, mugs, keychains, ...)
- jerseys (full kit, shirt simple/customized)
- t-shirts with our logo and t-shirts created by one of our players
- stickers of our whole team
- some really special thank you cards
- a place to stay in Milan without additional costs if you plan on visiting Europe in the next future, including any additional benefit we will be able to add for you (guided tour of the city, parties, transportation, ...)
And in addition to that, we have some nice video ideas ready to be translated into reality!
Also, HUGS! LOTS OF HUGS! (Assuming we are meeting you at WCVI, in Milan, or wherever.)
What impact does it have?![]()
Being at the World Cup would give us an opportunity to play quidditch in its highest form and so bring this sport a little step forward towards its real internationalization. This implies an increased acknowledgement of the sport in America as well.
You will make some (extremely grateful) friends in Italy, and let's be honest, who doesn't want that? :)
Even more impact: we will try to shoot a videodiary of our trip to WCVI, with the intention of taking it to a TV program in Italy that would grant us a lot of visibility on a national level. So, once more, you would be contributing to the expansion of our sport everywhere.
What more can you do?
We understand that not everyone is able to make donations. We all have our own expenses, and these years are not the best to decide to spend even more money.
But if you can't help us directly, you can still help us make this campaign reach every corner of the web!
Use the tools on indiegogo.com, share the link, tell people to help us!
Thank you so much to all of you, even only for taking the time to read all this!
The Milano Meneghins!
