| Belgian Gryffins | |
| Full Name: | Belgium National Quidditch Team |
| Nicknames: | The Belgian Gryffins de Belgische Gryffioenen les Gryffons Belges den Belgischen Greyfen |
| Founded: | 2014 |
| League: | IQA |
| Colours: | Black, gold and red |
| Coach: | Louis Lermytte & Corentin (Cory) Faniel |
| Captain: | 2015: Tim Van Huygevoort 2014: David Danos |
| Championships: | 2015 European Games 2014 Global Games |
| First Season: | 150*-80 (Burnaby, Canada; 19 July 2014) |
| Association: | Belgian Quidditch Federation |
The Belgium national quidditch team, also known as the Belgian Gryffins (Dutch; Flemish: Belgische Gryffioenen; French: Gryffons Belges; German: Belgischen Greyfen), is the national team of Belgium in quidditch. The team was founded in 2014 upon the announcement of the 2014 IQA Global Games,[1] [2] [3] the International Quidditch Association's second international tournament featuring national teams.
The team is overseen by the Belgian Quidditch Federation, the head organisation of all quidditch in Belgium. The name Gryffins and the logo come from the combination of Belgium's two community's symbols: the Walloon cock and the Flemish lion.[4]
The Gryffins were founded in 2014 under the guiding of Canadian David Danos at the announcement of the 2014 Global Games[5] in Burnaby, B.C., Canada. As Belgium's quidditch scene was young and developing, unlike other nations, there were no try-outs for the 2014 team. The decision for who went rested on the individual player's ability to fund themselves. The Gryffins held a crowd-funding campaign through Indiegogo where they raised nearly €1000[6] of the €8000 needed and were keeping a social media presence through their Facebook and Twitter pages.
After appearing at the European Games in Sarteano, Italy (July 2015), and ranking fourth in Europe, the Gryffins will once again compete in a worldwide event at World Cup 2016 in Frankfurt.
The colours of the team have always been that of the Belgium tricolore, red, gold and black. Since in quidditch it is illegal to sport a jersey primarily with yellow due to confusion with snitches, the primary colours are always red or black with yellow as a flair.[7]
The design of the 2014 jerseys were put through a popular vote open to any interested Belgian quidditch player. The majority chose the option created by Julie-Anne Weber, who designed the paw, and Cory Faniel, who dealt with the colour layout.[8]
In November 2014, a popular vote ranked the Gryffins' jersey among the five best quidditch team uniforms in the world, according to the readers of The Quidditch Post.[9] A jury of editors graded each submission and, after aggregating the score of popular and jury votes, Belgium was awarded the title of World's Best Quidditch Uniform for the jersey design displayed above.
In 2015, the decision was made to maintain a similar design for the European Games jersey, though a change in provider resulted in some necessary tweaking.
The team is open to any player that is a Belgian citizen or permanent resident, a temporary resident of Belgium or has excessive contact with Belgian quidditch at the discretion of the head of Belgium Muggle Quidditch.
The first roster was established for the 2014 Global Games in Vancouver. No try-outs were held and players had to be chosen on the basis of whether or not they could afford the trip.[10] The following players took part to this competition.
| 10 | C | Laurens Grinwis Plaat Stultjes |  | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 9 | C | Jana Meers | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 11 | C | Nathan Wilputte | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 07 | C/K/S | Corentin (Cory) Faniel | | St. Andrews Snidgets | |
| 06 | K | Gorik Verbeken | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 72 | B | David Danos (C) |  | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 4 | B | Inke Gieghase | | Deurne Dodo's | |
| 12 | B | Jerona van der Gevel |  | AmsterDragons | |
| 3 | C/S | Pauline Schena | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 17 | B | Laura Mailleux | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 18 | C | Ruth D'Hoore | | Ghent Gargoyles | |
| 26 | B | Lieselot Van den Abbeele | | Ghent Gargoyles |
Following the announce of the European Games, it was decided that new players would be selected to compete in Sarteano, Italy, against other European national teams. This would reflect the growth of quidditch in Belgium and increase the depth of the team [11] The selection process involved scouting players who had applied to be part of the team, but no try-outs. The final roster was announced on May 22 and consisted of 20 players, with only four Gryffins from the previous selection returning to the team.[12] Two players were kept as reserve: Rik De Boeck and Brian Verbeure, with Rik ending up joining the team. The Belgian Quidditch Federation nominated Louis Lermytte and Corentin (Cory) Faniel as coaches.
| 10 | C | Laurens Grinwis Plaat Stultjes | | Ghent Gargoyles Quidditch Club | |
| 16 | C/K/S | Seppe De Wit | | Deurne Dodo A | |
| 13 | B | Elisabeth Reyniers | | Deurne Dodo A | |
| 2 | C/K/S/B | Tim van Huygevoort (Cap.) | | Deurne Dodo A | |
| 9 | C | Jana Meers | | Brussels Qwaffles / Hasselt Horntails | |
| 26 | S/C | Pieter Goossens | | Hasselt Horntails | |
| 12 | B | Pauline Raes | | Ghent Gargoyles Quidditch Club | |
| 7 | K/C/S/B | Corentin (Cory) Faniel (Coach) | | Leeds Griffins | |
| 21 | C/K/S | Florian Dion | | Brussels Qwaffles / Les Dracognards | |
| 14 | C | Jorge Diaz | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 789 | B/S/C | Tanghi Burlion (V-Cap.) | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 949 | B | Shati Patel | | Oxford Quidlings | |
| 69 | C/K/S | Nathan Wilputte | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 4 | C/B | Ellen Huycke | | Ghent Gargoyles Quidditch Club | |
| 94 | B | Pauline Berger | | Brussels Qwaffles / Les Dracognards | |
| 717 | C/K/S | Nicolas Volders | | Leuven Leprechauns | |
| 33 | C/B/S | Louis Lermytte (Coach) | | Deurne Dodo A | |
| 17 | C | Charlotte Buelens | | Deurne Dodo B | |
| 89 | B | Moussa Fall | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 23 | B | Caroline Mailleux | | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| 34 | B | Rik de Boeck | | Leuven Leprechauns |
After receiving more than 60 applications, the four members of the selection committee named 32 players to take part to the first 3 trainings. The Selection committee was appointed by the Belgian Quididtch Federation to include both coaches from the previous year (Louis Lermytte and Cory Faniel), the former captain (Tim van Huygevoort) and a former member of the selection committee (Soraya A.). They also decided to appoint Louis Lermytte as coach who took Laurens Grinwis Plaat Stultjes as his non-playing assistant.
| C | Ellen Huycke | Ghent Gargoyles | |
| B | Elisabeth Reyniers | Deurne Dodo A | |
| B | Soraya Abbagnato | Deurne Dodo A | |
| K | Louis Lermytte | Deurne Dodo A | |
| C | Jorge Diaz | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| C | Seppe De Wit | Deurne Dodo A | |
| B | Faust Eeckhout | Deurne Dodo A | |
| C | Emile Aerts | Deurne Dodo A | |
| C | Nathan Wilputte | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| C | Chayenne Van Meel | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| B | Damien Leclaire | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| C | Micah Unruh | Ghent Gargoyles | |
| C | Audrey Linssen | Liège Leviathans | |
| C | Tim Van Huygevoort | Deurne Dodo A | |
| C | Lana Naudts | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| C | Jens De Graeve | Bruges Bridgebacks | |
| B | Tanghi Burlion | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| C | Willem Ardui | Deurne Dodo A | |
| C | Laurent Venckeleer | Deurne Dodo A | |
| C | Arnaud Liepin | Liège Leviathans | |
| B | Axiana Govaert | Ghent Gargoyles |
| B | Abbagnato Soraya | Antwerp A | |
| C | Bonnet Paul | Antwerp A | |
| C | Busson Hato | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| C | De Graeve Jens | Bruges Bridgebacks | |
| C | De Leu Nick | Ghent Gargoyles | |
| C | De Wit Seppe | Antwerp A | |
| B | Dion Florian | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| B | Dubois Jan | Antwerp A | |
| B | Eeckhout Faust | Antwerp A | |
| C/K | Hodeche Sylvain | Liège Leviathans | |
| C/K/B | Lermytte Louis | Antwerp A | |
| C | Meers Jana | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| C | Noiret Jerôme | Liège Leviathans | |
| C | Olivier Jade | Antwerp B | |
| C | Porres Hanne | Antwerp B | |
| B | Prime Morgane | Antwerp A | |
| B | Reyniers Elisabeth | Antwerp A | |
| C/K | Unruh Micah | Ghent Gargoyles | |
| C | Van Huygevoort Tim | Antwerp A | |
| C | Van Meel Chayenne | Brussels Qwaffles | |
| C/K | Wilputte Nathan | Antwerp A |
The Gryffins made their debut at the 2014 IQA Global Games where they placed last. Due to lack of selection process and the fact that the team had just eleven players, the Gryffins had difficulties keeping to pace with the competition. However, as the quaffle point differentials show, Team Belgium, while outmatched, did not experience all complete losses, most notably in the Belgium-Canada game where a strong defensive line held the score to just 70-30* Canada. What solidified Belgium's seventh place was the final forfeit to Team USA where it was decided by the team to no longer progress as much of the team had succumbed to treatable injury.[15] [16]
| Opposing team | Winning team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Team Mexico | | 70 | 150 | | 24:00 | |
| | 30 | 70 | | 18:19 | ||
 | 50 | 90 | | 14:31 | ||
 Team Australia | | 0 | 160 | | 20:00 | |
 Team France | | 60 | 140 | | -** | |
 Team USA | | 0 | 150 | -* | 00:00 |
At the 2015 European Games, the Belgian Gryffins came second of their group, with the highest QPD, behind France and ahead of Turkey, Catalonia, Spain and Poland.[17] Facing the host, Italy, in the quarter of finals, Belgium conceded no goal and proceeded to face the UK in the semi-final.[18] This was among the toughest games of the tournament for the UK, but the Gryffins lost on a snitch catch.[19] As a result, Belgium entered the 3rd place play-off against Norway, that had lost facing France in the other semi-final. This game saw Norway pull ahead before Belgium scored a series of goals, but failing to come back within snitch range before Norway ended the game. The team ranked fourth overall and firmly established the country as one of the strongest in Europe.
| Opposing team | Winning team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team France | | 50 | 150 | | Group | |
| | 140 | 20 | | Group | ||
| Team Catalonia | | 190 | 50 | | Group | |
 Team Poland | | 150 | 0 | | Group | |
 Team Turkey | | 140 | 50 | | Group | |
 Team Italy | | 90 | 30 | | 1/4 final | |
| | 40 | 80 | | 1/2 final | ||
 Team Norway | | 80 | 150 | | 3rd place play-off |
| Opposing team | Winning team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Australia | | 70 | 130 | | Group | |
 Team Ireland | | 250 | 20 | | Group | |
 Team Slovakia | | 160 | 60 | | Group | |
| Team Italy | | 210 | 130 | | Round of 16 | |
| Team USA | | 50 | 130 | | Quarter Finals | |
| Team Turkey | | 140 | 150 | | 5-8 Losers Bracket | |
| Team Mexico | | 150 | 30 | | 7th Place Play-off |