The student news site of Oakton High School

Oakton Outlook

The student news site of Oakton High School

Oakton Outlook

The student news site of Oakton High School

Oakton Outlook

Quidditch World Cup weekend

This weekend, self-proclaimed Potter-heads, sports fans, and muggles alike gathered in Rock Hill, South Carolina for the US Quidditch World Cup. Out of the 200 teams in the US Quidditch league, 80 teams qualified to play in the tournament to compete for the highly coveted title of “World Champion.” The event received enormous coverage by using the story feature of the popular app, Snapchat.

The game, which was inspired from the extremely popular Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, has gained tremendous popularity across college campuses in theĀ United States. The US Quidditch league, which began in 2010, is now a staple in the intramural sports scene of many higher education facilities.

Quidditch is a co-ed, contact sport in which players ride brooms and attempt to put a volleyball (affectionately called a “quaffle”) into the opposing team’s hoops. A dodgeball or “bludger” is aimed at players to disrupt the game. The game is ended, and typically won, when either team’s seeker catches the “snitch runner,” a neutral athlete whose sole purpose is to avoid capture. In the Rowling fantasy novels, gameplay happened while soaring through the air. The real life edition, while amusing to watch, is slightly less glamorous, as players run attempt to sprint and throw the quaffle with a broom between their legs.

At the end of this weekend’s festivities, the University of Texas took home the championship title for the third consecutive year in a row. Luckily, this exciting sport is just beginning, and soon even more schools will be able to make a bid to become the World Champions.

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Quidditch World Cup weekend