Fourteen players, each on one knee, fix their gazes on the ground with brooms by their sides. Suddenly, the whistle blows; the players mount their brooms and charge into the fray.
In 2007, the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association was founded. Since then, it has seen a tremendous rise in support and is now the International Quidditch Association (IQA), composed of over 1,000 teams from more than 13 different nations. But what exactly is quidditch?
Based on the sport of the same name from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, ‘muggle’ (non-magic) quidditch follows many of the same rules as its fictional counterpart.
For those unfamiliar with the fictional game, it is played on flying broomsticks with seven players on each team: three Chasers, who attempt to score in the opponent’s goals (of which there are three); a Keeper, who guards the goals; two Beaters, who both protect their team from (and attack the opposing team with) a ball called the Bludger; and a Seeker, who finds and catches a small golden ball known as a Snitch (which ends the game).
In the muggle variant, there are seven positions on each team, including an independent ‘snitch,’ a player who runs around the field evading capture in lieu of a magical flying ball. Volleyballs and dodge balls are used as substitutes for those used in the fictional game. Schools come together every fall for the Quidditch World Cup, an enormous tournament that spans two to three days.
Quidditch is a sport that has won the hearts of millions, due to its deep-rooted connection to the Harry Potter universe, and there are many who consider the game to be a real sport outside of the books.
However, some people out there see it as nothing more than a spectacle. I spoke with Rose Pleuler, co-captain of the Park Street Pulverizers, one of Emerson College’s teams in its House League, about all things quidditch:
How long have you been playing quidditch?
I’m beginning my third year playing quidditch; I started September of my freshman year.
Have you ever played any other sport besides quidditch? If so, how would you compare it to quidditch, as far as practicing and training goes?
Before high school I played youth league soccer. I use my experience and knowledge of soccer a lot when it comes to training for quidditch. My experience on soccer teams was generally much more rigorous athletically. That said, this year my co-captain and I are planning on training much more seriously. […] We plan to organize group runs and gym time, as well as training harder during our weekly practices.
I’ve personally seen quidditch games in which players are literally knocked off of their broom. Would you say that the game is just as rough and serious as other sports?
Quidditch is a rough sport. It’s rough because it is co-ed, because defensive equipment isn’t required and because in the past it has always been advertised as such. However, the newly drafted IQA rulebook has much more extreme penalties for aggressive game play than ever before, largely due to the number of injuries sustained in game play over the last two years. As quidditch develops, I believe game play will and should always remain aggressive, but I do not believe it should be violent.
Has it ever been an issue for you to find students willing and enthused to play muggle quidditch?
The ECQ [Emerson College Quidditch] combine was this Sunday, which is basically another word for tryouts. That night, the five house league teams drafted over 100 new players. I don’t think quidditch is going to lose its novelty any time soon. I think it should be noted though that although I drafted something like 23 Emerson students, I expect at least five-but probably up to ten- to drop. […] Many of us are Harry Potter enthusiasts, but that’s not really why we play. We play to win.
With more and more people gathering to play muggle quidditch, do you think that it will ever reach the rank of major league?
To be perfectly honest, I don’t see quidditch ever being recognized as a ‘real’ sport. Don’t get me wrong: quidditch is a sport. Quidditch is a real sport, whatever that even means. The only way I see quidditch being really recognized in a major league kind of way is if we got rid of the broomsticks. In muggle quidditch, the broomsticks serve as something that furthers the spectacle of quidditch rather than the sport. It has very little effect on actual game play. I think the sport would improve without the broomsticks. I am always in favor of quidditch moving toward sport and away from spectacle, but I’m sure this is an extremely unpopular opinion.
What advice do you have for students who want to start a quidditch team at their own school?
My advice: Buy a rulebook! Treat it like any other sports team. The two biggest problems for a school starting a new team is, one, understanding the rules and how the game is most effectively played and, two, building equipment.
Despite its constantly growing fan base, quidditch seems to be a game that falls short of being considered an actual sport in the eyes of many. With gimmicky aspects, such as the unwieldy broomsticks, it is admittedly hard to be taken as seriously as some people would like. That being said, however, I can tell you with confidence that you will always be able to find me, along with hundreds of others, down at the quidditch pitch, cheering for my favorite team as they race down the field.
