At the beginning of the 2024/25 season, the UBC quadball team was in danger. With just four members returning from the previous season, they were on the verge of shutting down. Yet, at the heart of what would become a remarkable comeback stood Isaac Qi.
The team captain for the past two years, Qi is a former high school basketball player who was driven to quadball because he missed the competitive atmosphere of sports. Yet, that desire wasn’t instantaneous. After three years at UBC, Qi took time off to work before returning to school. It was then that he finally joined the team.
“I've known that this team existed all along. I just never thought about actually joining until the second time I came back [to UBC],” said Qi. “I also thought [quadball] was really unique [because] it was related to Harry Potter, so that’s what sparked my interest to try out.”
As Qi mentioned, the sport has unusual origins, being originally conceived as a real-life adaptation of the game of quidditch from Harry Potter. Beyond that, a large part of what made Qi become so dedicated to an unconventional sport was how quadball promotes inclusivity, allowing players of all genders to participate on the field together.
"It [builds] a sport where everyone competes in a way that [they] don’t feel inferior to others,” Qi said.
Just a year after joining, Qi stepped up as captain and club leader. However, the team faced severe recruitment issues, leaving only four members left in the roster by the end of 2023/24 season.
“We were faced with … a benchmark that, in the next year, the quadball sports club had to show that we have enough players that can sustain [the team] … or else we [would] probably have to step out of the [Thunderbird Sports Club] program,” he said. “So we came into this year knowing that the only way we would survive as a club is to recruit.”
He believed that the pressure they faced set a clear team goal: recruit as many players as possible.
“I think [it was a] blessing and [a] curse … the four people that stayed [were] the perfect four people [to stay],” he said.
Those people were the three other executives, Micah Andaya, Michelle Wu and Melissa Wei — together with Qi, they used every opportunity available at UBC to grow the club. They participated in the Jump Start program and Imagine Day, spoke at lectures and even went rogue sometimes.
“Melissa [would go] around … [whenever she] saw a big lineup [of people], she would just ask everybody, ‘do you want to try out for the quadball team?’”
The team’s effort paid off, retaining 93 per cent of their new recruits. By the end of the season, the roster had grown to 19 members.
With their expanded roster, the Thunderbirds were able to compete in the 2024 Canadian Quadball Western Regionals Tournament in Vernon, BC. Finishing in third place, they earned a spot in the 2025 Canadian Quadball National Championships in Ottawa.
Because of this remarkable turnaround, Qi was one of three athletes to receive the Student Leadership Award at the Thunderbird Sports Club year end event. Despite the individual accolade, he was quick to thank his original three teammates.
“I would never take full credit for the award, because I really think it was a team effort out of the four of us,” he said.
“I think everyone was passionate. Everyone had their own thing to bring to the table. So, I think having that blank slate and a team that worked so well together was instrumental to the success that we [had].”
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