The Quidditch Team Went Undefeated at Their Tournament in Cleveland
The WVU Quidditch team traveled to Cleveland State University this past weekend to attend their first CSU tournament. WVU was matched up against Cleveland State, University of Michigan, Michigan State, University of Indiana, Bowling Green and Ball State. Although this was their first visit to CSU, the Quidditch team was well prepared. Practicing 6 hours a week, the team was able to highlight their strongest plays, and strategize how to exploit the weakness of their opponents.
Quidditch is a sport found in the pages of the Harry Potter series. The only difference between real-life and fictional gameplay is that players' feet don’t leave the ground in real life. Each team consists of 7 players: 3 chasers, 2 beaters, 1 seeker and 1 keeper. Like the positions of soccer, the 3 chasers attempt to get the ball into the goal to score, while the keeper defends the goal. The chasers use a volleyball, also known as a quaffle, and by either throwing or kicking the ball, they can score goals worth 10 points each. The 2 beaters throw dodgeballs at the opposing team and attempt to knock them off their brooms. This temporarily removes that player from the game. The objective of the seeker is to catch the golden snitch. The snitch is a tennis ball attached to the waistband of a snitch runner; whose sole purpose is to avoid capture by the seeker. The snitch earns a team 30 points if captured. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
The WVU Quidditch team went undefeated in the CSU tournament. They won 150-60 over CSU, 130-40 over Michigan State, 140-60 over the University of Indiana, and 120-10 over the University of Michigan. WVU was only one of two teams that went undefeated in the tournament. The team has shown significant improvement over the course of the year, especially given that much of the team consists of freshmen and sophomores who are still gaining experience.
The Quidditch team is always looking for new members and encourages anyone interested to attend a practice. This is a high intensity, full-contact sport and welcomes any athlete. The team will be hosting a home tournament on March 28th and hopes to travel to Nationals in Charleston, West Virginia in April.
Be sure to follow @wvuquidditch for more updates on the team and follow @wvu_campusrec for more information about Club Sports.
About the Author
Samantha Higley is a freshman who began writing for WVUGO in August 2019 with
an emphasis on Club and Intramural Sports. She plans to earn a degree in Neuropsychology
with a minor in History. Samantha is also on the Club Volleyball team at WVU.