U.S. Quidditch Regionals come to Madison this weekend

14 teams to compete at Breese Stevens

Site staff by Site Contributor

Step into the Harry Potter universe this weekend with the U.S. Quidditch Regionals at Breese Stevens Field.

Fourteen teams, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison team, will battle for a chance to go to the U.S. Quidditch Cup in 2018, according to a release.

While the game incorporates many elements from the sport created in the Harry Potter book and film series, unfortunately, no one will be whizzing away on flying brooms. Instead, the game is a mixed gender contact sport combining rugby, dodgeball and tag. Each team has seven athletes who play with brooms in between their legs. One player is the “snitch” and this prompts “seekers” from each team to chase after the individual.

Jamie Patrick, the vice president of the Madison Area Sports Commission said there is a lot of intrigue around the game with its adaptation from a book and film saga into a worldwide sport.

U.S. Quidditch serves more than 4,000 athletes on almost 200 nationwide teams.

“To witness quidditch come alive on a real playing field is reason enough to get out and see it,” Patrick said. “There won’t be any flying broomsticks, but we still think the sport will sweep spectators off their feet.”

The event is free and open to the public Nov. 4-5. On Nov. 5, kids will be able to learn how to play from some of the players.

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