The next big thing of sports could easily be Quidditch.
That's right. The magical game depicted in the Harry Potter series is now making huge strides in the US Muggle world. With the passing of the eighth annual International Quidditch Association's (IQA) US World Cup tournament this past Sunday, April 12, and its feature on Snapchat, I expect that we will all be hearing a lot more about this sport in the future. I speculate that if interest in Quidditch keeps rising the way it has, then IQA will be needing a venue much larger than this year's Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C. for World Cup 9.
Game play is fairly simple. I was able to pick up on the general rules after watching one match. As a fan, I'd say it follows game play as closely as possible to the books and movies. The only real trouble is that us Muggle folk cannot make our broomsticks fly. In my opinion, keeping your broomstick between your legs while playing might be the most difficult part. Should you drop (fall off of) your broomstick, you must run back to your side of the pitch (field) and touch one of the three rings. Likewise, should you be hit with a bludger (dodgeball) by one of the two beaters, you must dismount your broom and do the same. Beaters, who throw the bludger at the opposing team in order to knock them off their brooms, are your defense.
Offensive players, called chasers, run the quaffle (volleyball) down the field, passing or kicking it to one another, all the while trying to score points by getting the quaffle through one of the three rings. But there is one thing stopping them: the keeper (think soccer goalie). Lucky for the chasers, though, points can be scored from in front of and behind the rings. Ten points are awarded to a team when they score.
I am sure by now that avid fans of the Harry Potter series are wondering, "What about Harry's part and the snitch?" Well, this is where Muggle Quidditch gets interesting. The two seekers stay off field until the snitch is released. The snitch, however, is a player dressed in all yellow with a sock-like tail holding a tennis ball attached to the back of his shorts. The goal of the seeker is to yank said tail off to gain 30 points, often winning the game for his team. There is truly no way to describe the battle between snitch and seekers. It's a bit like wrestling mixed with some long distance running, usually done backwards by the snitch. Often times, a game will end with most spectators rooting for the snitch not to get caught so as to keep the other game play going in the background.
This year's World Cup winner was The University of Texas, marking their third win in a row -- this time, against Lone Star Quidditch Club. Rumor has it that the southwestern Quidditch teams are taking strides at making Quidditch a Major League sport. So when will we start seeing more teams in the southeast? The University of North Carolina, The University of South Florida, The University of Florida, and many other universities in Florida are all boasting IQA official Quidditch teams. Some high schools have even taken the sport up at the club level.
Could this mean that we can expect a Quidditch start up at Georgia Southern next fall? Not saying I'm behind this, but I'm totally behind this.
