Week Three - Task #10. - “Aggressive Plays and Players”

[Anne-Marie Gagne]

So far, the tasks have worked on your teamwork and quick thinking. This task takes it in a slightly different direction. We all know that beaters are there to send the bludgers at the other players to distract them or even hurt them enough to take the player completely out of the game itself. The activity team wants your opinion on the subject.

Task:
In 125 words or more, give your opinion on the necessity of beaters OR on how much aggression is too much aggression.

This task is worth 10 beans and sapphires with a BONUS 10 beans and sapphires when all four Week Three tasks are submitted. They are due by November 30th before 11:59PM HOL time.

[Adeline Morior]

I know quidditch in all is a good and fun sport and beaters remain a fascinating addition. They have bats to be able to score easier than having to fly and throw a quiffle into the rings. It helps a team a lot. However, I myself do not like the violence it can add to when beaters use bludgers as their ball to hit. Such as it being perfectly legal to have maneuvers and techniques where players can hit bludgers toward other players. I feel hitting a quiffle toward other players doesn’t have so much weight to it in damage it can cause.

Muggles have a lot of sports that can end in the same type of harmful way and a lot of players end up with broken or shattered something, especially with sports that include bats and hard density balls such as with beaters.. Bludgers on the other hand I feel are a little bit too much due to size, density and hardness of which a bludger consists and the fact that they have minds of their own.

Conclusion. I think Beaters are great for a team. Adding a bat to hit a ball into the goal is a great addition, at the same time being able to hit a ball away from the goal in defense, bludgers… Not so much.

[Janne Halla]

I do think that Beaters are a necessary part of Quidditch. They shield their teammates from the extremely dangerous bludgers, ensuring that Chasers can make their runs unimpeded and Seekers can focus on catching the Snitch without fear of interruption. A well-coordinated pair of Beaters can create a protective barrier, allowing their team to move without worry. They also impede the opposing team and even knock them out of the play.

Therefore, they're key players on the pitch. However, while they're important, I don't think Bludgers are. Bludgers do bring an element of danger and excitement, but they're so aggressive.

In their current form and settings, they're quite dangerous and people have died while playing the sport. There's no reason why the Bludgers couldn't be softer or less dangerous. They could still try to hit players, but instead of injuring or knocking them off their brooms, they could just incur penalties. Maybe 10 points off for a bludger hitting a player or a free throw.

That way, Beaters would still have meaning in the Quidditch play and Bludgers could still present a sort of 'danger' on the field.

[Dibyarup James Potter]

I believe that beaters are definitely necessary on the pitch to protect their teammates from the very aggressive bludgers. Bludgers can often be very dangerous as well, causing serious injuries to players. For example, when my father Harry Potter was the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain, during the Quidditch try-outs, he was hit in the back of his head by a bludger by accident. His skull fractured in the process and he was knocked unconscious.

Also, during the Quidditch matches with Slytherin, there was often one player or another who would have some incident with a bludger due to Slytherin’s aggressive play style, which brings my attention to the distraction part of a beater’s job. A beater is not just responsible for protecting their teammates from bludgers, but also responsible for “beating” the bludgers towards the opposing team’s players in an attempt to either distract them or prevent them from scoring entirely.

This element brings a certain degree of thrill and challenge to the match that cannot be done in any other way. Therefore, in proper Quidditch matches, where the players have trained for a long time, have enough experience, all the players are aware of their surroundings and the beaters do their job properly, bludgers can be dealt with swiftly. It is true that injuries may still occur, similar to a lot of Muggle sports such as Cricket, Football and Competitive Martial Arts, however, deaths are very unlikely.

[Artemisia Thorne]

Beaters play a crucial role in the game of Quidditch as they defend their teammates from Bludgers, adding another level of strategy to the game beyond the typical basketball-style gameplay. This element could potentially be viewed as unnecessary aggression and violence as it is true that the Bludgers can and have caused injuries, however I think that it is necessary to remember that the use of aggression is common in sports and injuries are even more common.

However, while aggression is inherent to the game, excessive aggressive force can detract from the purpose of the game. Quidditch is at its best when players maintain a balance of skill, strategy, and controlled aggression. When this balance is skewed by aggression, players behaving in such a manner can be better compared to a brawl.

All things considered, I believe Beaters are necessary to the game of Quidditch, and as long as aggression remains controlled the game can be played without problem.

[Viviana Kingston]

Beaters plays a crucial role in Quidditch, serving a key position. Beaters deflect Bludgers away from their teammates and toward opposing players. It allows for defense and strategy to hinder and disrupt the opposing team from their own strategies. Without Beaters, if Bludgers were still in the game, the game would be potentially unsafe and could result in major injury. Beaters allow offensive and defensive manoeuvres to come into play, allowing tactical creativity. In quidditch, like any other sport, aggression is a part of the game, but too much aggression could lead to unsafe playing environments. Too much aggression can include fouls and using the Bludgers to cause major harm on purpose. These can be avoided by having sportsmanship, but in the case of the Bludgers, perhaps the hardness of the bludger should be decreased or the bludger should be spelled to create a less dangerous impact.

[Maeve Madden]

Like many Muggle sports, Quidditch incorporates a fair bit of aggression into the game. I think this is good, to a point. It adds excitement to the game for the fans, helping get people more invested in the sport. It also adds another layer to make the game more challenging for the players, requiring them to be more skilled and agile. However, there is such a thing as too much aggression. The bludgers should not be used to seriously maim or kill the players. As well, the beaters should not be using their bats to hit players directly. Using the bludgers to distract players is fair game, but there should be serious consequences for using these balls to purposefully injure players. Players will inevitably get hurt on the Quidditch pitch, whether there are bludgers are not. However, we can help limit these injuries by not using the bludgers to attack players on purpose.

[Evie Figg]

I do personally believe that beaters are necessary in Quidditch. Other than the obvious fact that the bludgers would have full reign of the field without them, beaters play a significant role. They have view of the whole game, meaning if they see any fowl play occurring between opposing players towards their teammates, they can easily call them out for it. A beater's main goal is to handle the bludgers, so in doing so, they are also following the players, as the bludgers are meant to follow the players flying on their broom. Another reason beaters are important within the sport is the same sentiment about how brutal hockey can be, or how rough rugby tends to be. In hockey, behavior considered too harsh will be penalized with a penalty, resulting in the accused player to spend 2 minutes in the 'penalty box', leaving the team with one less player. Imagine if those aspects were not part of the game, it would make is much less exciting and enjoyable, much like what beaters do in the world of Quidditch.

[Scarlet Robloutain]

In the game of Quidditch, Beaters assume a pivotal role, introducing a strategic layer essential for the game's coherence. Their primary responsibility, redirecting Bludgers, transcends mere defense, serving as a backbone that prevents the sport from devolving into disorderly commotion. The exclusion of Beaters would compromise Quidditch's various dynamics, transforming it into a pursuit of the Quaffle without more refined tactics.

Furthermore, Beaters contribute a crucial psychological side to the game. The looming threat of a Bludger strike compels teams to engage in a calculated aerial ballet of strategy, resembling a wizarding chess match. This combination of skill, strategy, and controlled tumult is integral to Quidditch, providing Beaters architects of the sport's captivating spirit. Their exclusion would signify a loss, a void in Quidditch's narrative.