Quidditch World Cup Round Up–USQ World Cup 8, BQC, and More

As most of you know, it is that time of year again–time for the real, and very intense Quidditch World Cup. This year, however was a little different. Though America hosted  World Cup 8 this past weekend (April 11-12), it was the US Quidditch World Cup 8 (which became a trend on Twitter, earned it’s own Snapchat Live Story, and got a tweet from J.K. Rowling). Last year, Quidditch World Cup 7 (the IQA World Cup)–which regularly hosted teams from the UK (or another European team that won within the region), Australia, Canada, and the United States every year–saw all European and Oceanic teams refuse their bid to World Cup, due to costs and protesting against the World Cup being held in America every year when Quidditch was growing elsewhere in the world. Since then, the IQA dissolved into Quidditch Associations by country: USQ (United States), QUK (United Kingdom), AQA (Australia), Quidditch Austria, Belgium Muggle Quidditch, Quidditch Canada, FQA (France), DQB (Germany), AIQ (Italy), AMQ (Mexico), Muggle Quidditch Netherlands, NR (Norway), and QD (Turkey). (The IQA, which remains the head to the massive Quidditch Association body, also completely restructured its internal bureaucracy in 2014, along with it’s tournament structure.)

This year, each region was responsible for hosting its own National tournament, or World Cup, rather than all attending one large World Cup. Do not fear–there are still IQA’s Global Games, which hosts an international tournament between all countries. Three years ago, IQA also held it’s first Quidditch Olympic games, which we will hopefully see more of in the future. The European Games will be held in Sarteano, Italy, July 24-27, 2015.

Of the national games, the UK held it’s national cup last month, and (as mentioned above) the US finished its US Quidditch World Cup 8 this past weekend. The BBC reported on the UK tournament, saying:

Hundreds of players have competed in the UK’s biggest ever quidditch tournament, playing a sport adapted from the Harry Potter books.

Wollaton Hall and Park in Nottingham, known for being used as Wayne Manor in a Batman film, was chosen to host the second British Quidditch Cup (BQC).

Sixteen teams competed when the British Quidditch Cup was first held in Oxford in November 2013, and 23 teams have competed this time.

Ms Maidment has previously played for Nottingham Nightmares, a team from the University of Nottingham.

She initially became interested because of her love for Harry Potter, but now sees the sport as separate from the books.

“It’s like rugby mixed with dodgeball,” she said.

“There are a few injuries but we are currently working on re-evaluating the rules to minimise that, because if the injury rates continue as they are people aren’t going to carry on wanting to play it.

Radcliffe Chimeras, from Oxford University, were favourites to win the competition.

The Radcliffe Chimeras were upset by Southampton QC 1. All scores and bracket play of BQC 2015 can be seen here.

 From the BBC on the US Quidditch World Cup 8:

But the game isn’t just played by Harry Potter fans, with some of those taking part in the World Cup saying they enjoy the athletic side too:

“We have people on our team that have never read the books or seen the movies,” said University of Ottawa team founder Clare Hutchinson. “Quidditch is not necessarily all about Harry Potter anymore.”

Quidditch becoming separated from its Harry Potter roots has been a rather heated conversation amongst those in the Quidditch sphere for some time. Being on a Quidditch team myself, it is safe to say that we almost NEVER talk about Harry Potter, though I too joined because of my love for the series. The sport has become just that, a sport in and of its own right, much like basketball, soccer (football), and other athletic competitions. Despite this feeling amongst the athletes and those particularly involved in Quidditch, National and World competitions draw a lot of Harry Potter fans and spectators.

Rock Hill, South Carolina–The US Quidditch World Cup was an experience; a truly fun event for people of all ages. Opening ceremony saw 80 teams–79 United States teams (winners from Northeast, Mid Atlantic, Midwest, West, South, Southwest, Northwest regions within the US) and 1 Canadian team–parade onto the field, each behind their region’s flag, and teams holding up their college flags, much like the Olympic opening ceremonies. After a few opening words from original founder of Muggle Quidditch, USQ and USQ CEO, Alex Benepe, and the mayor of Rock Hill, South Carolina, national anthems were played–the only Canadian team single-handedly singing ten times louder to “Oh Canada” than the 79 American teams singing “The Star Spangled Banner” combined–and the games commenced.

80 teams played each other on 10 fields in Swiss-style tournament play (teams with the same record, and similar score differential played each other) for five guaranteed games, before beginning bracket play. Those finishing tournament play with a record of 3-2 had a bid at bracket play. Highly ranked teams played on fields where live streams broadcasted the games to viewers across the world, and those sitting comfortably in the VIP club house above the field.

Between games, players rested in their designated team tent in the Players’ Village (an impressive sight of rows and rows of tents that we wish were bigger on the inside than the outside). Booths to visit included USQ T-shirt stand, Alivan’s Wand and Broom Closet, Harry Potter Alliance,  Harry and the Potters Wizard Rock band, and Peterson Brooms–each offering their own unique merchandise (including player trading cards from USQ). A local Medical Center sponsoring USQ World Cup 8 also had a booth, and gave out free first aid kits and sunscreen (Quidditch is notorious for it’s injuries, being a full-contact sport). Both adults and kids alike braved the heat in their Wizarding robes–most from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter–and on the second day of tournament, kids (and kids-at-heart) were able to participate in a costume contest. Afternoon entertainment was provided by Harry and the Potters, who gave an energetic live-performance between the games. With thousands of people swarming the Manchester Meadows sports facility, there was one food truck (besides a Chick-fil-A concession stand), serving carnival classic foods, with a never ending line, that magically never ran out of food.

At the end of bracket play on Sunday, the final four teams battled it out in attempts to overthrow favored-to-win Texas teams. Though the crowds cheered heavily for non-Texas teams, Lone Star (a community team from Austin, Texas) swiftly beat Maryland, and University of Texas pushed the Lost Boys (a Los Angeles-based team made up of players from many California colleges) all the way back to California. As the two Austin teams went head-to-head, evenly matched-athleticism kept the score low and tight (both teams alternately leading by one) before the Snitch was released onto the pitch. The players fought hard, sustaining injuries from torn muscles to a broken broomstick stabbing through a player’s hand. A professional Snitch kept the crowds pumped up and entertained, with a little sass and great technique for throwing Seekers. After several saves, the Snitch was caught by the University of Texas, awarding the team 30 points, and their third consecutive national title.

Throughout the course of this weekend’s events, US Quidditch World Cup 8 earned it’s own Snapchat Live story–available to be viewed by anyone with a Snapchat, and also became a trending hashtag on Twitter. Though it had many supporters, much of the hashtag trend was due to Muggles who didn’t understand how real-life Quidditch could be such a big deal, big enough to show up in their Snapchat feeds. However, J.K. Rowling came to the rescue, with a quick quip and TS Eliot quote, saying:

I feel like this has maybe gone slightly too far now… @jk_rowling #QuidditchWorldCup pic.twitter.com/fo7fcq00TN