Potter Around the Field: Playing Quidditch

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INSTEAD OF BREAKING out the butterbeer before rushing to that midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," why not play a rousing game of quidditch?

The generation that grew up reading J.K. Rowling's books has adapted the boy wizard's favorite sport — which involves zipping around on broomsticks and hunting down the elusive golden snitch — for the laws of gravity.

"I think one of the best descriptions of quidditch is three sports going on at once" — dodgeball, soccer and rugby, says Matt Drake, 20, who founded the quidditch club at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst last year.

There's so much going on (see box for a summary of the rules), "the best skill to have is to be able to focus," says Drake, adding that it's not so different from other athletic pursuits. "You want to have endurance, speed and accuracy with your throws."

More than 200 colleges worldwide have formed quidditch teams since Middlebury College students came up with rules for the game in 2005, according to the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association (Collegequidditch.com), and the Facebook group Intercollegiate Quidditch Association has more than 3,800 members.

Still, on the fields of our nation's capital you're not likely to spot many broomstick-lugging athletes. (Did we mention that all players are required to carry an unwieldy cleaning tool between their legs?) Quidditch just isn't that big — yet.
But one relatively local squad is the Wizengamuts of Virginia Commonwealth University.

The 12-person team (which takes its name from the wizarding world's high court), began as a VCU club last year and hopes to compete in the Quidditch World Cup at Middlebury this fall.

In preparation, Wizengamut captain Britni Puccio says the team is trying to recruit classmates by convincing them that quidditch isn't just for the fantasy-obsessed.

"You definitely get odd looks," laughs the 20-year-old. "But it definitely is a physical activity. We do a lot of stretches and warm-ups before we play or practice because, essentially, you're running back and forth across a field like you would for soccer or rugby — but you have to manage a broomstick between your legs."

QUAFFLE QUERIES

Objectives:
The basic goal is to score more points than the other team by throwing a volleyball ("quaffle") through the opposing team's vertical hoops to score 10 points — while dodging kickballs ("bludgers") thrown by the other team. Each team has a "keeper" who essentially plays the role of a goalie in front of the hoops. At the same time, one "seeker" on each team must try to grab the "snitch" (essentially, a tennis ball in a tube sock carried by someone running around the field who's not on either team). Catching the snitch is worth a whopping 30 points and ends the game.

Essential Supplies:
To host your own magical match, you'll need a large, flat patch of grass or a sports field (there's no standard size), and a few basic pieces of equipment: three kickballs, a volleyball, a long sock, a tennis ball and six homemade hoops (the University of Massachusetts' team uses PVC pipes and duct tape to build the hoops, then uses tent stakes to hold the hoops in the ground). And don't forget your broomsticks! Virginia Commonwealth University's Wizengamuts stocked up on brooms at Lowe's, and UMass player Matt Drake says his team likes the lighter toy brooms sold at Alivans.com.

Quidditch World Cup '08

U. Mass. v. Middlebury

Photos by Getty Images; courtesy the Wizengamuts