Brandon Pang
News Story Roughs 2
April 2011

Quidditch: New Sport on Campus

Have you dreamt of a magical world that coexists within our own world? Ever let your imagination take you on a ride on speeding broomsticks? Wanted Hogwarts as your number one dream school? Well now, part of that fantasy has turned into reality. The popular magical game played on broomsticks in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling has been adapted into a realistic sport. Starting off as a simple game in Middlebury College in 2005, it has grown into an international sport to play.

Quidditch is a fictional sport created through J. K. Rowling’s book series, Harry Potter, Described as a rough, fast-paced game played by wizards and witches on broomsticks, the game is played by seven players on both sides aiming to get the highest point score. Like the fictional game, the realistic version, also referred to as Muggle Quidditch or Ground Quidditch, is played on an oval-shaped field with many of the same rules and foul definitions. However there are a lot of differences to make up for the lack of supernatural magic. The seven players have different roles: one keeper acts as a goalkeeper, three chasers throw a medium-size ball through three different hoops to gain ten points each time, two beaters throw balls at the opposing team to distract them from game play, and the last player is the seeker whose only goal in the game is to catch the Golden Snitch. Upon catching the Golden Snitch, the seeker earns thirty points for their team along with ending the game. One of the biggest hurdles in creating this game was the lack of magic. However this was problem was cleared with ease. Instead of flying broomsticks, all players must carry a broomstick within the legs throughout the whole game. The Golden Snitch, typically a speedy magical ball, was replaced with a neutral player who runs with a sock containing a tennis ball in the back of their pants.

Highly popular on the East Coast, Muggle Quidditch is still in its infancy stage in the West Coast colleges. Although it is a recognized club sport for many East Coast schools, it lacks that prestige on the West Coast. Still, the game is rapidly gaining recognition and popularity, even having a non-profit, international organization to oversee its growth, the International Quidditch Association (IQA). Die-hard Harry Potter fans may be fascinated to see their favorite game adapted into real life, but to others it can seem as a joke, becoming a difficult hurdle to overcome. However, hundreds of colleges have joined the IQA, confirmed by the Commissioner of the IQA Alex Benepe. An avid Harry Potter fan, sophomore Tricia Xu stated, “I don’t see why Quidditch shouldn’t be considered a club sport because I don’t think that popular sports like basketball and football automatically caught on when they were starting out. Personally, I would play this game in college because I grew up loving Harry Potter. I think it depends on the person and their interest in the series because at the moment, Quidditch isn't far enough developed to be stand alone as a sport and not affiliated with Harry Potter.

With more prestige and popularity, this game may yet climb up to its full potential that Harry Potter has earned. Whether you may be a crazed Harry Potter fan or insane Twilight fan, a super athlete or scrawny kid, this sport may be calling out to you, waiting to be recognized.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-quidditch-college-20110410,0,5686763.story
http://www.upiu.com/culture-society/2011/03/17/Quidditch-Its-Entrance-into-the-Real-World/UPIU-1281300400200/

Headlines:
Inception of Quidditch
Quidditch: Fact or Fiction?
Fantasy Game Come to Life
The Birth of Quidditcha

Have you dreamt of a magical world that coexists within our own world? Ever let your imagination take you on a ride on speeding broomsticks? Wanted Hogwarts as your number one dream school? Well now, part of that fantasy has turned into reality. The popular magical game played on broomsticks in the Harry Potter series by J. K. <no space in J.K.> Rowling has been adapted into a realistic sport. Starting off as a simple game in Middlebury College in 2005, it has grown into an international sport to play <'to play' unnecessary. replace with 'real-life international...'>.

Quidditch is a fictional sport created through J. K. <J.K.> Rowling’s book series, Harry Potter, <period, not comma> Described as a rough, fast-paced game played by wizards and witches on broomsticks, the game is played by seven players on both sides aiming to get the highest point score. Like the fictional game, the realistic version, also referred to as Muggle Quidditch or Ground Quidditch, is played on an oval-shaped field with many of the same rules and foul definitions. However <comma here> there are a lot of differences to make up for the lack of supernatural magic. The seven players have different roles: one keeper acts as a goalkeeper, three chasers throw a medium-size ball through three different hoops to gain ten points each time, two beaters throw balls at the opposing team to distract them from game play, and the last player is the seeker <comma here> whose only goal in the game is to catch the Golden Snitch. Upon catching the Golden Snitch, the seeker earns thirty <30> points for their <his or her> team along with ending the game. One of the biggest hurdles in creating this game was the lack of magic. However this was <delete 'was'> problem was cleared with ease. Instead of flying <on> broomsticks, all players must carry a broomstick within the legs <broomsticks within their legs> throughout the whole game. The Golden Snitch, typically a speedy magical ball, was replaced with a neutral player who runs with a sock containing a tennis ball in the back of their <his or her> pants.

Highly popular on the East Coast, Muggle Quidditch is still in its infancy stage in the West Coast colleges. Although it is a recognized club sport for many East Coast schools, it lacks that prestige on the West Coast. Still, the game is rapidly gaining recognition and popularity, even having a non-profit, international organization to oversee its growth, the International Quidditch Association (IQA). Die-hard Harry Potter fans may be fascinated to see their favorite game adapted into <in, not into> real life, but to others it can seem as a joke, becoming a difficult hurdle to overcome. However, hundreds of colleges have joined the IQA, confirmed by the Commissioner of the IQA Alex Benepe. An avid Harry Potter fan, sophomore Tricia Xu stated, “I don’t see why Quidditch shouldn’t be considered a club sport because I don’t think that popular sports like basketball and football automatically caught on when they were starting out. Personally, I would play this game in college because I grew up loving Harry Potter. I think it depends on the person and their interest in the series because at the moment, Quidditch isn't far enough developed to be stand alone as a sport and not affiliated with Harry Potter. <close quote here>

With more prestige and popularity, this game may yet climb up to its full potential that Harry Potter has earned. Whether you may be <change 'may be' to 'are'> a crazed Harry Potter fan or insane Twilight fan, a super athlete or scrawny kid, this sport may be calling out to you, waiting to be recognized.

Brandon Pang
News Story Roughs 2
April 2011

Quidditch: New Sport on Campus

Have you dreamt of a magical world that coexists within our own world? Ever let your imagination take you speeding around on broomsticks? Wanted Hogwarts as your number one dream school? Well now, part of that fantasy has turned into reality. The popular magical game played on broomsticks in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling has been adapted into a realistic sport. Starting off as a simple game in Middlebury College in 2005, it has grown into a real-life international sport.

Quidditch is a fictional sport created through J.K. Rowling’s book series, Harry Potter. Described as a rough, fast-paced game played by wizards and witches on broomsticks, the game is played by seven players on both sides aiming to get the highest point score. Like the fictional game, the realistic version, also referred to as Muggle Quidditch or Ground Quidditch, is played on an oval-shaped field with many of the same rules and foul definitions. However, there are a lot of differences to make up for the lack of supernatural magic. The seven players have different roles: one keeper acts as a goalkeeper, three chasers throw a medium-size ball through three different hoops to gain ten points each time, two beaters throw balls at the opposing team to distract them from game play, and the last player is the seeker, whose only goal in the game is to catch the Golden Snitch. Upon catching the Golden Snitch, the seeker earns 30 points for his or her team along with ending the game. One of the biggest hurdles in creating this game was the absence of magic. However this problem was cleared with ease. Instead of flying on broomsticks, all players must carry a broomstick within their legs throughout the whole game. The Golden Snitch, typically a speedy magical ball, was replaced with a neutral player who runs with a sock containing a tennis ball in the back of his or her pants.

Highly popular on the East Coast, Muggle Quidditch is still in its infancy stage in the West Coast colleges. Although it is a recognized club sport for many East Coast schools, it lacks that prestige on the West Coast. Still, the game is rapidly gaining recognition and popularity, even being supported by a non-profit, international organization to oversee its growth, the International Quidditch Association (IQA). Die-hard Harry Potter fans may be fascinated to see their favorite game adapted in real life, but to others it can seem as a joke, downplaying the true worth of the game. However, hundreds of colleges have joined the IQA, confirmed by the Commissioner of the IQA Alex Benepe. As many current high school students grew up reading and watching the Harry Potter books and movies, that percentage of kids will be the ones to bring this game into a popular sport. An avid Harry Potter fan, sophomore Tricia Xu stated, “I don’t see why Quidditch shouldn’t be considered a club sport because I don’t think that popular sports like basketball and football automatically caught on when they were starting out. Personally, I would play this game in college because I grew up loving Harry Potter. I think it depends on the person and their interest in the series because at the moment, Quidditch isn't developed enough to stand alone as a sport and not be affiliated with Harry Potter.”

With more prestige and popularity, this game may yet climb up to its full potential that the popular book series has earned. Whether you are a crazed Harry Potter fan or insane Twilight fan, a super athlete or scrawny kid, this sport may be calling out to you, waiting to be played.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-quidditch-college-20110410,0,5686763.story
http://www.upiu.com/culture-society/2011/03/17/Quidditch-Its-Entrance-into-the-Real-World/UPIU-1281300400200/

Headlines:
Inception of Quidditch
Quidditch: Fact or Fiction?
Fantasy Game Come to Life
The Birth of Quidditcha