When J.K Rowling sat down all those years ago to write Harry Potter, she not only gave us a classic story but, more importantly, created the sport of Quidditch

“A lot of people like Harry Potter. It gives those people a fun sport to play,” said junior Thomas Warnecke.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Quidditch isn’t a real sport; we don’t have flying brooms or magical, enchanted balls like the snitch that can fly around. One would be right in saying that science has not yet solved the problem of flying brooms, but someone should really get on that. What we do have is Muggle Quidditch, created by a group of college kids at Middlebury College in Vermont because there is nothing else to do in Vermont except create a playable version of Quidditch.

“There is a lot of competitiveness [in Quidditch] and college students are competitive,” said Warnecke.

The competitive nature of it makes Muggle Quidditch a perfect sport for college kids. Muggle Quidditch is played with seven players (three chasers, two beaters, one seeker, and a keeper) on an oval shaped field and is a full contact sport; no, that is not a joke. Quidditch is classified as a full contact sport. The goal of the chasers is to get the quaffle, a volleyball, through one of three rings held in the air while avoiding bludgers, dodge balls, thrown by the beaters. The seeker attempts to find the snitch, which is a golden tennis ball tied to the back of a neutral player, who is running around the area and does not necessarily have to be in the playing field. The keeper does exactly what a soccer keeper does and acts as the goalie protecting the rings. To keep the game as close as possible to real Quidditch, all players must hold a broom between their legs while running.

Quidditch is a popular activity among college students with most colleges having a club. The sport is organized by the IQA (International Quidditch Association), who created a standardized rules list and holds a world cup every year. Middlebury College has won the cup every year since its inception in 2007 but was upset last year by the University of Texas.

Quidditch may be an obscure sport now but, it is growing in popularity among college students. It might even be the next new NCAA sport.

“[Middlebury is] the first of their kind. It’s an accomplishment being so dominant so early in a sports’ history,” said senior Clement Calderon.