Muggle Quidditch

Muggle Quidditch

A Ravenclaw/Slytherin Muggle Quidditch game.
Highest governing body	International Quidditch Association[1]
Nickname(s)	Quidditch
First played	Middlebury, Vermont
Characteristics
Contact	full-contact
Team members	7 (on pitch for each team)
Mixed gender	co-ed
Equipment	Quaffle (volleyball), Bludger (dodgeball), Snitch
Olympic	non-Olympic

Muggle Quidditch is a sport based on Quidditch, the fictional sport developed by British author J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series of novels. It is most popular amongst college students. The sport was created in Middlebury, Vermont.

In Muggle Quidditch, as in fictional Quidditch, there are seven positions on a team. Because Wizarding Quidditch is based on fictional devices and concepts such as magic, Muggle Quidditch has been adapted for play on the ground, with game play confined to a playing field comparable in size to a hockey rink.^[1]

The equipment in Muggle Quidditch varies depending on venue. Three circular goals are placed on either side of the pitch. The goals are often hula hoops held up by PVC pipes. All players are required to carry a broom between their legs at all times. Slightly deflated volleyballs usually act as the quaffle, and dodgeballs serve as the bludgers. While the Snitch is a magical object within the canon of the Harry Potter novels, in Muggle Quidditch the Snitch is simply a tennis ball contained in a sock tucked in the waistband of the snitch runner. The snitch runner is a neutral player affiliated with neither team dressed in all gold or yellow, sometimes adorned with wings. After release, the snitch runner (and thereby the snitch itself) is allowed to roam an area beyond the playing field. When played on a college campus the range is often the entire campus. ^[2]The seekers search for the runner around campus; if they fail to catch him, he returns to the field after a specified time. Unlike Rowling's Quidditch, the capture of the Snitch is worth only 30 points, making it far more likely than in Rowling's game to find oneself in a "catch the Snitch, lose the game" situation. (This situation arose in the Quidditch World Cup in The Goblet of Fire when Bulgaria was down by 16 goals. A variant of it, in which Gryffindor needed to win by at least 200 points to win the House Cup, occurred in The Prisoner of Azkaban.)

The game begins with the quaffle and bludgers placed in the center of the field and all players in line with their respective goalposts. After the snitch is out of sight, the referee yells 'brooms up!' to start the game.

Positions in Muggle Quidditch

• Chasers are responsible for passing the Quaffle and scoring points by throwing the Quaffle through one of the opponent's goals. Three chasers from a team may be in play at one time. When a Bludger hits a Chaser in possession of the Quaffle, he or she must drop the Quaffle and run back to his or her own goalpost to simulate recovery time.
• Keepers are the goal protectors (similar to goalkeepers in soccer) and must try to block attempts to score by the opposing team's Chasers. One keeper from a team may be in play at a time. The keeper is invulnerable to Bludgers when within their team's keeper zone, an area around the team's hoops. Once outside of the Keeper zone the Keeper serves as a 4th Chaser.
• Beaters attempt to hit the opposing team's players with Bludgers and attempt to block the Bludgers from hitting their team's players. Two Beaters on a team may be in play at a time.
• Seekers attempt to catch the snitch. Though the snitch leaves the pitch at the start of the game and often does not return until a predetermined period has passed, seekers are able to search for the snitch off the pitch throughout the game.

Equipment

The game is played with six standing hoops, three on each side of the oval shaped pitch. The hoops have differing heights which are 1 metre, 1.4 metres, and 2 metres. The game has 3 different balls in play, the quaffle, the bludger, and the snitch.

The Quaffle The quaffle is typically an under inflated volleyball that is able to be held by most chasers and keepers but not too under inflated so that a large piece of the volleyball can be gripped in one's hand. The quaffle is the ball that is used for scoring in the game. It can only be held by chasers or keepers and may pass through either side of the hoop in order for a score to count.

The Bludger The Bludger is typically a slightly under inflated dodgeball that can only be used by the beaters on the field. There are always 3 bludgers in play at one time so that one team may not have sole control of the bludgers. The bludgers are used to hit any other player on the field. Upon being hit by a bludger thrown by an opposing beater you must dismount your broom and run back to your team's hoops in order to simulate the "knock out effect".

The Snitch The snitch is typically a gold sock with a tennis ball or racquet ball placed inside of it. It must then be tucked into the back of a snitch runner's shorts, like that of a tail. The snitch runner may do everything in it's power to protect the snitch sock from being grabbed by seekers. Only seekers may make advances towards the snitch sock or the snitch runner and must attempt to get the snitch sock without making forceful contact with the snitch runner. The game ends when the snitch sock is grabbed by a seeker.

International Quidditch Association

The International Quidditch Association serves as the main association for Muggle Quidditch and helps organize roughly 1000 teams, 600 teams in the United States alone. The International Quidditch Association holds a World Cup for all official members of the association every year, the first being held in 2007.

International Quidditch Association World Cup

The first intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup was held in 2007 at Middlebury College in Vermont, between Middlebury and Vassar College from Poughkeepsie, New York. The World Cup now takes place at Randall Island in New York City. It is a two day event from 9 o'clock in the morning until 9 o'clock at night. The event has musical, circus and headlining performers throughout the day while the games take place on ten fields.

The World Cup features:

• 100 college and high school teams from 22 states and four nations.
• Over 2,000 uniformed, broom-riding athletes.
• Over a dozen live rock bands, Wizard Rock, Circus sideshows, live owl demonstrations, costumes and more.
• Live commentary on every field from professional improv comedians from the PIT club in NYC.
• Food and libations such as butterbeer, turkey legs, Bertie Botts beans, BBQ, chili, hot chocolate, and real beer.
• Wands, brooms, robes, scarves, and other wizardly gear for sale.
• Championships in Icahn Stadium, a world class venue that seats 5,000.

2009 Intercollegiate Quidditch Association World Cup

The 2009 Intercollegiate Quidditch Association World Cup was the third annual instance of the event. It was held on Sunday, October 25, 2009, at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.^[3]

Middlebury College, the hosting team, won the tournament. They won all six games they played, and defeated Emerson College 60 - 10 in the final. Middlebury has won all three Intercollegiate Quidditch Association World Cups to date.^[4]

Qualifying teams

Boston

• Boston University
• Emerson College
• Harvard University
• University of Massachusetts

IPD/Big 3

• Ive's Pond College
• University of Pittsburgh^[5]
• Syracuse University
• Vassar College

(MV)^2

• Louisiana State University
• Middlebury College
• Texas A&M University
• Virginia Commonwealth University^[6]

North

• Green Mountain College
• McGill University^[7]
• St. Lawrence University
• University of Vermont

Pennsylvania

• Chestnut Hill College
• Lafayette College
• Moravian College
• Villanova University

Brackets

2010 IQA World Cup

2010 Quidditch World Cup
Poster for the 2010 IQA World Cup
Dates run	14 November 2010 – 18 November 2010
Competitors	46
Nations	2
Venue	DeWitt Clinton Park
Location	New York City

The 2010 IQA World Cup was the fourth edition of the Quidditch World Cup, an international Muggle Quidditch tournament sponsored by the International Quidditch Association.

The tournament was hosted in New York City at DeWitt Clinton Park. It was the first year that the cup was hosted in New York.

The World Cup featured 46 teams from across the World, and 757 players. The IQA set a record with 40 media outlets and 20,000 spectators attending the tournament altogether.

On August 15, 2010; the IQA announced that New York University would be hosting the tournament, making it the first time the World Cup was played in a major city.^[8]

Bracket

Statistics

2011 IQA World Cup

The 2011 IQA World Cup is the fifth edition of the Quidditch World Cup, an international Muggle Quidditch tournament sponsored by the International Quidditch Association.^[9]

The tournament will be hosted at Randall's Island in New York City, November 12th-13th.

The 2011 World Cup will feature 100 teams from 5 different countries. This will mark the first time teams from outside North America will compete in the Quidditch World Cup. Teams are allowed to roster from 7 to 21 players, allowing up to 2,100 athletes to compete.

Championship games will be played in Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island.

The 2011 Quidditch World Cup will be a 2 day festival as well. Announcers will be improv comedians. A variety of entertainers, foods and wizardry shops will take over the Island. Musical artists will be performing during breaks in game play including a Marquee artist soon to be announced.

At the fifth annual Quidditch World Cup, Middlebury College experienced their first loss, to the University of Michigan Quidditch Team. They proceeded to win the tournament via snitch catch.

The 2011 Quidditch World Cup was profiled in Eric Hansen's Outside Magazine piece Quoosiers.^[10]

College and community teams

High school teams

References

External links

• IQA website