This is how a game of Muggle Quidditch — a full-contact cross between basketball, handball, rugby, and mayhem — goes down. A lanky 20-something wearing gold clothing materializes out of a crowd that surrounds a small field on New York’s Randall’s Island. For a brief moment, he goes unnoticed, observing the chaos around him. Some members of the two, seven-person teams—five men and two women—pass a deflated volleyball back and forth, while others hurl three gym balls at their opposition. Quickly, a player spots the golden runner, and yells "Snitch" to his teammate, who immediately turns to pursue, targeting the tennis ball in a sock that is affixed to his quarry's waist. He moves in for the kill, only to be thrown to the ground by the Snitch. His opposite number also attempts to grab the tennis ball, but is forced to dismount his broom and return to his starting area after getting drilled with a gym ball. The first player, back on his feet, lunges at the sock and grabs it with his outstretched arm. He raises his arms in triumph while his teammates drop their brooms and pile on top of him to celebrate.

Oh, and each of the 14 participants does every action with one hand while using the other to hold a four-foot broom between his or her legs.

Based on the game of the same name in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, this version of Quidditch came into existence at Middlebury College in 2005. Bored freshman Xander Manshel and some friends adapted the rules, trading flying rings for hula hoops, flying brooms for land-bound ones, and the winged Golden Snitch for a guy or girl dressed in gold. It caught on with students who grew up with the wizard and quickly spread throughout colleges and universities in the Northeast. The rest of the country followed.

The appeal is obvious. The sport is fast-paced, with four balls and the human Snitch for just 14 people. There's constant action, with three "Chasers" passing the "Quaffle" (volleyball) back and forth as they attempt to score on one of three hula hoops defended by the keeper. The "Beaters" attempt to bean the Chasers with one of three "Bludgers." Game strategies are are constantly being refined due to the newness of the sport. "The 2010 World Cup was about fast breaks and scoring. In 2011, it went to a more Beater-oriented game," Brittany Holzherr, captain of the NYU Nundu, says without a trace of irony. "If you didn't have two Bludgers on your team, you were screwed." (For reference, the UCLA team created a nice primer, or there is a beautifully produced 30-minute documentary about the 2010 World Cup.)