The University of Alabama Recreation Center intramural office hosted its first quidditch tournament last week and looks forward to continuing the Harry Potter-themed event as an intramural sport.
The tournament was held Oct. 23, 24 and 27 on the recreation fields. Twelve teams competed in the double-elimination tournament, with team United States winning it all.
United States defeated Vatican City to earn the championship title.
“I was happy with the turnout,” Shelby Sims, director of intramural sports, said. “I think we were able to give them a good enough tournament in a double-elimination format, so hopefully they enjoyed that and come back for more.”
While the intramural office hasn’t received any complaints about last week’s tournament, some students have expressed concerns about the organization and clarity of the sport’s rules.
“I think it was really unorganized,” Micky Drake, a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering, said. “The rules were not well established before the game.”
Even though Brian Dokas, a senior majoring in chemical engineering, was similarly disappointed in the execution of the tournament compared to previous years, he said he would still compete in the tournament again.
“It was competitive,” Dokas said. “It was a good experience besides losing our games.”
As most Harry Potter fans know, muggle quidditch is a sport that comes with an extensive rulebook that must be followed in order for the game to work and run smoothly. To prepare their officials for the game, the intramural office held many informational meetings beforehand to ensure all employees understood the rules. But, because it was their first year hosting, the office expected a few inconsistencies.
“I can’t really comment on [the organization] except that it’s our first year,” Sims said. “We will learn from what we did well, what we didn’t do well and hopefully we’ll kind of correct those mistakes for the spring.”
Quidditch will return to the list of intramural sports in the spring semester. Sims is hoping for more teams to come out to the tournament and have fun while competing.
