Kids clean out local dollar store with passion for Quidditch

MONTREAL (CUP) – You can find them on lower field, practicing hard. They warm up, choose sides, and start a scrimmage.
They could be any ol’ sports team, except the game they’re playing comes straight out of the magical world. With broomsticks between their legs, and bludgers clutched in their hands, this group of sports stars is bringing Quidditch to McGill University in Montreal.
Quidditch, a once fictional sport confined to the Harry Potter series, is difficult to explain. It is a mix of rugby, basketball, and dodgeball on broomsticks, with the main goal being to “seek out” a small golden ball called the snitch.
Now that the rules have been adapted for non-magical, non-flying participants, McGill students are joining in.
The novelty, and of course, the absurdity, of the game is enough to gather a group of spectators at each practice. They stop by to catch a glimpse, and a laugh, as the team plays.
“It looked a little ridiculous; we wanted a photo,” said Tony Kwan, a McGill student who had sat down to watch the game.
The club was started by six first-year students just three weeks ago and has yet to get official society status.
Still, 30 people attended the last practice, nearly 100 people are in the Facebook group, and the local dollar store is sold out of broomsticks.
The sport’s sudden increase in popularity means novice players are joining at every practice. As a result this new, complex game has to be constantly re-explained. There are five balls, six hula-hoops, and four different positions.
The idea is to score by throwing one ball through the hula-hoop, while avoiding the bludgers, dodgeball-style.
To keep the game true to its Harry Potter roots, there is even a player clad in gold from head-to-toe serving as the snitch. It may seem confusing, but according to another founding member of the team, and Vice Warlock, Wren Laing: “Knowledge of the books definitely helps everyone play since it’s pretty similar [to the story].”
Despite the influx of newbies, the craze surrounding the Harry Potter books means that it’s not hard to find those familiar with the ins and outs of Quidditch. In fact, most players have gotten so into the game that it’s already getting serious – dive tackle, injured knee, broken broomstick-serious.
“It’s really intense because the only official rules are to be creative. When it comes to violence and physical contact, it’s whatever you think is appropriate in the game,” said Laing.
And, sure enough, the ground was littered with broken dollar-store brooms by the end of practice.
Away from lower field, the club executives – or warlocks, sorceresses, and goblins as they prefer to be called – are planning big for the new team.
“Hopefully we’ll go to the Quidditch World Cup at Vermont in Middlebury and then we’ll [continue on] from there,” said Laing.
The tournament is scheduled at the end of October and the team already has more players signed up than they can afford to take.