Question of the Week: Why do you Play Quidditch?
Each week, the IQA will release a question through...
Photo by Deanna Edmunds
"The reason I play quidditch is, on the surface, simple: I'm a competitor. I started playing sports when I was five years old and have yet to take more than three months off without being a part of a team or competing individually since. After playing tennis for four years of high school and having to shut down after the state tournament senior year, that summer was one of the most boring of my life. I felt like I had nothing to improve for, nothing to prove myself as. Luckily, I knew the college I was going to, Ohio State University, had a quidditch team, and I had heard about the sport in high school and even started a small club there. I joined the Ohio State team the first week I got on campus freshman year, and immediately was shocked by how competitive and complex the sport was when I played at Midwest Cup and World Cup in the first three months of being on the team.
The reason I stuck with quidditch as my form of being competitive, and not switching to another sport while I'm at Ohio State, is the incredible community that we all have created across the world as quidditch players. We're all in this together, this growth of quidditch from Middlebury College in 2005 to a World Cup this year that is truly international and inter-continental. Being able to go to any tournament and be able to make new friends immediately just because we all play the same sport is something I never saw in the six sports I played growing up, and I know it's unique to this sport only. This community, and this camaraderie, led me to fall in love with this sport to the point where I am now a co-captain of our team and am seriously thinking about making quidditch something I continue after I graduate.
Quidditch has cemented its place as the defining event of my college experience, and I can't wait to be able to spread that to others for the rest of my life."
- David Hoops
"I play quidditch and try to stay active in the sport in order to stay sane in medical school."
-Leah Ferrante
"I still remember my first time playing quidditch. A bunch of my friends started a club in high school, and wanted to try it out. They invited me to play their first game and so I joined. When I lined up in front of the hoops, I asked myself "What am I getting myself into?" This seemed like a geeky thing to do. However, when I heard "Brooms Up", everything changed. Sure it was awkward to run around with a broom between my legs, but there was such intensity as I played with my friends.
When I went to college, I met up with a quidditch team that played on my campus. Ever since I joined, I haven't regretted it since. I've been involved in tournaments and meet tons of great people. I found that the game was not only a good way to exercise but to meet other people."
-Erik Jaworski
"I play for many reasons. For one I think it's pretty epic that quidditch has been made into a real life sport and I'm glad to be a part of it. I've loved Harry Potter since I was 11 so that was what first drew me in.
But as I got out on the pitch for weekly practices and learned more about the game, the more I couldn't get away from the fact that this is all happening because the most brilliant author on the planet wrote a book.
Rowling is where it all came from. Her thoughtful mind is how it started and she's why the IQA even exists.
I'm a writer myself and hope to be an author, so I play to pay homage and respect to another author. I'm showing her by my actions what her books mean to me. Playing the game goes much further than reading the books or watching the films. It's being active and doing something.
I also play to carry on the Harry Potter generation. The movies and books might be over, but we carry the generation forward with the games, and tournaments and World Cups that continue.
Last but not least, I play for and with my teammates. I can't not mention them. Without having a strong and talented team along with me, we wouldn't be where we are today.
Quidditch has easily become a lifestyle and I regret that this part of my life might be over once I graduate college.”
-Cammilia Holmes
"I play quidditch for the ladies.”
-Austin Lillis
