Penn Sports Plus: Quidditch Edition

The Daily Pennsylvanian was pleased to break out our broom sticks and have a chat with one of the captains of the Penn Quidditch team, Justin Bogart, who breaks down how the game has traveled from the skies down to earth.

Wait, playing quidditch? Don't you need magic?

Bogart: Funny you should ask this. Most people who first hear about quidditch actually wonder a similar thing but their response is usually in the form of ‘but your broom don’t fly’ or something of the like. Here’s a brief history of real-life quidditch or muggle (a muggle is a person that lacks any magical abilities) quidditch as it is typically known. Muggle quidditch was conceived at Middlebury College back in 2005 by Xander Manshel, who adapted the magical sport found in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, for, simply put, gravity. Instead of flying on brooms high above the ground, the seven group of muggles (three chasers, two beaters, a keeper, and a seeker) that comprise a quidditch team run around with brooms between their legs.

To emulate the act of flying, if your broom is removed from between your legs at any moment during the game it is as if you are “falling” from the air and as a result are temporarily “knocked out” until you run back to your sides hoops. However, most people wonder how the snitch, which in the novels is a small magical gold ball with wings that flies over the quidditch pitch, was adapted for our non-magical world. In muggle quidditch, the snitch runner is a cross-country runner who dresses in all yellow and has a sock with a tennis ball (the snitch) velcroed to his shorts. The seekers must then completely remove the sock from the snitch runner’s shorts in order to have ‘snatched the snitch.’

Just how physical and demanding a game is quidditch?

Bogart: People who haven’t played quidditch just don’t understand how physically taxing the game of quidditch actually is. They just can’t get over the fact that the game is based on a fictional sport from a children’s novel. Consider this, however. The hoop-to-hoop distance on a muggle quidditch pitch is 36 yards. That means that you are constantly running, in a full sprint, the 36 yards up and down the quidditch pitch. Not only that but also quidditch is a full contact sport. Tackles are allowed as long as you wrap the other player with one arm above the knee and below the neck and initiate contact in the other player’s peripheral vision (not from behind). Quidditch sees players from all different sports backgrounds: rugby, soccer, lacrosse, etc.

Why should someone come out to practice (Hill Field at 2pm on Saturdays)?

Bogart: I always tell people to come out to practice because it is a great way to get some exercise while having fun and meeting new friends in the process.

Could you talk a bit about the quidditch community, and how inclusive it is?

Bogart: This is a great question. The quidditch community is very unique in that it has a huge online presence. I can’t tell you how many of my quidditch friends I first met on social networks such as facebook or tumblr. Then when I met them in person at a pick up game or a tournament, I already felt like we knew each other. I guess that’s what happens when you create a sport in the technological age. Now, the best descriptor I’ve heard of the quidditch community is ‘family.’ I truly believe that each and every person in the quidditch community has the support of one another.

For example, in May of last year, the Bowling Green State University quidditch team learned that a former member of their team, by the name of Hilary, passed away suddenly. They created a facebook event, which asked the members of the quidditch community to raise a broom or quaffle for the player at the same designated time (details can be found here http://www.internationalquidditch.org/2012/05/brooms-up-for-hilary/). The event was called “Brooms up for Hilary.” Sure enough players from all over raised up their brooms, quaffles, snitch tails, etc and had a moment of silence for Hilary. Even people who never even knew her or the Bowling Green State University quidditch team. The only connection they had with her was that they all were part of this quidditch community. Having a group of people like that that you can count on for support is truly powerful.

There are some people who want to hold onto the magic of how the game was played at its inception (capes, etc) and others who want to try and make the game more mainstream. Where do you fall in regards to that debate?

Bogart: Having started playing quidditch very early on, I am a bit biased in this regard. I love the capes and I wish we could bring them back. They made the game feel like quidditch to me. Another tradition that I fear we may lose soon is that the world cup trophy has always been an empty vodka bottle spray painted gold. I love this. I don’t want a real trophy. The traditional trophy just gives the vibe that all in all we are just a bunch of friends playing a game. And I want to keep that vibe. At least we still have the brooms.

But that being said, I also love the competition. Perhaps this is because I’m a twin and I grew up all my life with competition. We just have to be careful not to glorify the competition and winning too much in my opinion. The best part about quidditch is that while on the pitch you fight hard to win, but off the pitch you are all just really good friends. I want to keep it that way. And if we totally forget the magic of how the game was played at its inception, I fear that we may lose this.

Describe what a quidditch tournament is like. Are there any similarities with Rowling's description of the World Cup in Harry Potter?

Bogart: In my opinion, a quidditch tournament is kind of like a big carnival. Typically, game play lasts over two days and is broken up by musical performances as well as other talent shows. Tents are set up all over the grounds for announcers, merchandise, and teams. I feel like the quidditch tournaments successfully capture the “spectacle” that is World Cup as described in Harry Potter.