#renegadecup

[brc-tennis]

The deadline to sign-up has been extended to Thursday Aug 18th @ 10 am. The draw will be posted no later than this Friday (19th) mid morning. You can message Nick at [email protected] The Renegade Cup has their own FB page for more info @ https://www.facebook.com/events/1208978319136121/ & http://www.brctennis.com/ #tennis #renegadecup #bakersfieldracquetclub #bakersfieldtennis #brctennis (at Bakersfield Racquet Club)

[quiyk]

Renegade Cup (Preview)

By Sean Pagoada

(Note: The author is a member of Florida's Finest.)

The 3rd FQC tournament of the season will be hosted by Florida State University and will feature a few out-of-state teams.  With 12 teams in attendance, Renegade Cup will be the closest preview we have of the Southern Regionals in February. There will be three games in pool play and single-elimination bracket play where seeds 1-4 automatically advance to the quarterfinals. With teams hailing from Mississippi, Alabama, as well as South Carolina, every state bringing a team to regionals will be in attendance with the exception of Tennessee. Let’s take a look at how these teams look to fare in this tournament: Pool 1: Florida’s Finest (FF/Flamingos), Florida State University (FSU), College of Charleston (CofC), University of Southern Alabama (USA) Florida’s Finest will be playing without its 1st and 2nd line keepers, as well as 1st and 2nd line female chasers. With the Seminoles hosting the tournament, they should be carrying a full roster, unlike the 12-man roster they had at Wolfpack Classic (WPC). From the first Florida Quidditch Conference (FQC) tourney to now, Florida’s Finest has steadily been gathering more players that have yet to be seen on the pitch this season. The beating for the Flamingos will be the best we’ve seen so far, so I expect the defenses for its opponents to be at half strength most of the time, making for easier goals throughout the day. Florida State will have some more firepower with it, its quaffle players having advantages over CofC and USA. Charleston should be a better team than last year with some of the new players I saw at the Mid-Atlantic Fantasy but won’t be able to handle the experience that FF and FSU have acquired this season. If CofC’s beaters have improved, it could give FSU a run for its money. USA has some speed at chasing but its lack of size will be a hindrance, especially in this pool. Its beating was sub-par as well. Presumably, all records will look like this: FF 3-0 FSU 2-1 CofC 1-2 USA 0-3 Pool 2: University of Florida (UF/Gators), Eastern Florida State College (EFSC), University of Southern Mississippi (USM), merc between Florida Atlantic University/Rollins College Just like FSU, the Gators got some well-earned experience in the Southwest playing against Texas A&M as well as a during very tight match with Austin Quidditch. We should see more physicality from the rest of the team and not just a few players, as well as a crisp passing game. The only thing that would keep its match with EFSC close is the Titans’ advantage on the beater side. The Titans’ quaffle players don’t have the speed to keep up with Florida, but if EFSC can retain bludger control, it can keep the match close and pull off the snitch catch for the win. USM showed some new talent at WPC, but none that should be effective enough to gain wins against UF and EFSC. Kyle Carpenter has shown great strides as a beater, but once he subs out, the lack of any other formidable players will keep them out of snitch range for most of the day. I’m not sure who will be showing up for this merc team, so I will give the official teams playing the benefit of the doubt. UF 3-0 EFSC 2-1 USM 1-2 FAU/Rollins 0-3 Pool 3: University of South Florida (USF/Bulls), Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU/Eagles), University of South Carolina (USC/Gamecocks), Mercenary team

The Bulls will be without a few of its male beaters for the rest of the season, which has always been a strong suit for it. “This shouldn’t affect the team too much in this pool; the presence of Jody “Sunshine” Louis should help it tremendously, as it missed him at the last tournament.” The Bulls and Eagles should have their match in snitch range, but I will give the edge to USF based on its experience. Without a very efficient offense, FGCU will have two chances to boost its confidence and improve on that side of the ball against the Gamecocks and the Mercenary team. USC has a lot of work to do on all facets of the game if it wants to compete with the rest of the region. The Mercenary team will be carrying Daniel DePaula and Duncan Fergurson from LSU along with a few other mercenaries from WPC, so I’ll give them the edge against USC. USF 3-0 FGCU- 2-1 Merc 1-2 USC 0-3 Predictions: Bracket play seedings 1 FF 2 UF 3 USF 4 EFSC 5 FSU 6 FGCU 7 CofC 8 USM 9 Merc 10 USA 11 FAU/Rollins 12 USC

Round 1 FSU > USC FGCU > FAU/Rollins CofC > USA USM > Merc

Round 2 FF > USM UF > CofC USF > FGCU EFSC > FSU

Semi-finals FF > EFSC UF > USF Finals FF > UF