March 2, 2015
![unnamed[2]](https://scribe.uccs.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Quidditch-World-Cup-V.jpg)
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Fans of fiction can find themselves dreaming about entering the world they spend hours diving into. “Harry Potter” fans are no exception.
In J.K. Rowling’s series, Quidditch is as loved as soccer and football. The annual Quidditch World Cup has a massive turnout, similar to the World Cup and the Super Bowl. Students can enter that world, with a Quidditch game on March 13 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on the West Lawn.
The Office of Student Activities, in collaboration with Residence Life and Housing, hosted the game last semester on the housing turf and had a turnout of about 20 students.
“We don’t normally bring back events that quickly. Since we work so closely with the senior R.A.’s, they thought this semester they could get more floors involved,” said senior business major Presley Schwisow, Clyde’s and Weekend Programmer.
Schwisow said students enjoyed the game and that it is good to see housing students do something that they enjoy.
No registration is required and anyone can participate.
Senior criminal justice major Jen Spears, Clyde’s and Weekend Programmer, participated in the game last semester.
“It was a lot of fun and once you started playing, you couldn’t stop. It was just an addicting, fun game,” she said.
Quidditch has seven players: one keeper, three chasers, two beaters and a seeker.
The Keeper acts as a goalie and tries to keep the quaffle, which acts like a basketball or soccer ball, out of the goalposts. The chasers try to get the quaffle into the goalposts.
The beaters deal with bludgers, which are balls that zoom around trying to attack everyone. The seeker’s job is to catch the golden snitch, a tiny golden ball with silver wings.
This is all done in the air while the players try to stay on their brooms.
Teams receive points for getting the quaffle through the other team’s goalposts. Catching the snitch earns a team 150 points and ends the game.
The amount of teammates used in the UCCS version will depend on the amount of participants.
“People can decide what they want to do. It’s really up to the students that show up,” said Schwisow.
The teams are chosen through handing out Gryffindor and Slytherin scarves, which represent the two rival houses in “Harry Potter.”
The other two houses, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, will not be represented.
“It’s hard enough to play with two teams,” Spears said.
Goalposts will be placed on each side of the West Lawn, with three towards University Center and three towards Columbine.
Every player receives a broom. The goal, like the fictional Quidditch, is to get the ball into the goalpost while keeping the broom between one’s legs.
A teammate plays the snitch and runs around while the Seeker tries to catch him or her. The Snitch cannot hide in housing or other buildings.
The teams play in five-minute increments. The snitch is caught by the seeker tagging the person playing the snitch. As in the series, the team that catches the Snitch wins the game.
“It should be a blast,” Schwisow said.
Water, granola bars and hot chocolate will be served at the event, as well as Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans. There is also talk of butterbeer.
“My hope is that the weather stays nice, but I really just want to see the students have a good time again,” Schwisow said.
“I hope that we get a larger turnout and that we can get some more people to really get involved with it and I just hope that we can make this a more large-scale event,” said Spears.