Seven-game sweep
Armed with brooms, costumed college students are playing a down-to-earth version of Quidditch
AMHERST - Players wearing purple and navy blue capes hopped on brooms and rushed out of tents to a cheering crowd of students and family members, even little kids dressed in wizards hats, who held up signs reading "Chasers, Beaters, and Seekers" and "Remember Cedric Diggory." They were all here yesterday, on the freshman quad at Amherst College, to watch the campus's first game of Quidditch, a sport made famous at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
J.K. Rowling may have dreamed up Quidditch for her series of Harry Potter novels, but college students are bringing her imaginary game to life. For the past week, 17 students from Middlebury College in Vermont have traveled in vans across the Northeast during their spring break to seven colleges on a quest to take Quidditch to other campuses. They stopped at Amherst College, Princeton University, and Columbia University, among others, to play scrimmages and spread the word that the sport is real.
The Quidditch craze started at Middlebury in the fall of 2005, when Alex Benepe, a 21-year-old art history major from New York, and Xander Manshel, a 20-year-old English major, staged their first Quidditch match on campus fields.
"From the first game, everyone loved it," said Benepe, who has given himself the title of intercollegiate Quidditch commissioner. "I was totally blown away and wanted to keep it going."
The students played an improvised game, drawing their rules from the Harry Potter books, and it soon caught the attention of others. More than 100 students now play in the Quidditch League at Middlebury College. Every Sunday in the fall, students practice and compete. And the sport has spread across the country: The Intercollegiate Quidditch Association Group on Facebook, which Benepe started, lists 2,200 members. By Benepe's count, leagues have formed on at least 78 campuses.
In the Harry Potter books, Quidditch players fly on brooms during games. College students don't have that option - nor can they chase a fluttering gold ball with wings called a "snitch" - so they've devised ways to re-create the game for "muggles" (Rowling's term for people who are not wizards). Benepe and Manshel wrote a 39-page Quidditch rule book with tips on starting a Quidditch league.
Instead of flying on brooms, 10 to 14 teammates run across the playing field with broomsticks held between their thighs. The snitch is a tennis ball stuffed inside a long sock, which is tied to a cross-country runner's shorts. The snitch runner darts across the field - sometimes doing back flips and handstands - as a "seeker" from each team tries to capture it to win 50 points and end the game. Other college leagues have used remote-controlled helicopters or bouncing balls as their snitches.
But there is more to the game than that. Quidditch combines elements of dodge ball, tag, and basketball. While the seekers chase the snitch, other players try to score points. On the field, three "beaters" throw "bludgers" (or red rubber balls) at opponents, and "chasers" throw a "quaffle" (a deflated volleyball) through three gold hoops on the opponents side of the field as "keepers" try to prevent the quaffle from passing through their team's hoops. Benepe has tried to cover all bases, even describing fouls and penalties, including cape grabbing, which may result in receiving a yellow "wand" (or warning) from a referee. The team with the highest point total wins, though it is difficult to amass enough points to win without capturing the snitch.
The sport has grown so popular at Middlebury that 12 teams have formed there, and last fall the school hosted the nation's first intercollegiate Quidditch match, playing against Vassar College. The Middlebury teams - with such names as the Hungry Hungry Hippogriffs, the Prisoners of Azkaban, and the Mollywobbles - wear costumes they've designed: aprons turned into capes, royal purple capes with green sequin lightening bolts, and prison guard uniforms. Some teams have formed cheerleading squads and recruited mascots. Music from the Harry Potter movie soundtracks blasts from speakers, and announcers from Middlebury's improv troupe provide commentary throughout the games.
All the buzz about Quidditch has attracted prospective students to Middlebury College. Some applicants ask about the Quidditch League during campus tours; the class of 2012 has already started a chat on Facebook about joining the Quidditch League next fall.
Having the opportunity to play Quidditch helped draw Lara Andrade to Middlebury. "I grew up on the Harry Potter books," said Andrade, an 18-year-old freshman from Colorado. "When I heard there was a way to actually be a part of it, that's what made me excited."
Kate Olen, Andrade's suitemate, joined the Quidditch league immediately when she arrived on campus last fall. "Knowing Middlebury had [Quidditch] was a childhood dream come true," said Olen, a 19-year-old freshman environmental studies major from St. Helena, Calif. "For the most part people think it's hilarious. Everyone I have told has been super interested and wanting to play. It really is an infectious disease. Once you hear about it, see it, and play - it's all you want to do."
For Benepe, Quidditch is more about the theatrics than anything - re-creating the scenes in the pages of Rowling's seven books. "I see Quidditch as a work of art - it's not rehearsed, it's spontaneous," Benepe said. "The players are like actors, the stadium is like a set, you have props, and equipment, lights, and sound."
Others connect with the humor. Chris Free, a 19-year-old sophomore biology major from Wallingford, Pa., said he was intrigued when he saw people playing Quidditch outside his dorm. A member of the varsity cross country running team, he routinely plays the seeker now, frantically chasing the snitch up and down the field.
"We run around with brooms between our legs and with capes on, and it's a really goofy game," Free said. "It's also really fun. Having a broom between your legs levels your playing field."
Justin Bogart, a 20-year-old Middlebury sophomore chemistry major from Brooklyn, N.Y., who plays the chaser, was drawn to Quidditch because of his love for the Harry Potter series. But he's been surprised at how athletic the game can be. "It's pretty physical and competitive," he said.
After playing three matches at Amherst College yesterday, Benepe, dressed in a suit and top hat, presented Robyn Bahr, Amherst's new Quidditch commissioner, with a purple Amherst Quidditch banner and asked the team to play at the so-called Quidditch World Cup next November at Middlebury. Middlebury taught the Amherst students the rules Thursday night, but even with their lack of experience, Amherst still managed to win one out of three matches.
Benepe said he hopes the sport continues to grow. He expects as many as 10 schools to compete for the World Cup next fall, and he's trying to get in touch with Rowling to invite her.
Benepe admits that he sometimes puts school work and his social life on hold to devote himself to Quidditch.
"I really like doing it because it makes me happy," Benepe said. "And it's sort of foolish and fun and makes people sort of return to their child-like state." 