The University’s Creative Campus Initiative hosted its first World Cup Quidditch tournament this weekend. Quidditch is a sport featured in the Harry Potter book and movie series. The sport is becoming popular with colleges all over the United States. With Quidditch played on college campuses, though, the players are Muggles and therefore cannot fly around.
Though the sport is played by Muggles on campus, they still have to hold a broom at all times. The Bludgers were partially deflated dodge balls, while quaffles were semi-deflated volleyballs. The Snitch was a cross country runner who carried a tennis ball inside a bag tucked into his or her shorts.
There were 47 teams registered to play for the World Cup, but the final match was set between Afghanistan and Sweden.
Afghanistan came in as the underdog after winning in overtime against Denmark. Sweden had outscored its opponents by around 200 points in almost every game they played. Sweden had what some may call a secret weapon though: a player named Brad Starks, who would be playing as a chaser. He dominated the playing field, preventing the other team from scoring.
“It was a lot of fun,” Starks said. “It was a lot more intense than I thought it was going to be though.”
The beginning of the game started at a very fast pace. The teams would score back and forth. Sweden got a goal called off, and it seemed as if Afghanistan would take the momentum. Starks also received a penalty and had to sit out for a minute. Around the time Starks was able to play again, Afghanistan took a penalty, allowing Sweden to score.
It seemed as if the fans were rooting for Sweden to win. Sweden consisted of a group of law students, who went by the team name, “Law-gwarts.”
The game would rise in intensity when Law-gwarts blocked a great shot. Not soon after, a whistle could be heard. The Law-gwarts seeker had captured the Snitch. Therefore, Sweden won the World Cup Quidditch Match with a win of 70-30.
“It was intense and hearing people scream to find out that we caught the Snitch to win,” Starks said. “It was really awesome.”
The team held their cup, a golden lamp with a broom on top, high to the sky capturing the first Quidditch on the Quad title.
Communication was the key to the Law-gwarts success.
“I’m friends with everyone on my team,” said first year law student Emily Crow. “We knew each other really well, which I think helped us in communicating, but we hadn’t played at all together.”
There is talk of making Quidditch an NCAA sport. Everyone, from players to observers, agreed that it would be an exciting idea.
“I think J.K. Rowling couldn’t have dreamed that it would end up being something like this,” Crow said. “But I think it’s awesome. You can tell that the crowd loved it. A lot of people got into it, so I think it’s a great idea.”
