Quidditch is a sport of two teams of seven players each mounted on a broomstick, and is played on a hockey rink-sized pitch. The sport was created in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont, and was loosely inspired by the fictional game Quidditch in the Harry Potter books by author J. K. Rowling.[3] This game is sometimes referred to as "muggle quidditch" to distinguish it from the books-based fictional game that involves magical elements such as flying broomsticks and enchanted balls. In the Harry Potter universe, a Muggle is a person without the power to use magic. It is played around the world.[5] In December 2021, it was reported that the main leagues involved in the sport, US Quidditch and Major League Quidditch, were planning to change the name of the sport they engage in. The leagues had stated that this was in order to distance themselves from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's views on transgender people and related civil rights, that have been criticized as transphobic, as well as the fact that the film studio Warner Bros holds the trademark to the word "Quidditch". Names suggested include Quickball, Quicker, Quidstrike and Quadraball.
The International Quidditch Association (IQA) is the governing body for the sport of quidditch. It was founded as the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association in 2009 following the very first intercollegiate quidditch match. In 2010, the IQA took its current name, and 2016 saw its induction as an international sports federation with its creation of the Congress. It now comprises more than ten national associations governing quidditch in their respective nations.
The IQA World Cup IV was the 2010 edition of the IQA World Cup, a quidditch club tournament then organized by the International Quidditch Association.
The IQA World Cup VI was the 2013 edition of the IQA World Cup, a quidditch club tournament then organized by the International Quidditch Association. The tournament was hosted in Kissimmee, Florida from April 13–14, 2013.
The IQA World Cup III was the 2009 edition of the IQA World Cup, a quidditch club tournament then organized by the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association. It was held on Sunday, October 25, 2009, at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.
The IQA World Cup V was the 2011 edition of the IQA World Cup, a quidditch club tournament then organized by the International Quidditch Association. It was hosted at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island in New York City on November 12–13.
Quidditch Canada is the governing body that oversees quidditch within Canada under its mother organization, the International Quidditch Association.
The United Kingdom National Quidditch Team, colloquially known as Team UK, is the official national Quidditch team of the United Kingdom. Team UK made its debut in 2012 at the IQA Summer Games in Oxford, UK where it placed 5th of 5 teams. The team then played in Canada at the 2014 IQA Global Games in Burnaby, BC on July 29, 2014 where it placed 4th of 7 teams and in the European Games in Sarteano, Italy in July 2015, placing 2nd of 12. Team UK gained its first medals at the IQA World Cup 2016 in Frankfurt on July 23–24, 2016, finishing 3rd out of 21 teams. In 2017 the team gained its first international trophy, winning the IQA European Games, beating France in the final.
US Quidditch is a non-profit organization that governs the sport of quidditch in the United States of America. Quidditch is a sport that combines elements of lacrosse, dodgeball, and rugby, and is derived from the fictional sport of the same name from the Harry Potter series. Quidditch was founded in 2005 at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. The sport is played at more than 100 colleges in the United States.
Quidditch in Australia is played by a mixture of university and community teams. Due to the geographic demographics of the country, most major competitive tournaments are held in the eastern states. There are currently over 30 registered teams in the country.
The Canadian national quidditch team made its debut in 2012 at the IQA Summer Games in Oxford, UK where it placed 4th of 5 teams. The team once again represented Canada at the 2014 IQA Global Games in Burnaby, BC on July 29, 2014 where it took third place, coming behind the United States and Australia, respectively.
The IQA World Cup is an international quidditch tournament contested by the national teams of the members of the International Quidditch Association, the sport's global governing organisation. The championship, which was named Summer Games and Global Games in its first two editions, has been awarded every two years since 2012. The current champions are the United States, who defeated Belgium in 2018.
Quidditch is a growing team sport in Canada. Due to its relative youth within the sports scene of Canada, adoption is not as widespread as other sports such as rugby or ultimate. However, adoption is picking up with additional university and community teams each year. As a result of its inclusivity and its many niche styles of play, a wider spectrum of individuals are drawn to this sport than other mainstream sports. For the moment, the majority of teams are based in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, but teams are rapidly starting up in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Manitoba. Quidditch Canada is the governing body for the sport across the country; there are no associations within Quidditch Canada that govern provincially/territorially.
The IQA European Games (EG) are the biennial games for the sport of quidditch held in Europe where national governing bodies send national teams to compete. The European Games were created in response to the IQA World Cup, the biennial tournament wherein nations from around the world compete in a similar style to the FIFA World Cup. Both Games alternate years so in the off years regional tournaments such as the European Games or the Asian Quidditch Cup can occur. These games are the highest level of championships in quidditch aside from Global Games. The 2015 champions were Team France, narrowly beating Team UK.
The Northern and Southern Cups are the two major regional quidditch tournaments of the United Kingdom. Organised by QuidditchUK, the tournaments serve both as qualification prerequisites for other tournaments, such as the European Quidditch Cup and the British Quidditch cup alongside being their own stand alone tournaments. Regionals are often considered the most important tournaments of the year, after the British Quidditch Cup. As of the 2016–17 season, these regional tournaments served as qualifiers for the latter tournament, as there were now more teams in the United Kingdom than its national championship could support. Those teams that fail to qualify for BQC each season compete in the Development Cup instead.
The US Quidditch Cup 9 was the 2016 edition of the US Quidditch Cup, a quidditch club tournament organized by US Quidditch. The tournament was held in Columbia, South Carolina from April 16–17, 2016.
The IQA World Cup VII was the 2014 edition of the IQA World Cup, a quidditch club tournament then organized by the International Quidditch Association. The tournament was held in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from April 5–6, 2014.
The 2016 IQA World Cup is the third edition of the IQA World Cup, the international quidditch championship organized by the International Quidditch Association. It was held in Frankfurt, Germany on 23–24 July 2016. Australia won the Cup 150*–130 against the United States, who had won all the previous editions. 21 nations competed, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. A crowdfunding campaign aimed to send the Ugandan team as the first ever African nation to compete internationally. However, the team members failed to obtain a German visa and withdrew from the competition. The Peruvian team also withdrew before the competition due to a lack of funds. A documentary entitled Fly The Movie: Journey To Frankfurt followed the British team in their preparation before the Cup.
The United States national quidditch team is the official quidditch team of the United States. The team is regulated by US Quidditch and is a national member of the International Quidditch Association. The team has won the most IQA World Cup titles, winning the 2012, 2014, and 2018 titles. The USNT only competes in events once every two years; at the IQA World Cup, as it is geographically ineligible for the only other current international Quidditch event; the IQA European Games.
The 2017 IQA European Games were the second European championship for the sport of quidditch. The tournament was held on 7–9 July 2017 in Oslo, Norway and was hosted by the Norges Rumpeldunkforbund and local club OSI Vikings. All European IQA member nations in good standing were allowed to compete. The winners of the tournament were the United Kingdom, who defeated the defending champions France 90*-70 in the final. France subsequently took the silver medal and Norway won the bronze, after defeating Belgium 140*-80. This tournament marked the United Kingdom's first international gold medal at quidditch.
