Post by Marius Catherwood on Nov 7, 2013 22:53:55 GMT -5
By: Aaron Proudvere, Senior Corespondent - November 3rd, 2050
There was an air of excitement and lightheartedness about the Ministry today--a contrast to the grim and solemn mood that seems to have gripped the nation--as panels began today for the International Summit on Magical Games and Sports. With approval ratings at an all time low and the bleak outlook that fills each Wizarding household, the departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports to discuss public welfare and ways of improving it.
According to research presented by the Office of the Minister, the nations happiness is falling swiftly, and while happiness and enjoyment is not something that the flick of a wand can truly repair, the Conference seeks to open new avenues of entertainment for witches and wizards around the world. According to the report, Quidditch attendance is declining, and there does appear to be some correspondence between this and the public welfare ratings, the study showed. One might wonder if the attendance numbers could have to do with a fear of leaving the house due to the very real possibility of mysteriously disappearing as a result of a mysterious entity the Ministry barely acknowledges--but, bread and circuses.
Regardless, representatives from a number of foreign governments and other institutions held a number of panels on popular sports in their native countries and methods and ideas on spreading these sports to other nations. Britian's panel focused upon our three major sports/activities, Quidditch, Gobstones, and Dueling. The segment devoted to Quidditch was brief as it has already been established internationally, but the surprising focus of much of the panel was the Official Gobstone Club, with wizarding delegates from Turkey and India taking particular interest. There was also an interesting debate about rules and regulations between the British representatives and the Spanish delegates, Spain having their own Dueling League with more relaxed regulations--and notably fewer gruesome injuries.
According to a representative from the Department of International Games and Sports, "[Britain's] panel was a resounding success, the department has already begun working with the Turkish delegates on spreading the game of Gobstones throughout the country and setting up an Official Gobstone club of their own. Perhaps in a few years we could see an international tournament or two!"
A number of the other panels sparked a considerable amount of buzz over their topics. The Italian Games Commission presented the internationally beloved sport of Naumachia, which the British representatives took some interest in. Naumachia, a sport that dates back to the Roman Empire, is the game of staged naval battles, originally held in Coliseums where the main arena was flooded and ships fought for victory. The sport saw a resurgence in Venice in the mid-19th Century. Concerns were raised about injury and death, but since the official formation of the Italian Naumachia League in 1904, the number of reported deaths had been zero. We will have to see if the formation of the British Naumachia League is in our future.
I sat in upon a few panels myself, and while many were interesting, the one that seized my attention was the presentation by the United States and the American Maze Running Association. Maze Running is a fairly new sport developed in 1994 that has yet to take hold in the rest of the world. That soon may change. According to the presentation, the game is a test of creativity and magical skill and endurance. Two competitors start out in an arena sunk into the ground with 3 cleared spaces, both of the wizards' gates, and then the free area in the middle. The object of the game is to get to your opponents gate, capture their pearl, and pass through your gate to victory. However, along the way you must create a maze to slow your opponent, springing any number of enchantments or traps to prevent your opponent from reaching your gate and getting away, while you deal with the maze they laid for you. The demonstration was really quite exciting, and my sources within the Games and Sports department confirm that they are working on bringing it to British shores.
The conference will continue for another two days, and conclude with a competition not unlike the Muggle "Olympics" as I believe they are called, where wizards from all nations represented will compete for honor in the spirit of friendly competition.
Even with everything that is happening across the world, readers, I do believe that every once in awhile it is necessary to distract ourselves with silly entertainments, and if nothing else, that is what this conference sought to bring to us. While I may disagree with the motivations behind it, the Ministry had clearly sought to foster cultural spread and international magical cooperation. Maybe if they pull their heads out of the sand long enough to help bring us out of this dark time, we'll all get some true enjoyment out of it.
