Quidditch: Coming to a Campus Near You

July 21, 2009 - 3:00 pm By Melissa - GW

college quidditch

Clearly the fact that there have been six Harry Potter movies released, (two more in the making) seven books out in stores, and an upcoming theme park in Orlando, doesn’t quite express the extent of society’s obsession with the magic wizardly world. Because college Quidditch (yes, the broomstick-riding sport) is on the rise.

With over 200 colleges expressing their interest in the sport, including Princeton, U-Mass-Amherst and Vassar College, Quidditch is spreading like wildfire. It even has its own site, (for all you nerds out there) where you can have access to the latest Quidditch news and history of the sport.

Similar to soccer, the players try and get the ball, or Quaffle that is, into the opposing goal, except they try and do so while riding around on a broomstick…on the ground.

Sounds…er…awesome.

I don’t quite understand the whole thing. First, riding around on broomsticks is not only ridiculous, but it’s gotta be uncomfortable, right? And what if you get tackled? How does a broomstick shoved between your legs react in a situation like that?

And, more importantly, isn’t the whole point of Quidditch the flying part? I mean, isn’t College Quidditch just soccer…with brooms?

Apparently I’m missing something, because the sport has been around in the real world for four years, and is only getting more and more popular. I get the Harry Potter obsession, but come on, people. This is just absurd.

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18 Comments on "Quidditch: Coming to a Campus Near You"

  1. Marisa - Wesleyan University says:
    Tue, 21st Jul 20093:07 pm 

    I’m not athletic in any way, but I’d play Quidditch in a heartbeat. And since my school doesn’t have its own team yet, I guess there’s an opportunity to start one!

  2. girl says:
    Tue, 21st Jul 20094:21 pm 

    At middlebury, they have a golden snitch, basically a dude from the track team who is super fast; who ever catches him wins!
    At least so I heard.

  3. shari says:
    Tue, 21st Jul 20094:54 pm 

    this is ridiculous. players being able to fly around and the flying golden snitch are the two most important parts of the game. also, how are the bludgers supposed to attack you if they’re not magical? you were right in saying that college “quidditch” is just soccer with brooms.

  4. D says:
    Tue, 21st Jul 20099:45 pm 

    I think this is really cool! Obviously we don’t have the more magical elements that are in the book…but it’s fans having fun and doing something positive with time and energy. If the game gets non-readers to try the books or an HP fan to get into sport it’s fantastic!

  5. nicole says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200912:43 am 

    My sister is the president of the UMASS Quidditch team. She loves it.

  6. Winnie says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200912:47 am 

    They have this in my school.
    Yeah it’s missing some elements, of course, but as long as it’s fun, does it really matter?

  7. POPHANGOVER says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200911:50 am 

    We just did a write-up about this on Pophangover. Completely ridiculous. http://pophangover.com/?p=4275

  8. Mal says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20092:59 pm 

    I want quidditch in my school!!!

  9. valkyrie9 says:
    Sat, 25th Jul 20094:38 am 

    People are just trying to make sure that every element of Harry Potter that we can find a Muggle equivalent for is available in real life.

  10. Casey says:
    Thu, 30th Jul 20092:41 am 

    No…no I don’t like this at all. I KNEW she was convincing people they were magicians. And they said kids wouldn’t imitate those satanic verses! LIES!

    GLORY TO GOD, AYAYAYAYAYYAYAY!

  11. Asmi says:
    Thu, 30th Jul 20092:51 am 

    But what would you do about the snitch?

  12. Casey says:
    Thu, 30th Jul 200911:28 am 

    As I said on previous posts “Wow, I LOVE that someone is posting ridiculous comments pretending to be me. Keep it up asshole!”

    I love Harry Potter, by the way.

  13. the violator says:
    Sun, 2nd Aug 20094:18 am 

    normaly i don’t advocate violence but, this quiditch thing (and those who play this thing) are crying out for a beating.
    if i ever find someone who admits to playing this or if i find someone or people playing it- they are probably going to be crapping out their teeth after i have rammed them down their throat. then they can wear their magic dentures!

  14. asthe says:
    Wed, 9th Sep 20091:02 pm 

    The Snitch is a person, usually dressed in yellow, that runs away from the Seekers.

  15. Luna says:
    Sun, 13th Dec 20094:22 pm 

    I do believe those who say College Quidditch is ridiculous have largely never actually read the series. These students do what they can to recreate a fictional game and turn it into reality as accurately and concisely as possible. The immense popularity the sport has gained in only a few short years is an indicator the whole thing can’t be entirely absurd, no? Personally, I have switched my preference in colleges because of the latter lacking a Quidditch team. Of course it doesn’t matter if the game is exactly accurate; I can nearly guarantee those who play have loads of fun, take it as seriously as any other sport,- and play more honestly as well. If there is a tad of inescapable inaccuracy to provide all these things in colleges, I still say well done.
    Long live Harry Potter.

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