US Quidditch

History

As a freshman in college who was bored by his Sunday routine of playing bocce ball, Alex wanted to try something new. He and his colleagues began outlining the guidelines of a sport. They combined rules derived from lacrosse, dodgeball, and rugby in order to create a rule book containing the guidelines followed in Quidditch matches today. In October 2005, the first Quidditch game was played at Battell Beach in Middlebury, Vermont. Around 30 players showed up to play the game. In 2007, the first Quidditch World Cup was played between Middlebury College and Vassar College. By this time, Quidditch had become the most popular club on campus at Middlebury College. In 2008, students took a spring break road trip to see Quidditch played at six college campuses in the Mid-Atlantic. This trip was aired on MTV, increasing interest in the game. The third World Cup took place in October 2009 with 2,000 spectators and 21 teams which made it the biggest tournament to date. In March 2010, United States Quidditch or USQ was made into a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The first meeting of the United Quidditch Association was held in May with the directors of the organization. In November, the first away game was held in Manhattan. The fourth Quidditch World Cup was held here as well, and 46 teams competed. This event lasted two days, attracting media attention and 15,000 spectators. In February 2011, the first Trans-Continental game was played between students of Vassar College in New York and University of Vaasa in Finland. In March 2011, the USQ held its first regional tournament called the Swamp Cup in Gainesville, Florida. In November 2011, 96 teams competed in the fifth World Cup on Randall's Island in New York. In 2012, hundreds of teams began to establish at other universities and colleges all over the United States. Now over 110 teams are currently members of the USQ. In July 2012 the International Quidditch Association hosted the Summer Games in Oxford, United Kingdom; these games were won by the United States. In September 2012, the United States Quidditch Association formed a referee development team which trains individuals to become referees in the sport. In 2013, Quidditch was televised for the first time in history.

Rulebook

As the sport has grown nationally, and globally, USQ has issued a number of rule books which have formed the basis of many other national leagues rules, with some using the USQ rules exactly whilst others, like Quidditch Canada and QuidditchUK, have altered their rules to best suit their leagues' play style. The current edition, rule book 9, is to also form the basis of the upcoming release of the International Quidditch Association rulebook 9.

Summary

Quidditch is a gender inclusive contact sport. A Quidditch arena consists of 3 hoops at each of the two shorter ends of the field. A team requires 3 Chasers, 1 Keeper, 2 Beaters and 1 Seeker. Using volleyballs while riding brooms, the Chasers are in charge of scoring points by passing, running, or kicking the ball to their team-mates or into the hoops. The Keeper guards the hoops and acts as a fourth chaser while the Beaters use dodge balls to move players out of the way as a means of pushing and blocking. Beaters may also throw the dodge ball at the opposing team as a means to "knock them out," causing them to have to tag back in. The Seeker must catch the Snitch, a neutral person who has attached a Golden Snitch (usually a tennis ball in a tube sock) to their waist; catching the snitch is worth thirty points. When the snitch is caught, the game ends and the team who caught the snitch wins. If the snitch is caught and the score is tied, the game goes into overtime. When it comes to gender on the team, the "four maximum" rule applies. This means that there must be 4 participants of each gender on each team including the runner.