Quidditch IRL

It’s been 3 weeks since The Potter Brothers and their friends went back to Hogwarts.

...Um… Surbhi why are you writing about Harry Potter on a Blog about sports…

Well because it’s that time of the year again which is very much awaited by Hogwarts student; QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS!!!

As a Potterhead, I think Quidditch Matches were one of the things that everyone looked forward to in the series. Not only Harry, and other Hogwarts students, but us readers too.

But did you know, us muggles loved it so much we actually adapted this fictional game into a real sporting event, also known as the IQA World Cup.

The IQA World Cup is an international quidditch tournament contested by the national teams of the members of the International Quidditch Association, the sport's global governing organisation.

It’s quite similar to the Quidditch we all no about. It is played between two teams of 7 players, of which six are always on the pitch, those being the three chasers, one keeper, and two beaters. And the seeker who is off-pitch, each mounted on a broomstick minus their magical ability of flying and not really enchanted balls:

The Quaffle (a slightly deflated volleyball),

The Bludgers (a dodgeball)

and The Golden Snitch

Lets have an expert tell us about it.

Fun Fact: The six players on pitch are required to abide by the gender rule, which states that a team may have a maximum of four players who identify as the same gender, excluding the seeker, making quidditch one of the few sports that not only offers a co-ed environment but an open community to those who do not identify with the gender binary

To score points, chasers or keepers must get the quaffle into one of three of the opposing hoops which scores the team 10 points. To impede the quaffle from advancing down the pitch, chasers and keepers are able to tackle opposing chasers and keepers at the same time as beaters using their bludgers to take out opposing players. Once a player is hit by an opposing bludger, that player must dismount their broom, drop any ball being held, and return to and touch their hoops before being allowed back into play. The game is ended once the snitch is caught by one of the seekers, awarding that team 30 points.

Matches or games often run about 30 to 40 minutes but tend to be subject to varying lengths of time due to the unpredictable nature of the snitch catch. If the score at the end of the match including the 30 point snitch catch is tied (such that the team that caught the snitch was 30 points behind the other), the game moves to overtime where the snitch is constrained to the pitch's dimensions and the game ends after five minutes or when the snitch is legally caught.

Sound fun. Doesn't it? Hence we simply Cannot just cancel Quidditch.

Not that I could ever be fit enough to play the game myself, I'd love to even be a spectator. Letting me be a little closure to a fictional world that I love.