A Sporting Chance: Gaining Club Sport Recognition
As quidditch becomes a widely-played, competitive ...
Skidmore Quidditch team photo. Photo courtesy of Skidmore Quidditch.
Harris says Skidmore College has been overwhelmingly supportive and enthusiastic about quidditch. “We are a new club, but we've gained so much support and momentum. We're getting stronger and the community has done a lot to help us in that process. We have approximately 25 players who come to most of our practices, our email list has almost 200 people, and we get 50 to 100 people when we host events.” Tad Walters, Vice-President of Loyola University New Orleans Quidditch (New Orleans, LA) says one of the most helpful aspects of being a club sport is access to a set of vans used for tournament travel. The team was founded in 2010 and this is their first year as a club sport. “We used the vans to go to the Florida Cup in November, and we plan to use them for every tournament this semester, including regionals and probably [the] World Cup,” says Walters. Access to an official bank account through their athletic department has also been extremely useful in keeping track of team funds. Other advantages include using the official university logo on advertising and uniforms and university recognition of achievements.
Loyola Quidditch at the Bae Cup in Tampa, Florida. Photo courtesy of Bekka Charney.
Though club sport status provides undeniable benefits, achieving such status is not always a no-brainer for teams. The University of Maryland (College Park, MD) applied for and was offered club sport recognition, only to ultimately decline when faced with a decision about practice space. "We began the process of becoming a club sport... and we ended up turning it down for several reasons," says Sarah Woolsey, president of Maryland Quidditch. Chief among these was the fact that accepting the benefits of such recognition would prevent the team from practicing in its typical venue, and restrict their overall number of weekly practices to comply with university regulations. "[W]e would be significantly less flexible with practice time and location as a club sports team versus a general student organization," says Woolsey, who is also the director of the IQA's development department. "Although there are benefits, at our university we found that it was best for our organization to not become a club sport." Nevertheless, most teams have found it entirely worthwhile to apply for club sport status, which generally does provide access to additional facilities and financial support. Sarah Takesian, public relations and media chair for Northern Arizona University Narwhals Quidditch (Flagstaff, AZ) says their recreational services have helped their team significantly since they became a club sport in November 2010. “Through the recreational services we can get licensed equipment and it helps with getting our jerseys. This semester we're able to reserve a gym so we don't have to play outside in the snow. We also get funding for traveling if we need it and a stipend,” says Takesian. Another benefit of becoming a club sport is access to more advertising opportunities that help increase membership as well as promote school-wide and community attendance at sponsored matches and events. “Every semester they have a club sport expo, so we have access to that and we get a lot of people interested that way,” says Takesian. “If we ever have any home games, they'll come out and watch.”
NAU Narwhals at the Lumberjack Invitational, which they hosted. Photo courtesy of Leyna Segal.
Sometimes finding out that quidditch is an official club sport at their school can lead skeptics to consider it a “real sport.” According to Takesian, bystanders' reactions to NAU Quidditch's official club sport status has been mainly positive. “Most people are excited and they think it's cool that it's a real sport and a lot of people are interested in it. We're the biggest club on campus. Right now we have about 50 people who come on a regular basis,” she says. Being one of the biggest clubs on campus is a notable achievement, considering NAU has a population of over 23,000 students. Some schools may have a more intense application process or financial and travel restrictions, but many teams have found that the benefits are well worth any minor inconveniences. The application process at other schools, such as the University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX), may involve a presentation component, in which potential members present reasons their team should be recognized and answer questions posed by their peers or sport club coordinators. Audrey Wright, co-captain and varsity player for the University of Texas at Austin's Slytherin House, explained her experience presenting in front of a panel of about 10 students. “We had a lot more questions from the other rec sport representatives than the official coordinators. They were concerned with safety because it is a full contact sport and the brooms were a concern and that was something we really had to sell to them. We put a lot of emphasis on how dedicated we already are and why we wanted to become a rec sport.” For teams looking to apply for official club sport status, listing a few of the other schools with recognized teams may help strengthen your application. According to a list compiled on Facebook, there are at least 45 teams currently recognized by their college as official club sports. Contacting captains or people who put together applications for already recognized schools may also be helpful. Many recreational sport club coordinators have contacts at other colleges, which may help sway their decision in your team's favor. Wright's advice for other teams looking to apply is, “Don't give up. One of the biggest issues was appropriately explaining the game. If you're explanation is confusing, they get confused. Be simple and to the point.” While becoming a sport club may not be something every team wishes to pursue, more and more school teams are applying for official status. Not only does this status result in access to university resources for individual teams, it also helps solidify quidditch's position as a recognized sport. As quidditch expands, the number of teams with club sport status is sure to be on the rise.