Okay... who died and made Angel the football queen? AJ didn't remember the professor requesting a ruler over the sport. Normally AJ was the one forever talking about sports, and being super competitive, which she still was, but Angel was going off the deep end. Somebody needed to knock her off her pedestal, and AJ was happy to be that person. Their teammates so far didn't even have a clue what was going on much less having an understanding about Angel's special formations and tactics. "Calm down, coach." If anyone was going to be benched it would be her. No ball hogs, ahem.

Blah, blah, blah. It was safe to assume that everybody got the team thing. All of this talking still didn't put anybody in a position. Benny had volunteered to be a defender, and with his quidditch skills that was a good fit for him. AJ turned her attention to Zeke and smiled. "The professor has a good point. What do you think about being a midfielder? All you have to do is get the ball from the other team and get to it to our forwards, and then they will score." Easy enough. He was low to the ground and could do well with that.

Zhenya would most likely do well with that position as well. "What do you think, Zhenya? Wanna help Zeke out and be a midfielder as well? Or a forward if you wanna do some scoring." If she didn't know too much about the game that was the position she would choose. How good was her aim? AJ was all about contact and defense... she did well in those positions. She honestly did well in any position.

..... Huh? Angel had lost him after the first fives seconds and he was left just gaping at the rest. Honestly, she was way too into the sport and Zander didn't really understand all her fancy language. So he let her do her thing as he stood back and watched the rest try to figure out their positions because yeah, no fancy terminology here people.

Uh..... Wait a minute.

"I can still be goal keeper right?" Just checking.

Eden was still so PUMPED from the practice round---GAHHH! SHE WAS REAAAADAY! And then Professor Zairne called them back together---AND THEY WERE PLAYING FOOTBALL MERLIN YES! Eden was so EXCCCIIIIIIIIITTED. She hopped up instantly as they broke into the two teams--and drew close to Toby, who offered to be goalkeeper. Right. Who else did they have?

Toby, Sophie, Jasmine, Adi, Lux...and now EDEN. "Okay. We have to STAY STRONG HERE--" she told her team, her face VERY serious because sports. BECAUSE. SPORTS. "Toby--you're goalkeeper? I definitely want to be a forward--" she blushed. "You know--if no one ELSE wants to be one." She said, rubbing the back of her head. She was GOOD at this and she wanted to WIN.

Oops.

Competitive brain TAKEOVER BEGINS..........NOW.

"We should name our team. Build up some spirit and help us feel like one single UNIT and whatnot--any ideas?" Naming was iMPORTANT okay?

Zhenya listened to everyone, feeling slightly overwhelmed. So many things to take in, and what was Angel TALKING about? Zhenya looked at her like she was talking Arabic! She was glad that Professor Nairne was settling the confusion, and that AJ was settling her sister's eagerness. Zhenya was honestly impressed the girl knew so much about football but it was slightly confusing.

AJ asked her a question about positions, suggesting midfielder. She remembered Professor Nairne speaking about them being the ones to get control of the ball. She thought she probably could do that, so she said "Yes, I can give a midfielder a go." Then she smiled awkwardly, hoping it was a smile of confidence, even though she didn't feel very confident.

More people were joining the team and it was awesome. Lux smiled at Toby, Sophie, Adi, Jasmine, and a Ravenclaw she believed to be named Eden. Everyone was stating their preferences, and even though she had already voiced two options for herself she ended up making a final decision. "I'll play a forward with Eden." It sounded like a fun idea to her.

Somewhere in the background she overheard Angel talking about all these complicated formations and such. Ummmm, what? Lux liked to think she knew a fair bit about football, but that was seriously making her brain hurt. Shaking her head, she brought her attention back to her own team and matters that were actually important. "A team name is a great idea, but I admit I'm not good at coming up with them." Maybe one of the clever Claws would come up with something?

Soph. Right there. Finally.

Toby had just opened his mouth to ask her where she'd got to when, before he knew it, she was taking charge and calling people over and then sort of going on about his goalkeeping skills.

He squinted at her, squiiiiiiiiiiint, in response to those LOOKS. Toby had never been the sort to brag all that much (well... at all), and it felt weird whenever someone did so on his behalf. But so far everyone seemed fine with him going in goal, which was good. And probably fair too, because Toby had experience with football whereas a majority of people would be trying it for the first time; best to keep back out of the way.

There was a lot of... real motivational talk going on, from this team and, he could tell, from the other team. Like... it was already getting competitive. Eeep.

"Okay. I'll be goalkeeper. And just remember," he quickly added. "To have fun, and don't worry too much about winning. As long as everyone gets a go at kicking the ball around, it'll be a good game, yeah?" Toby nodded as he spoke, hoping that the whole 'it's the taking part that counts' mentality was clear. "Also, kicking the ball is a little harder than it seems at first, but you'll get the hang of it."

How much of that five minutes did they have left? Probably not a great deal, but at least now everyone could just sort of assign themselves a position to play. Generally, in non-official games, it always turned out with everyone running all over the pitch anyway. As for a team name, uhhh... "Maybe just... Huffleclaws?" he suggested. "I'd say Ravenpuffs, but that kinda sounds like a cereal. For birds."

Alright game time! Kace heard the directions and he heard the Puffs and Claws were gonna be on a team together. Excellent he will have fun tackling Cinna, Zander and Zeke. He smirked to himself and he already knew how to play football since that is the sport his family played back at home. He heard everyone have positions. He knew Toby wanted to be goalkeeper and he nodded. He heard Lux wanted to be a front linesmen with Eden and that was fine. Kace interjected saying "Hey guys I can be whatever you need me to be but I prefer to be on the front lines and tackling with the ball.." he winked and was excited for this game to start.

Though Sophie had never actually played football before, she knew enough about it to feel pretty confident about the forthcoming task. And as people claimed their positions, she just smiled and nodded - though she wanted to be a forward, she didn't really care much where she went, not enough to argue or demand her spot. She knew she would be good anywhere, really.

"I'm really fast and don't mind being aggressive and stealing the ball from people and stuff, and I've got scoring experience from Chasing, but s'probably not the same, I reckon." Since they'd have to be scoring goals by kicking rather than throwing. "So... someone point me in the direction of where I could best use those strengths, and I'll be your girl." She was especially looking to Tobes, who would undoubtedly know where she would perform best for the team.

As for a team name though, she snorted at her best friend's suggestions. "We can be more creative than that, c'mon! What about Team AWESOME since that's what we ARE? Or... the... BEAGLES? Badgers and eagles combined?" Hahahahah. "That's a kind of dog, isn't it? Small but mighty? Maybe underestimated... like us? The UNDERDOG?" It was NO secret that Gryffindor was the force to be reckoned with this term, and the typically competitive, ambitious personalities of the Slytherins undoubtedly made the other team the one people would bet on, wasn't it?

She thought it was hilarious AND clever, and the stupid grin on her face made it known.

They were gonna play Quidditch football!

Granted Lex didn't know one thing about this sport despite everything Angel had just prattled off but that wasn't gonna stop her. She'd been hoping to play goalkeep, Keeper having been her last position before the doof ruined the sport for the school but she was fine playing other things since Zander asked first. Defender was out though. The only defense roles she played were those that allowed her a heavy bat that cracked skulls. With football being so watered down, that was apparently not an option soooo...

"I'll play whatever. I'm decent at scoring if that's all that's left though." Nevermind that it was never scoring with her feet but it couldn't have been ALL that different...yeah? Anyway, she was fine with whatever the team decided so long as they could play something before they had to leave.

What was the hold up exactly?

Eden nodded at Lux. "We got this," and she put her fist out for Lux to bump with hers. She looked up at Toby, too, for a team name idea since he seemed creative enough for that...

Except he DIDN'T deliver this time. PFFFT. Eden smiled at her friend. "I like Huffleclaws--I do--but--" and then SOPHIE chimed in and Eden clapped. 'YES. YES. BEAGLES. TEAM BEAGLES." She said excitedly, jumping up and down and GAAAHHHH THIS WOULD BE SO FREAKIN' FUN!

"Yes--have fun--and win--at the same time--" she said, looking at her teammates seriously. Eden was NOT the type to yell and get mad or SCREAM or anything--oh NO--but she DID want to win and kick some BUTTS, yeah? "I have faith in us. We're awesome." She said encouragingly. She grinned over at Kace, too--"Um--you and Sophie COULD be the--well--we need someone to guard Toby---OOOH Sophie--you could do that--you'd probably good at that, right?" Since they were lovebirds and all. "And you could STEAL the ball when they come for Toby--" YEAH. "Kace...midfielder?" she asked softly.

They did NOT need to take Eden's suggestions at all. She hoped she didn't come off pushy. She smiled cheerfully and tried to look nice. Like she normally was anyways! Yep.

So she since there were no further questions, Josephina had just been standing nearby listening as they debated positions.

It seemed both teams had their Goalkeepers decided - Toby and Zander - and at least one person from each team seemed to have some game plan, so that was good too.

"Alright, let's get started! Alexa... Jasmine. Face-off for the two lead forwards right in the middle." She waited for them to join her in the middle. "Good luck. One----- Two -----Three." And she dropped the ball right in between the two prefects.


ooc: feel free to include key points in your post (i.e. open pass, pass to specific person, goal attempt, intercepting, etc,). HAVE FUN = MOST IMPORTANT.

The water balloons were gone. That was good. She had gotten through the water balloon thing without running out of the room. Penelope did not like water balloons.

Oh, they were going to play football now? Penelope was not as scared of playing football as she was of water balloons, but she was not really keen on the idea of kicking a ball around or having a ball kicked at her. At least she wouldn't have to be goalkeeper. She had no idea what to do, and didn't really want to play. It could be dangerous. What if she got hit by the ball? Maybe she should just slip out of the room for a bit. Bathroom break if anyone asked. She totally wasn't just avoiding playing football. Quietly, she walked out of the room.

WOOOOOO!! This was going to be so much fun even though she was playing against her boyfriend's House. She also had a lot of friends in Gryffindor, including some of her besties.

Really getting into the spirit the way that Eden was, Lux fist bumped the older Ravenclaw. "GOOOO TEAM BEAGLES! WE GOT THIS! WOOOO!!" Hehe. They were so going to win this match. Beam.

Everyone more-or-less had a position now, and Professor Hadley was calling Jasmine and Lex to face-off. Eagerly she got into position and waited for the game to begin.

More mellow looks at Soph. LAUGHING at his IDEA? Gosh. Rude. AND YOU TOO EDEN. Killing his hopes and dreams. KILLING THEM.

Toby didn't really mind at all, though, and he guessed Beagles was a good enough team name, 'cause beagles were those cute little dogs and he LOVED cute little dogs. In any case, he was now suitably distracted by the realisation that people really WERE going to get competitive with this. Uhhh... no thank you please. Please no. Please just happy fun time.

He was actually starting to consider asking to step out of this portion of the class, such was his sudden feeling of discomfort, but it was just one of those fleeting thoughts that he didn't really intend to follow through with. Aaaaaaaand in any case. They were starting.

"Just pick any position and go for it," he said, some golden last minute advice for those who had yet to decide on a position, as he backed away towards their goal. "They're all pretty fun." And fun was super important.

Now in position and ready, Toby stood waiting for kick-off. And then looked at his hands. This... could get painful with no gloves, but he could TOTALLY take it. Yeah. Rarrr.

Jasmine stood back and listened as all the planning, assigning and team naming was being done. This was going to be interesting and it appeared that true personalities were being brought to the surface for this game. As long as they could work together as a team, they should have a good chance to win. Jasmine crossed her fingers on that one.

Most of the team had stated their desired positions or been assigned one by a team leader. Then Jasmine heard her name being called and looked to the Professor. Lead forward.......face off? What? OK, it appeared that she had a position now and she and Lex got to set things off. Oh the perks of being Prefect.

Jasmine followed the Professor to the center of the field floor. Giving Lex her best game face, she prepared for the start of the game. As the ball dropped, Jasmine quickly made contact and kicked it to the right in the direction of her closest teammate. She may not be a football expert, but she was fast. She'd just have to use that to her advantage. Running further up the field, Jasmine looked for a good position and kept moving.

Zhenya watched the first kick and hoped that her team made first contact, but it didn't. Darn! Jasmine kicked the ball and off it went. She almost yelled out 'GO JASMINE!' but she remembered they weren't on the same team. Zhenya ran after the ball, not really sure if that was what she had to do or not. Surely it was? She ran up to the ball, watching out for other people, and her foot made contact with the ball. She aimed her kick towards the RavenPuff goals, where she hoped some SlytherDor's were.

Woooooot! Go Team RavenPuffs/ Beagles! Honestly, Adi liked both of the names so they were both sticking with him. And it was time to play! Jasmine connected with the ball first but Zhenya intercepted, guiding the ball towards the RavenPuffs goalposts.

Adi was watching her moves intently. He dodged around some of his team mates and players from the other team...eyes on the ball all the time as Zhenya kicked it, the Hufflepuff jumped up as it went airborne. It connected with his head before Adi tumbled to the ground but he was up in no time. One successful defence!

Jasmine watched as Adi successfully blocked Zhenya's shot. She headed back in the opposite direction and managed to catch up with the the ball as it bounced off of his head. Once it hit the ground, she kicked the ball and tried to send it up field.

Seeing several teammates up ahead, she hoped that they would be able to get to the ball first. This was kind of fun. Jasmine was actually enjoying football......so far.

Zeke wasn't sure about this whole football thing. It was Ashley's thing, not his... NOT HIS... and she'd likely laugh if she saw his attempts at actually playing a game, match, thing. Even once the game got underway, he didn't know what he was going. All he knew was he wasn't allowed to touch the ball with his hands, and he had to kick it toward his players or his goals or in SOME circumstances, get the ball to the keeper.... but yeah. Didn't know much.

As far as he was concerned, being a midfielder meant running with the general crowd, then away from them, and then trying not to lose his breath. He did however, attempt to get a foot to the ball and tried that whole tackling thing too... with his body... pushing others away from him. Not his hands, his body. Now THAT was a difficult feat.

He was still running when the ball went down field, and with his momentum he managed to get onto the receiving end of it with his foot.

He somehow managed to turn with it, though his pace slowed in doing so, and he wasn't much good at directing the ball. At any rate, his foot connected with the ball more solidly and he sent it toward his team's scoring side of the pitch place thing. SOMEONE GET IT!

Forward? What now?

Lex wasn't gonna question most things so she just kinda walked over to Professor Hadley yes, always Hadley, graduating means not having to adjust and faced Jasmine like she figured she was meant to. Was this kinda like where they tossed the quaffle and both Chasers tried nabbing it?...Only...without being high up above the ground and having the choice to do a steep dive to retrieve it? That was probably it because before she knew it Jasmine had gone off with the ball and something told her she was meant to follow.

Honestly, Lex had never seen the point in Alice making the team jog at 5 am some mornings until now, otherwise this running thing would be a no. As it stood, the Gryffindor had a lot of stamina so keeping up wasn't too hard. She watched her teammate steal the ball and head for Toby but Adi got in the way.

Ball back to Jasmine then and this time Lex intended to do something about it. As the Ravenclaw kicked the ball off and out Lex watched it soar until...YES caught by Zeke!! Lex knew the kid was good for it and ran along back to the Ravenpuff side, catching the ball just after he'd sent it wide--A lucky catch really, one she almost made with her hands before she remembered what game they were meant to be playing.

Now in possession of the ball, she meandered around an up-comer trying to block her before facing the goal and thus Toby. At this point Lex gave a really hard kick, one Alice might have been proud of.

Zeke intercepting, Lex taking a shot. That was what Adi was paying attention to. He was prepared to make another block. Oh yeah! Once again, the Hufflepuff tore ahead, never taking his eyes from Lex's movements.

When she kicked, Adi quickly moved to block the ball from going close to Tobias and the goalposts. Annnnd...he connected his foot with the ball sending it flying back over some of the players' heads. Hopefully a Puffer or Claw would get to it.

Angel had a funny feeling the Professor didn't know much about the sport... you didn't face off at the start... you had two halves and you tossed a coin the winner got to pick if they wanted to kick off or what side they wanted to have... seriously this wasn't football as she knew it.

Angel was playing up front but she hadn't moved since the start of the match since she was in shock with the whole thing... she was just in the right position to head the ball with a powerful header towards who ever was playing up front with her.

Once Angel had headed the Ball she sprinted as fast as she could up field. seriously... she was going to take someone down today... so everyone had best be on their toes.

Right. Adi blocking the other shot too. She didn't know he'd switched goalie positions with Tobias. Funny how that worked but the Gryffindor's eyes remained fixed on the ball he'd sent back down the field. There wasn't too much worry considering she saw it headed right for Angel and the girl was on her team so they'd have the ball right back up to this side of the field.

She watched it zip through the air and ran ahead to meet it, directly cutting someone off who'd also made for the ball. For the second time she'd gotten the urge to snatch the ball from the air but at the last minute remembered, stepping back so it'd hit the floor before she kicked it off back toward the Ravenpuff goal.

This time she didn't take the shot herself, noting the angle Adi was at, she kicked the ball over to a teammate who'd been up that side and at a better advantage were they to take the shot.

Just hope they didn't let someone else swipe the ball. That's have been a wasted kick.

OKAY SO Eden hadn't been able to get close to the ball--BUT she was TRYING okay--but the Gryffindors were just on FIYAAAAH. Well--Eden was about to be an EXTINGUISHER AH HUH.

She swooped in, ready to recover the ball that had been STOLEN from Jasmine--and then poor Adi--he had TRIED okay--WHEW--Eden eyed the head girl as she suddenly jumped in front of her, attempting to steal the ball before she could get ANY closer to Toby--and she HAD GOTTEN IT! WHOOH!

Quickly running in the opposite direction, towards the Slytherdor's goal--she gave the ball a great big KICK--hoping that one of her teammates would snag it--

COME ON BEAGLES!

Soon enough the placements were pretty much set seeing as Professor Nairne announced it was time to actually play the game. So Zander was keeper, or the goal keeper, Alexa and Angel were the shooters and he was one of the bea---defenders. When the ball started moving, Benny hung back by the marked goal, taking that as his supposed position on the would-be field. He did his best to stay completely alert to what was going on, watching the actions of both his housemates and teammates and the opposite houses and team.

Had Angel just used her head to keep the ball in play?

Was that allowed?

Was she okay?

It looked like it might have hurt. Bludgers certainly hurt but then he doubted that that ball was like a bludger else she'd be out cold with that move. Okay Atreyu....pay attention and be ready. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs could come at any moment.