THE sport of quidditch, the game that turns fiction into reality from the Harry Potter series, has come to life.
People have come to welcome it all over the world, particularly at universities, and there’s even an Australian Quidditch Association with seven teams playing in the Sydney Quidditch League.
The University of Wollongong (UOW) Harry Potter society created its quidditch team - the Wollongong Warriors - in October 2011 and played in its first tournament, the inaugural QUAFL Cup (Quidditch Universities of Australian Federation League) in December 2011.
Kurt Rallings, 22, from Caringbah, joined the UOW Harry Potter Society in 2011, and said he thought quidditch was fantastic.
‘‘It’s an intense physical and mental exercise because you have to be both completely aware of your surroundings, and constantly on the move, while simultaneously combating the awkwardness of running with a broomstick between your legs and dodging enemy bludgers,’’ Rallings said.
‘‘I also think the quidditch community is one of the game’s biggest assets. Everyone is so friendly.
‘‘It’s a nice feeling to go on the field and play this intense sport against a fantastic group of people and once the match is over there’s rarely any bitterness, only hugs.’’
Fellow team-mate Julia Pearson, 21, also from Caringbah, is a huge fan of the Harry Potter series.
‘‘I wanted to see how the real life adaptation worked,’’ she said. ‘‘And meet new people and make friends at uni.’’
Pearson said she had some favourite rules. ‘‘I love you must stay on your broom at all times, which makes it hard to take yourself too seriously and adds to the fun,’’ she said. ‘‘As I play the position of beater it’s also great to have an excuse to throw balls at people when they’re least expecting it.’’
Daniel Lowe, 19, of Peakhurst, said he joined the Wollongong Warriors to be with his friend Aman.
‘‘All the different positions really make it more of a challenge to get people working together than most other sports,’’ he said.
‘‘All the balls make it more challenging, too, but all in all the community built around the sport makes it really fun and enjoyable.’’
For details, visit http://quidditch.org.au/
Would you play quidditch or do you think it is just a lot of quaffle?
