US Quadball Greenhouse Award spotlights college leaders and MVPs
The Greenhouse Award was built to measure more than box-score production, and US Quadball’s 2026 candidates page made that plain by centering nomination videos and player writeups instead of raw scoring totals. Ryan Cleary, Izzy Ramirez and Matan Schwartz were presented as the kind of college stars who set practice standards, lift teammates and leave programs stronger than they found them.
US Quadball established the award in 2026 as an annual honor for the most valuable players in college quadball, then handed the final vote to current college athletes after teams nominated up to two candidates of differing gender identities. Nominations opened March 1 and closed May 1, voting ran May 6-13, and winners were set to be announced May 27. The award carries Harry Greenhouse’s name, a fitting choice for a player US Quadball described as one of the sport’s most influential figures. Greenhouse began at the University of Maryland, captained the team and helped it reach a semifinal in 2015, then won a national title with Q.C. Boston at US Quidditch Cup 9 and three Major League Quadball titles with the Boston Forge.
Cleary’s profile at Creighton Club Quadball showed how much the award values daily habits. As president of the program, he balanced major administrative duties, a heavy course load and an internship while still getting to practice early and setting the tone through preparation. His nomination said he studied more film than anyone else on the roster and approached the game with strategic awareness and a constant drive to improve. It also pointed to his outreach work, including helping organize Creighton’s appearance at LibraryCon in Omaha, Nebraska, and noted that he treated teammates, opponents and officials with the same respect.
Ramirez’s case at Texas State was different, but no less revealing. The page framed her as a rapid riser who translated basketball instincts into quadball almost immediately. She embraced the learning curve, then became impactful enough to play major minutes in a Nationals semifinal in less than a year after first picking up a broom. Her writeup emphasized that she lifts the women around her, celebrates teammate growth and plays with composure and intensity without losing a team-first mindset.
Schwartz added another layer to the award’s identity at Brandeis. In just a second season, they helped lead a young roster to its best Nationals run, excelled across multiple positions and led the conference in flag catches. The profile described Schwartz as a cornerstone who pushes teammates to improve while building a supportive culture.
That values-first message landed against a busy season backdrop. US Quadball Cup 2026 was scheduled for April 18-19 in Placer Valley, California, and the federation announced National Qualifier sites in Garland, Texas; York County, South Carolina; Howard County, Maryland; and Champaign County, Illinois. US Quadball later said Brandeis Quadball violated the Gender Maximum Policy at the Howard County qualifier, vacated multiple wins and lost its Division 1 bid while remaining eligible for at-large consideration. Against that standard, the Greenhouse Award reads like a statement of what college quadball now wants its best players to look like.