International Quidditch Association

International Quidditch Association
Abbreviation	IQA
Formation	November 11, 2007 (Intercollegiate Quidditch Association) 2010 (IQA)
Legal status	Association
Headquarters	New York City
Location	United States
Commissioner	Alex Benepe
Main organ	Board of Directors
Website	iqaquidditch.com

The International Quidditch Association (IQA) is the governing body for the sport of Muggle Quidditch. It was founded as the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association in 2007 following the very first intercollegiate Quidditch match.^[1][2] In 2010 the IQA took its current name. It now comprises over 1000 teams and prospective teams from 13+ nations, but primarily the United States and Canada.^[3]

The IQA was founded on the campus of Middlebury College, in Vermont, the International Quidditch Association is the outgrowth of wildly popular on-campus tourneys. The Association currently encompasses 226 schools including Vassar College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Emerson College, Cornell University, and Boston University. The 2006 Middlebury Quidditch World Cup gained the attention of the Wall Street Journal, which subsequently profiled the phenomenon on its front page,^[4] while the 2007 edition was featured as a cover story in the 'Life' section of the 27 November 2007 edition of USA Today. A portion of a Middlebury College - Amherst College match was shown live on the CBS morning show on 28 March 2008. 14 schools attended the 2008 Quidditch World Cup from as far away as the University of Washington and Louisiana State University. This is the first year that another country supplied a team (McGill University from Canada). A site was launched to show a live feed of the tournament.^[5]

Everyone is eligible to compete on a quidditch team. The IQA divides teams into 3 types: High School, Collegiate, and Community. For the World Cup, it names a college champion and a high school champion. College and community teams now qualify for the World Cup at regional championships, due to the large number of competing teams.^[6]

History

“Muggle quidditch,” or “quidditch”, began in 2005 as an intramural league at Middlebury College in Vermont. The rules were adapted from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels by Alexander Manshel, the first Quidditch Commissioner.

In 2006, Alex Benepe took over as the Middlebury Commissioner and, in 2007, founded the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association following the first intercollegiate quidditch match between Middlebury College and Vassar College on November 11, 2007.

Since then the IQA has helped students from more than 400 colleges and 300 high schools form teams, and over half of them are active already. The vast majority are based in the US, where quidditch is represented in 45 states. US teams are split into six regions: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, Midwest, Southwest, and West. Other countries with teams or leagues that play by IQA rules include Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

In 2010 the IQA changed its name to the International Quidditch Association and became a registered nonprofit organization. Today the IQA is composed of the Commissioner/CEO, Alex Benepe, other executive staff (the COO and CTO), a Board of Directors, seven departmental directors (Development, Gameplay, Human Resources, IT, Marketing, Membership, and Teams), and an extensive volunteer staff that includes regional directors and state representatives. There is also an extensive volunteer staff for major events such as QuidCon, a convention for players and other interested parties, and the World Cup.^[7]

The IQA serves to promote quidditch as a new sport and lead outreach programs to increase athletic participation among children and young adults and bring magic to communities. The Marketing, Development, and Teams departments are particularly dedicated to this aspect of the sport. One promotional tool is the magazine "Quidditch Quarterly"; which is the official magazine of the IQA and the only publication dedicated to the sport of quidditch.^[8]

The fourth annual IQA World Cup was held November 13–14, 2010 in DeWitt Clinton Park in New York City. Its website said 757 athletes representing 46 teams competed.^[9][10] The fifth world cup took place on Randalls Island in New York City, and 96 teams competed in two divisions over two days.^[11]

IQA Regions

United States & Canada

There are seven regions designated by the International Quidditch Association within the United States and Canada. They are as follows:

Oceania

There are currently 6 designated regions holding 22 teams within this area run by Australian Quidditch Association. The regions are Western Australia, New South Wales, New Zealand, North Queensland, South East Queensland, and Victoria.

Europe

There are about 50 teams, unofficial and official, currently in Europe. This list shows all the current official teams in Europe:

Title 9 ¾

Since its inception, the IQA has sought equality on the pitch in terms of gender. One of the most requirements is that "each team [is] to have at least two players on the field who identify with a different gender than at least two other players. The gender that a player identifies with is considered to be that player’s gender, which may or may not be the same as that person’s sex."^[12] Because of this wording, quidditch is becoming a leader of sports for equal basing for both women and the LGBTQ* community. As of 2013, the IQA has created Title 9 ¾, a branch of the IQA that actively promotes advocacy and awareness as well as gender equality and inclusivity.^[13]

IQA Membership

To compete in the World Cup, teams must be registered IQA members. However, due to the IQA's gender rule which encourages gender equality, some teams (any single-sex schools) are excluded from playing, like Smith College and Wellesley College.^[14] Recently, the IQA has changed its membership policy to reflect its movement towards a more established sport. The policy includes two forms of membership: regular and tournament as well as individual membership.^[15] Teams in North America must subscribe to be tournament-level teams to be allowed to go to their regional tournament and thus qualify for the World Cup, whereas non-North American teams can qualify through their regionals on just a basic membership.

IQA World Cup

Each year, the IQA hosts the Quidditch World Cup, the tournament that marks the end of the quidditch season. Teams qualify through their regional tournaments and travel to compete to earn the title of "World Champion". Historically, Middlebury College has held the title, but in 2013 University of Texas Austin took the win, being challenged by several other top teams including UCLA and Bowling Green after Middlebury failed to even qualify. ^[16]

World Cup Champions

2007: Middlebury College

2008: Middlebury College

2009: Middlebury College

2010: Middlebury College

2011: Middlebury College

2013: University of Texas, Austin

2009 IQA World Cup

The 2009 IQA World Cup was the third annual instance of the event. It was held on Sunday, October 25, 2009, at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.^[17] with Middlebury winning all six games they play and, subsequently, the tournament after defeating Emerson College 60 - 10 in the final. Middlebury had won all three Intercollegiate Quidditch Association World Cups to date.^[18]

Official poster from the 2011 IQA World Cup

2010 IQA World Cup

The 2010 IQA World Cup was the fourth edition of the Quidditch World Cup, an international Muggle Quidditch tournament sponsored by the International Quidditch Association, hosted in New York City at DeWitt Clinton Park. The 4th World Cup featured 46 teams from across the world and 757 players. The IQA set a record with 40 media outlets and 20,000 spectators attending the tournament altogether.

2011 IQA World Cup

The "2011 IQA World Cup" was the fifth edition of the Quidditch World Cup.^[19] The tournament was hosted at Randall's Island in New York City, November 12–13, featuring 96 teams from 5 different countries. This marked the first time teams from outside North America have competed in the Quidditch World Cup. Teams are allowed to roster from 7 to 21 players, allowing up to 2,100 athletes to compete.

Official poster from the 2013 IQA World Cup

2013 IQA World Cup

The "2013 IQA World Cup" was the sixth edition of the Quidditch World Cup, an international Muggle Quidditch tournament sponsored and managed by the International Quidditch Association.^[19]

The tournament was hosted in Kissimmee, FL from April 13–14, 2013.

The 2013 Cup featured 77 teams from 4 different countries. 60 of the teams competed in the D1 classification, and 17 teams competed in the D2 classification.

Quidditch World Cup VI was won by the University of Texas, who defeated UCLA in the championship match.^[20] This marked the first time in the history of IQA World Cups that Middlebury College did not win the Cup.

The D2 division was won by Sam Houston State University, from Huntsville, Texas, making the championships an all-Texas affair.^[21] Sam Houston defeated Loyola University New Orleans in the D2 championship match.

Due to the increasingly large number of official member teams, Division I is no longer open to all comers and is now limited to 60 teams, who earn their spot in the World Cup by competing in Regional tournaments.^[22] Division II consists of other official teams who did not earn their spot at Regionals but still want to compete.

2014 IQA World Cup

The 2014 IQA World Cup is set to be in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA.

References