Quidditch across the Country
CMU Quidditch Club prepare for upcoming national World Cup Tournament
Members of the Central Centaurs gather in a huddle at the end of practice during quidditch practice on March 2 at Finch Field House.
The Central Centaurs have mastered how to score through hoops without backboards and defensively tackle opponents, while having a 36-inch stick between their legs.
The team will bring their quidditch skills on the road as they travel to Rock Hills, S.C. for the Eighth World Cup Tournament April 11 and 12.
Pre-empting the tournament, the team is scheduled to compete against the University of Toledo March 21, and will face Purdue University March 28.
In previous years all teams in the World Cup competed through a bracket-format process of elimination, but this year that will change.
The 80 teams will first play five games, the winners will be entered in a smaller 24-team bracket leading up to the championship match.
St. Clair Shores freshman Leah Catalano will be competing in her first World Cup.
“I knew quidditch was a thing, but I didn’t know how serious of a sport it was,” she said. “I remember when I went to my first practice last semester and they were doing tackling drills. Now here I am going to my fist World Cup. It’s going to be cool to see other teams from other regions.”
Central Michigan University’s Quidditch Club meets four days a week for two hours, running drills and scrimmages to practice for tournaments.
President of the club and Thompsonville sophomore Brandon Booth said quidditch is a mash-up of different sports.
“I like to describe it as a combination of dodgeball, lacrosse and basketball,” he said. “You have a quaffle (ball) and you want to try and get it into one of the three hoops. The beaters are basically playing dodgeball throughout the game. If you are hit, then you have to sit out.”
The club has 22 active members. Seven players are needed to compete on the field at a time, fulfilling the positions of three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and one seeker.
To receive points, the team must score into one of three hoops worth 10 points. After 18 minutes of playing, a snitch comes out. Once a team catches the active snitch, they get 30 points and the game ends. The final score is then tallied to ultimately determine a winner.
“The snitch is a third-party person that is dressed in all yellow, carrying a (tennis) ball in a (tube sock) fastened onto their shorts,” Booth said. “An average game lasts about 23 minutes.”
Two years ago, the club broke a record for most points scored in a game of 310 points, Vice President and Battle Creek senior David Wilber said.
Wilber was one of five founding members four years ago.
“We were all in Harry Potter Club at the time and then we heard about quidditch clubs at other schools and thought ‘hey that seems like fun,’” he said. “We made makeshift hoops and then asked other schools that have already established a team how to make hoops and rules. Michigan State University really helped us get it started.”
Despite quidditch being popularized in the Harry Potter series, Booth said he plays for his own reasons.
“The biggest stigma of quidditch is that its only for people who like Harry Potter, but that’s not why I like quidditch,” Booth said. “I like it because it is a sport and I want to win.”
The co-ed club meets every Monday and Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. in Finch Fieldhouse. It also meets 4-6 p.m. Fridays at the Student Activity Center in MAC 2, and 4-6 p.m., Saturday in Rose 143.
“Your background doesn’t matter here. It doesn’t matter if you're athletic or not, if you like Harry Potter or not,” said Muskegon graduate student David Wier. “Quidditch is a great way to have fun and still have that sense of team, by coming together with a like goal. We work as a team and we win as a team.”
For more information or to help the team fundraise for the World Cup, visit their Facebook page.
