Middlebury Wins Quidditch Cup
A fan convention site is an unlikely place to read sporting news but, thanks to the world of Harry Potter, there’s a point of crossover between the geek and sporting communities. That point is called quidditch.
For those going, “what what?”… One of the things in J.K. Rowling’s universe that immediately captured the imagination of every reader is the wizarding sport of quidditch where players on flying broomsticks whiz through the air in a game like the love child of basketball and dodgeball. All of us who read the books have always thought it would be a fun game to play and wished it was real.
Several years ago a group of people decided that instead of wishing they would do. So they created the sport of Ground Quidditch and formed the International Quidditch Association (IQA). And each year they hold a Quidditch World Cup.
The Quidditch Cup was held this past week and culminated in a head to head between Middlebury, four time World Cup winners, and University of Florida. It looked like Florida would take the day with with their ten point lead, but Middlebury was able to capture the snitch to snatch victory take the Cup for their fifth Quidditch World Cup win.
Whoooo!
So, how do you translate a pretend flying sport into a real ground bound game? Players run around the field with a broomstick between their legs. They often wear capes. A person, dressed in yellow, running suddenly across the field with a tennis ball in a bag tied to their waist, serves as the golden snitch. It is a sight, I assure you.
