First, have six people playing a basketball version of rugby. Add three people playing tag, and six people playing dodge ball. Put them all on the same field and tell them they have to run around with broomsticks between their legs. That is what Muggle Quidditch, a down-to-earth game of Harry Potter Quidditch, is like.
My kids and I happily attended the International Quidditch World Cup down in NYC this past weekend. There were a hundred teams competing, mostly from colleges. We came there with a vague notion of the game, looking at the weekend as a kind of PotterCon.
There was eclectic entertainment on the main stage all day, bands playing Wizard Rock, and even an appearance from a couple actors from A Very Potter Musical. Not too many vendors, but there were pretty wooden wands for sale. There were certainly people dressed up from Hogwarts, but the sport of Quidditch was the main attraction.
The snitch is the best part of the sport because it is a person dressed in yellow that runs anywhere (and does anything) they please. The two keepers have to find the snitch and grab a dangling ball from the snitch uniform to end the game. Since there were multiple games being played, there were snitches all over the place, often running in the fields of other games. Keepers looking for their snitch would jog by on their broomsticks everywhere. Truly entertaining.
The commentators were very amusing. My husband often makes fun of sport commentators for making obvious statements in a serious way. In Quidditch, the commentators don’t take anything seriously. Our favorite quote in the middle of a game late Saturday, “Hey! I just noticed they all have broomsticks between their knees! That’s really inefficient…”
We picked up the rules after watching a dozen games or so. My kids were intimidated by the amount of physical contact by burly college guys. I assured them that if they wanted to start a team, it wouldn’t be so aggressive. However, the medical staff at the Cup was very busy.
The sport started up in Vermont at Middlebury College where a friend of mine was attending school just a few years ago. Middlebury has fifteen teams alone, so the competition to be at the Cup is fierce. Because of this, their team is tough, and has won every World Cup since its inception. However, the games were really tight, and I think this is the last year Middlebury is the sure bet.
I totally recommend going to the Cup if you are a Harry Potter fan, or just like being around quirky happy people. It’s very family friendly, and we had a great time.
