Canada will be represented at the 2010 World Cup of Quidditch
BRITANY MURPHY-
The seventh and final instalment of the Harry Potter film franchise is not the only wizarding world phenomenon to get ready for in November.
Ryerson Quidditch team practising for the upcoming World Cup in New York. Photo courtesy of Matthew Law
From November 13 to 14, New York City will host the Muggle Quidditch World Cup. During the two day tournament, colleges and universities from all over the world can register their school team to participate.
The campus craze first appeared in U.S. College campuses six years ago, and the Muggle version of the sport has continued to grow ever since.
Ryerson Quidditch team member, Suraj Singh says, “It’s a great sport and there’s a little bit of everything. It can get really intense but I find that quidditch is less intimidating than other university sports. People of all fitness levels can come out and play and you don’t have to be a fan of the Harry Potter series to enjoy it. It’s very inviting and most of all, it’s fun.”
Although the Muggle version does not include flying around on brooms or seeking out an airborne golden snitch, it still keeps many of the same elements made popular by J.K. Rowling’s book series.
Players still carry a broom between their legs as they run around the pitch. There are scoring hoops on either end with a white ball used as a quaffle, dodge balls used as bludgers to hit opponents, and the golden snitch is actually a person. The person acting as the snitch wears yellow and runs around the pitch throughout the game, trying to avoid getting caught by either team.
Out of the 57 teams registered for the upcoming Quidditch tournament, three teams will represent campuses around Canada.
Ryerson, McGill, and Carleton will all be playing on the 13 and 14 next month when their teams will battle it out against other universities for the Quidditch Trophy.
Ryerson was actually the second university to register for the games and they have been preparing for New York since July.
Singh says, “We didn’t exactly hold tryouts but had more of a club format where everyone who showed up played.”
Even with allowing everyone to play, the Ryerson team was still out of luck while holding scrimmages.
“The turnout was pretty good but we never had enough people for a full 7-on-7 match with a snitch runner,” says Singh.
But now that the tournament is fast approaching and more students have heard about the team, new members want to participate every day.
When asked about the World Cup, Singh says, “I think there is a mixture of being nervous and excited. But more excitement! There isn’t really too much to be worried about. Just going there and playing teams from all over will be such an amazing experience that I think it doesn’t matter if we win…although that would be fantastic. As we’re a relatively new team, we are still in the process of picking the full roster of players who are able to go.”
With all the excitement around Ryerson with both the Quidditch World Cup and the final Harry Potter movie approaching, it is hard not to notice the excitement from other Harry Potter fans.
Seneca College student, Jesse Magallanes says, “It will never be as good as Rowling’s Quidditch mainly because positions won’t be as effective when you can’t knock people to the ground off of their flying broomsticks. The snitch would not be the same either. It would be more difficult to catch if it was flying.”
Magallanes adds, “If my school had a team, of course I would join…even if the Muggle game looks silly!”
With three Canadian teams already participating in the world cup, Singh encourages other universities to start teams.
With 5 Canadian teams currently active, 17 universities are currently forming, including a team at Guelph University.
With this sport always growing, maybe Quidditch will travel to the University of Guelph-Humber.
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