UCLA Hosts Popular Kidditch Event
Eli Ludden, a fourth grader at Westwood Charter School, has three favorite sports: baseball, soccer, and quidditch. He was one of forty classmates to come out to UCLA's Sunset Recreation Center on Sunday, June 2nd, for University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) quidditch team's largest kidditch event of the year.
Photos by Kat Ignatova/IQA Photo Editor
Two years ago, Tina Carlson took her son and daughter swimming at Sunset Rec. She noticed the quidditch players practicing there that day. “I'm an avid Harry Potter fan,” said Carlson, “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, they're actually playing quidditch!' I came up to them afterwards and asked them if they do outreach events.”
To her pleasure, the team vehemently answered that they do.
According to Carlson, the Westwood Charter School, which her children attend, holds fundraisers where the parents create theme events. Following her meeting with the UCLA team, Carlson proposed a quidditch event. The idea wasn't solidified until she and some other parents attended Western Cup III, which was hosted by UCLA in March 2012. “We had so much fun there,” said Jack Ludden, one of the parents behind the planning of the event and Eli's father. “That was the moment when we decided this is something we have to do.”
“It was like watching the early days of baseball,” added Carlson. “We were just sitting in the bleachers, and here's a seeker right next to us, looking for the snitch. One of the refs was dressed in all steampunk; it was great.”
This was their second year hosting a kidditch event with UCLA. Carlson and her fellow parents banded together to rent out a room at Sunset Rec's facility. They dressed it up as the Hogwarts Great Hall, holding stations for food, games, potions, and broom-making.
Following that was the actual quidditch. UCLA co-presidents Brennan Ross and Katelynn Kazane led the quidditch lesson, instructing the five- to eleven-year-olds how to chase, beat, keep, and seek. Then the games began.
Standing to the side, Carlson watched the kids play with a smile on her face. “The best part about quidditch is that it's for everyone,” she said. “It's not just for jocks, for the kids who play baseball on the weekends. My daughter almost never gets to play. She's an avid reader, and she's out there running right now. She absolutely loves it.”
While both Carlson and Ludden don't see quidditch becoming part of the school's physical education curriculum due to California's low budget, they are considering the possibility of a junior high league. “It has to be after they've read the books,” stressed Ludden. “So that they can make the connections between what they've read and the game.” He is currently reading the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, to his children.
Tess Carlson, daughter of Tina Carlson, has read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at least eight times. When asked if she would consider playing quidditch in college, she answered, “Maybe. I'd love to go to UCLA.” Her favorite position to play? Seeker, of course. She was one of the eight kids chasing after the snitch.
The UCLA team has been hosting kidditch events ever since the club was formed in 2009. This particular event served as community service for the team in the eyes of the school's club sports organization. The team's reason for hosting it is less bureaucratic: they simply love seeing kids become excited about the sport. “It's more than adorable; it's redeeming,” said co-president Brennan Ross. “They're the future generation of quidditch, and they remind us that this is a fun sport.”
IQA Teams Director Harrison Homel also highly supports the event, and hopes to see quidditch in middle and high schools in the near future. “It's the only way forward with the sport,” said Homel. “We need to start young if we ever want quidditch to be self-sustaining.” Development Department Director Sarah Woolsey describes an anecdote of how a mother encouraged her son to try playing a game of pick-up kidditch. Though the boy had no interest in sports, once he started playing quidditch he had no desire to stop. "Seeing the enthusiasm and joy that the kids have while playing quidditch is wonderful," said Woosley. "It helps get some kids interested in athletics which they might not have the opportunity for otherwise, it helps keep the spirit of Harry Potter alive for some, and it helps some kids find another sport they really enjoy." To view the full album of this event, click here.