Category Archives: Clubs

YES, IT’S TRUE. For all those Harry Potter fans out there, real-life quidditch does exist! And it’s at UBC in the form of both a club and a team.  Wahoo!

I went to an open session of quidditch on Tuesday.  It was held on McInnis field, by the bus loop. Oh boy, it’s more intense than I thought it would be.  To an outsider, it seems like a cross between American football, dodgeball, and basketball, all with a broom between your legs. If you’re an avid Harry Potter fan (like me!) you’d realize that it’s actually quite similar to what was described in the book.

But how does the snitch work? There’s actually a person who gets dressed up in bright yellow, and runs around campus (yes, the entire UBC campus) with a tennis ball in a long sock hung from a belt around his or her waist.  The seekers have to grab the tennis ball sock from the snitch; however, the snitch can fend off the seekers easily because the snitch has no broom to contend with.  There’s a lot of potential for the snitch to be a scumbag  interfere.

And did you know there’s quidditch at other universities? I saw a transfer from the University of Ottawa playing, and my friend who goes to Berkeley said that the Berkeley quidditch team trains super intensely.  I’m sure that the UBC team/club isn’t quite so aggressive, but they did mention that they play against UVic.

Personally, I enjoyed playing the game, but I’m not sure if I want to join the club.  Their games and practices run rather late in the evening; being a commuter, I can’t really afford to stay on campus for that long.  I’d have to get dinner on my own, and I’d lose precious study and sleep time. On the other hand, the fangirl inside me is insisting that this is absolutely something I should do (Harry Potter, squeal!).  Also, quidditch appears to be quite the workout.  But I’m just going to wait until Clubs Day and see if there are other clubs or groups I want to join.

Anyone else have a similar dilemma?

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