Wollongong, colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound of the sea'. Wollongong lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 85 kilometres south of central Sydney. Wollongong had an estimated urban population of 302,739 at June 2018, making it the third-largest city in New South Wales after Sydney and Newcastle and the tenth-largest city in Australia by population. The city's current Lord Mayor is Gordon Bradbery AM who was elected in 2021.
The University of Wollongong is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2023, the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 students, an alumni base of more than 176,000 [LC1] and over 2,400 staff members including 16 Distinguished professors.
The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour and the coastal town of Kiama. Wollongong is the largest city of the Illawarra with a population of 240,000, then Shellharbour with a population of 70,000 and Kiama with a population of 10,000. These three cities have their own suburbs. Wollongong stretches from Otford in the north to Windang in the south, with Maddens Plains and Cordeaux in the west.
The fictional universe of British author J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of fantasy novels comprises two distinct societies: the wizarding world and the Muggle world. In the novels, the Muggle world is the world inhabited by the non-magical majority, with which the wizarding world exists coextensively, albeit mostly remaining hidden from the non-magical humans. The plot of the series is set in 1990s Britain, but in a veiled and separate shadow society wherein magic is commonly used and practised, and those who can use it live in self-enforced seclusion, hiding their abilities from the rest of the world. The term "wizarding world" refers to the global wizard community that lives hidden in parallel with the Muggle world; the different terms refer to different communities within the same area rather than separate planets or worlds. Any new works taking place in this universe are released under the "J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World" brand.
Quidditch, also known as quadball since 2022, is a team sport that was created in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont, United States, and was inspired by the fictional game Quidditch in the Harry Potter books by the author J. K. Rowling. Two teams of seven players each, astride broomsticks and opposing each other on a rectangular pitch, compete with the primary objective of passing a ball through the defenders' hoops, while preventing their opponents from passing it through their own hoops. The real-world sport is sometimes referred to as "muggle quidditch" to distinguish it from the fictional game of the books, which involves magical elements such as flying broomsticks and enchanted balls — a muggle in the Harry Potter series being a person without magical abilities. The sport is played around the world.
Viliami Makamaile "Willie" Manu is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer. He played as a second-row forward, he previously played in the National Rugby League for Australian clubs the Wests Tigers, South Sydney Rabbitohs, St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Sydney Roosters. Manu moved to England and played in the Super League for the Castleford Tigers, Hull F.C. before joining St Helens, with whom he won the 2014 Super League championship.
The International Quidditch Association (IQA), also known as the International Quadball Association, 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 added the "international" term to its 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 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.
Oxford Universities Quidditch Club (OUQC) is the quidditch club of both the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University. It is composed of two teams: a first team, the Radcliffe Chimeras, and a reserve second team, the Quidlings. Both teams are official QuidditchUK (QUK) teams. QUK is the UK quidditch governing body, and is a constituent part of the International Quidditch Association (IQA).
Quidditch Nederland, formerly known as Muggle Quidditch Nederland, is the official governing body of the sport quidditch in the Netherlands, and affiliated with the International Quidditch Association and its European Committee. Quidditch is a sport which combines elements of handball, dodgeball, and rugby, and is derived from the fictional sport of the same name from the Harry Potter series. Its current president is Marit Epskamp, and the vice-president is Jori Noordenbos. Quidditch Nederland, then Muggle Quidditch Nederland, was founded in 2014 by Jerona van der Gevel and Bram Vries as part of Quidditch Benelux.
Quidditch Benelux is the informal organization of quidditch within the Benelux, consisting of the three member organizations of Belgium Muggle Quidditch, Muggle Quidditch Nederland and the Luxembourgish Quidditch Federation. QBenelux represents these three organizations at the international level in the International Quidditch Association and is a liaison between the three organizations, acting as a bridge and central aide for all international events occurring within the region. Its founding was in 2014 at the creation of BMQ and MQN.
Belgian Quidditch Federation, or BQF, is the governing body of quidditch in Belgium. It was founded in 2012 as a Facebook page to garner interest from potential players and teams within Belgium and began to take shape in 2013 with the introduction of its first two teams: Deurne Dodo's and the Brussels Qwaffles. The organisation began to take shape as a non-profit in early 2014 with the formation of the newly-international International Quidditch Association in the form an international federation. Belgian Quidditch Federation maintains one delegate within the IQA Congress as a member of Quidditch Europe alongside Quidditch Nederland (QNL) and the Luxembourgish Quidditch Federation (FLQ). On 10 October 2014, BQF changed its name from Belgium Muggle Quidditch to its current name to better integrate with other sports in the country.
Quidditch, also known as Quadball, 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 European Quidditch Cup, also known as EQC and formerly as the European Quidditch Championship, is the culminating championship tournament for the sport of quidditch in Europe. It began to be legitimised in 2014 when the International Quidditch Association became an international federation for quidditch. The first tournament took place in 2012 in France as quidditch began to develop across Europe. Today, the tournament is the highest level of championship in Europe besides the European Games with league-level tournaments being the qualifying competitions. In 2019, Division 1 of EQC was held in Harelbeke, Belgium, where the Paris Titans won the championship for the fourth time in their history.
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 2012 IQA World Cup, known at the time as the Summer Games, was the first edition of this national teams international championship. It was played at Cutteslowe Park and South Park in Oxford, United Kingdom. The Cup was scheduled to coincide with the arrival of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch. The United States won the tournament 160*–0 to France in the final. An exhibition match was also played on Monday, July 9 between the United States and the United Kingdom as part of the official Oxford Olympic torch ceremony.
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.
The Quidditch Premier League (QPL) was an elite quidditch league that represents the sport in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany. The league was composed of seventeen teams - four in each of the UK North Division, the UK Central Division, and the UK South Division, and five in the European Division. The QPL season ran from June to August every year, with each team playing three divisional fixtures in the regular season. The playoffs included all seventeen teams competing in either Division 1 or Division 2 the QPL Championship fixture in late August, with the winning team being named as the QPL Champions for that season.
