College Quidditch

Teams at hundreds of U.S. campuses play the game from the Harry Potter books. On the West Coast, where it's still in its infancy, players must decide if it's just a niche sport for Potter fans or should outgrow its roots to become a legitimate sport.

From a story in the Los Angeles Times...

Quidditch was adapted by a group of students at Middlebury College in 2005 as a ground game that required only a field, a few varieties of balls and, of course, a broom for each player.

Since then, hundreds of American colleges have started quidditch teams, said Alex Benepe, commissioner of the International Quidditch Assn., the governing body that grew out of the ragtag team at the Vermont liberal arts college. Several Southern California schools have teams: Students at UCLA and USC have played for about a year; Occidental College in Eagle Rock has had a team for three years.

As it takes off, though, quidditch and its players have to figure out what the game ought to be. Should it be eternally tied to Harry Potter, remaining a niche sport for fans of the wizarding books? Or should it become a legitimate sport, outgrowing its roots?

Perhaps, quidditch can be both.

With help from the International Quidditch Assn., UCLA recently organized the Western regional cup in Los Angeles, said to be the largest quidditch tournament to take place west of the Mississippi. Eleven teams competed at the event at a park in Cheviot Hills on the Westside.