Southern New England Quidditch Conference (SNEQC) and submitted a club sport application to the university's Athletics Department.  Despite several months and the full backing of the Assistant Athletic Director, the team was not approved of by the start of the new school year.  With everything minimally necessary to procede anyway aside from players, they held the first meeting in mid-September which attracted eight people who became committed team members.  The group lugged buckets of concrete to and from India Point Park on Sundays to practice which was usually 3-on-3.  One day, on the way home from practice, they decided the only thing keeping them from being a real team was a name. After deciding to hail from India Point Park, they were looking through the Harry Potter Bestiary for something fitting.  They liked the ashwinder best, and thus the India Point Ashwinders were born. 

 

 

 

 

IPA played its first games against Clark University Quidditch at home on October 14, 2012 and won 80-20 and 110-30.  Despite only having just enough players to field a team and therefore very few substitutes, the Ashwinders had a strong showing each time they took the field.  In their second matchup against a much more experienced University of New Haven Nibbling Nargles team, IPA was just a Snitch away from winning the third game.  Slowly the team put things together as the season progressed:  fast breaks against the University of Rhode Island Rhody Ridgebacks, big defensive stops in a tri-meet against URI and UNH, and more of each in a tri-meet against Clark and the Brandeis Wizengamot.  Sometimes this translated into big wins and when it did not, India Point was almost always in Snitch range.  They may have been the new kids on the block, but the best teams in SNEQC quickly found out that they needed to give their all to earn a victory against them.

 

The India Point Ashwinders entered SNEQC Cup 2013 with a 6-13 record and the largest active roster in their history.  They showed that they had really come around in the past seven months and were there to compete for the championship in their first pool game against the Nibbling Nargles.  IPA outscored the SNEQC powerhouse that was undefeated in the regular season by 20 points and only lost by 10 on a Snitch grab.  The Ashwinders steamrolled their way to bracket play with sound victories against URI, Clark, and Westfield State Quidditch by utilizing a ruthless fast break offense, sound team defense, and Snitch catches to top it all off.  URI gave IPA a terrific game in the semi-finals, holding the score to 20-0 when the Snitch came on pitch.  However, IPA turned it up after the Snitch returned and their offense tore through the defense while their own defense stayed strong.  Thanks in part to IPA MVP Jeremy Work's second straight shutout, IPA grabbed the Snitch and a 100-0 victory earning them another showdown with UNH for the championship.

 

It was the most intense game played in SNEQC thus far.  Both teams exerted everything they had in order to prevent the other from getting the slightest opportunity.  Unlike the rest of the tournament, IPA found itself in a defensive struggle.  They scored their first goal very quickly on a long shot by Dave Kelvey that went right between two defenders, off the bottom of the hoop, and through.  That first goal, however, was their last.  UNH played a phenomenal defensive game and held the Ashwinders in check for the remainder of the contest.  IPA played phenomenally in their own zone as well with an incredible effort by Chasers, Beaters, and Keeper.  But slowly UNH started getting a lead.  One goal, then two, and then three by the time the Snitch returned to the field.  They were about spent but the Ashwinders dug in to bring their intensity up one more level, to match that of their worthy opponents.  One more goal by UNH and an IPA Snitch catch would only force overtime.  India Point's Beaters focused more on the Snitch game and the opposing Quaffle-players traded stops.  The Nibbling Nargles got a timely Beat and were charging down for a fast break to go up by 30 with only Derik Wagner and Jeremy Work in position to defend...

 

Whistle blasts sounded and both teams looked about wildly to see the cause of the stoppage in play, in particular which jersey's Seeker was clutching a small, yellow Snitch tail.  Lo and behold, thanks to a timely Beat by Rod Hasbun, it was the black jersey of IPA and Seeker Jeff Blum who slid to the grass on his knees in triumph and was promptly jumped on by his ecstatic teammates. The India Point Ashwinders had won SNEQC Cup 2013.

 

Moving into the 2013-2014 season, IPA is looking replicate the rapid development it had last year and catapult into the upper ranks of the Northeast and repeat as SNEQC champions.