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At the Academy of Occult Arts, you’re certain to find a club that fits your needs. Whether you prefer to keep it light and join the Yoga Club, be daring and join the Parkour Club or Broomstick Racing Club, or if you’re at your best when you’re competing against other students, there’s a club that is perfect for you.
The best part of AOA athletic clubs? The couple months of the academic year that are dedicated to training, practice, and scoping out potential recruits among the student body. There’s a chance that a professor or team captain approached you during P.H.–that’s Physical Health or Physical Hour for the freshmen reading–and suggested that you make an appearance at the tryouts. Or maybe you watched the team of your favorite sport practice, and you want to give it a go. Either way, you’ll never know how much of an impact you could make until you come out this weekend for the Beltane Festival!
This Saturday, the academy will host a feast in honor of Beltane, which is an Enchanter celebration of the beginning of summer. The school also throws a festival that lasts all weekend, and part of the festival is that every AOA sports club hosts tryouts. All festival participants are able to sit in on the tryouts, so you will have an audience. Just remember to give it your best shot.
Important note: holding tryouts during the Beltane Festival has become an AOA tradition, and acts as a precursor for the Lúnasa Games, which are held at the beginning of August.
Below are all the clubs available at AOA. Please keep in mind that the times given will be in KRAT and UTC–refer to this guide to determine when the tryouts are held during your local time. Deadline to sign up for all tryouts is Friday, 30th of April, by the end of the school night.
The Magic Striders – Football
Coach: Professor Cynisca
Captain: Zahra Silveira
Co-Captain: Jude Bruton
Tryouts will be held in the football field this Saturday, 1st of May, between 12-12:45pm KRAT, or 5-5:45am UTC. Please bring your own cleats, and dress in your school athletic attire. Practices are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the first game of the season will take place 5 June, which marks the first weekend of the second quarter.
The Mad Howlers – Basketball
Coach: Professor Mnemosyne
Captain: Jude Bruton
Co-Captain: Izayah Hawkins
Tryouts will be held in the gymnasium this Saturday between 1-1:45pm KRAT, or 6-6:45am UTC. Bring your own sneakers and dress in AOA gym clothes. Practices will begin 3 November and will take place every Wednesday and Saturday. The first game is scheduled for 27 November, the last weekend before the fourth quarter.
The Heavenly Devils – Baseball
Coach: Professor Mnemosyne
Captain: Wade Rivers
Co-Captain: Azriel Abbas
Tryouts will be held out on the baseball diamond this Saturday between 2-2:45pm KRAT/7-7:45am UTC. Bring your own cleats and gloves; dress in AOA athletic-ware. Helmets and bats provided by the school, so please do not bring your own. Practices begin the week following tryouts and take place on Fridays and Sundays. First game is scheduled for 6 June.
The Blue Dreams – Volleyball
Coach: Professor Kendall Hartley
Captain: Melusine Jordan
Co-Captain: Secoiya Rieviere
Tryouts will take place in the gymnasium this Saturday between 3-3:45pm KRAT/8-8:45am UTC. Bring your own sneakers and dress in AOA gym clothes. Practices will begin 3 July and take place every Wednesday and Saturday; the first game is scheduled for 24 July.
Track & Field
Coach: Sensei Arima Hirosue
There will be three different tryouts: one for relays, another for hurdles, and the final one will incorporate miscellaneous track and field activities, so please pay very close attention to the tryout schedule. These are only preliminary tryouts, so don’t worry if you aren’t called back for the secondaries or if you only have time to tryout for one or two events. All track & field participants will be considered for all events. Please bring your own sneakers and wear academy-sanctioned athletic attire.
The relay race will take place on the track field this Sunday, 2nd of May, at 12pm KRAT/5am UTC. Next is the hurdle race at 12:15pm KRAT/5:15am UTC. The tryouts of the miscellaneous activities will begin around 3pm KRAT/8am UTC and will continue until the end of the festival. We practice every Monday, Friday, and Saturday, and our first meet is scheduled for 30 May.
Swimming
Coach: Professor Kendall Hartley
Swimming tryouts are divided into five different events, four of which are races, one for each style of swimming used in competitive relays: breast stroke, backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle. The fifth event will be for diving tryouts.
The first of the five events will be held this Sunday at 12:30pm KRAT/5:30am UTC at the school swimming pool. Students are asked to bring their own water bottles. Goggles, swim caps, and school swimsuits will be provided. Tryouts will end around 1:30pm KRAT/6:30am UTC. The team meets for practice Fridays and Sundays, and the first competitive meet takes place 29 May.
Other Athletic Clubs
Yoga Club
The AOA Yoga Club will have an educational booth at the festival, where you can challenge president Mortimer Glossian in a one-on-one contest of flexibility and health trivia. Whether you’re well-versed in the positions, or you’re a novice looking to work on your reach, I highly recommend checking this club out. The booth will be open both Saturday and Sunday during festival hours.
Parkour Club
Our school’s Parkour Club will have a challenge for all those who wish to join: you must take part in a scavenger hunt! If you can unlock all the clues, locate every hidden item, and bring them to the secret spot where the final tryouts are held before 2pm KRAT/7am UTC this Sunday, then Maria Oliveira, president of the Parkour Club, will give you a reward and personally ask you to join.
High Flyers Club
While most sporting events and athletic competitions are dominated by Hunters and Haunters, here’s a sport made by Enchanters, for Enchanters: broomstick races! This is a club where daring Enchanters put everything to the test. The members of this club are fanatical about the branches used for the broom, the spells infused in the wood, and the tricks they’ve honed to acquire the most aerodynamic experience. It’s officially a club for broom racing enthusiasts and the occasional trick rider, but there are no official meets or competitions, as broom races have been deemed too dangerous by L.O.R.E. and riding your broomstick outside of the dark dimension or a safe zone would land you in hot water.
On the plus side, the club is hosting a race around campus this Sunday at 2:30pm KRAT/7:30am UTC. This event is for fun, so winning doesn’t guarantee you a spot on the team, but it certainly gets you noticed by the club! The winner will receive a trophy and will act as the host of the next festival.
Remember: normal club activities will be paused for the weekend. All students and their guardians are welcome to attend, so I hope you’ll decide to come even if you don’t plan on trying out for a team. There will be a buffet, events, booths for various clubs, and live music performed by Empty Obsessions.
Enjoy the rest of your week, and we’ll see you at the Beltane Festival!
The Arcane Citizen 
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