US Quidditch
Abbreviation | USQ |
---|---|
Formation | 2005 |
Legal status | Non-profit organization |
Location |
|
Executive Director[1] | Sarah Woolsey |
Board Chairman | Jacob Adlis |
Events Manager | Mary Kimball |
Membership Director | Eric Schier |
Website |
www |
US Quidditch or the United States Quidditch Association is a non-profit organization that governs the sport of Quidditch in the United States of America. Quidditch is a sport which 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 currently being played at more than 100 colleges in the United States.
History
As a freshman in college who was bored by his Sunday routine of playing bocce ball, Alex wanted to try something new. He and his colleagues began outlining the guidelines of a sport. They combined rules derived from lacrosse, dodgeball, and rugby in order to create a rule book containing the guidelines followed in Quidditch matches today. In October 2005, the first Quidditch game was played at Battell Beach in Middlebury, Vermont. Around 30 players showed up to play the game. In 2007, the first Quidditch World Cup was played between Middlebury College and Vassar College. By this time, Quidditch had become the most popular club on campus at Middlebury College. In 2008, students took a spring break road trip to see Quidditch played at six college campuses in the Mid-Atlantic. This trip was aired on MTV, increasing interest in the game. The third World Cup took place in October 2009 with 2,000 spectators and 21 teams which made it the biggest tournament to date. In March 2010, United States Quidditch or USQ was made into a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The first meeting of the United Quidditch Association was held in May with the directors of the organization. In November, the first away game was held in Manhattan. The fourth Quidditch World Cup was held here as well, and 46 teams competed. This event lasted two days, attracting media attention and 15,000 spectators. In February 2011, the first Trans-Continental game was played between students of Vassar College in New York and University of Vaasa in Finland. In March 2011, the USQ held its first regional tournament called the Swamp Cup in Gainesville, Florida. In November 2011, 96 teams competed in the fifth World Cup on Randall's Island in New York. In 2012, hundreds of teams began to establish at other universities and colleges all over the United States. Now over 110 teams are currently members of the USQ. In July 2012 the International Quidditch Association hosted the Summer Games in Oxford, United Kingdom; these games were won by the United States. In September 2012, the United States Quidditch Association formed a referee development team which trains individuals to become referees in the sport. In 2013, Quidditch was televised for the first time in history.
Rules
Rulebook
As the sport has grown nationally, and globally, USQ has issued a number of rule books which have formed the basis of many other national leagues rules, with some using the USQ rules exactly whilst others, like Quidditch Canada and QuidditchUK, have altered their rules to best suit their leagues' play style.[2][3] The current edition, rule book 9,[4] is to also form the basis of the upcoming release of the International Quidditch Association rulebook 9.
Summary
Quidditch is a gender inclusive contact sport. A Quidditch arena consists of 3 hoops at each of the two shorter ends of the field. A team requires 3 Chasers, 1 Keeper, 2 Beaters and 1 Seeker. Using volleyballs while riding brooms, the Chasers are in charge of scoring points by passing, running, or kicking the ball to their team-mates or into the hoops. The Keeper guards the hoops and acts as a fourth chaser while the Beaters use dodge balls to move players out of the way as a means of pushing and blocking. Beaters may also throw the dodge ball at the opposing team as a means to "knock them out," causing them to have to tag back in. The Seeker must catch the Snitch, a neutral person who has attached a Golden Snitch (usually a tennis ball in a tube sock) to their waist; catching the snitch is worth thirty points. When the snitch is caught, the game ends and the team who caught the snitch wins. If the snitch is caught and the score is tied, the game goes into overtime.[5] When it comes to gender on the team, the "four maximum" rule applies. This means that there must be 4 participants of each gender on each team including the runner.
Teams in the US
Alfred University Quidditch: Alfred, NY
Anteater Quidditch: Irvine, CA
Appalachian Apparators Quidditch: Boone, NC
Arizona Quidditch Club: Phoenix, AZ
Arizona State University: Tempe, AZ
Austin Quidditch: Austin, TX
Ball State Cardinals: Muncie, IN
Baylor University: Waco, TX
Blue Mountain Quidditch Club: Toledo, OH
Boggarts Quidditch Club at Colorado State University: Fort Collins, CO
Boise State Abraxans: Boise, ID
Boise State Thestrals: Boise, ID
Boston Riot: Jamaica Plain, MA
Boston University Quidditch: Boston, MA
Bowling Green State University: Bowling Green, OH
Brandeis Quidditch: Waltham, MA
British Columbia Quidditch Club: Vancouver, WA
Cal Quidditch: Berkeley, CA
California Dobbys: Huntington Park, CA
Capital Madness Quidditch Club: Fairfax, VA
Carnegie Mellon Quidditch Club: Pittsburgh, PA
Central Michigan Quidditch: Mount Pleasant, MI
Chicago Phoenix Quidditch Club: Chicago, IL
Clark University Quidditch: Worcester, MA
Clone Star Quidditch Club: Houston, TX
College of Charleston Quidditch: Charleston, SC
College of William and Mary Quidditch: Williamsburg, VA
Cornell Quidditch: Ithaca, NY
Crimson Elite: Salt Lake City, UT
Crimson Fliers: Salt Lake City, UT
Crimson Warhawks: Lawrence, Kansas
Denison Deatheaters: Granville, OH
Duke University Quidditch: Durham, NC
East Tennessee State University Quidditch Club: Johnson City, TN
Eastern Michigan Flying Squirrels: Ypsilanti, MI
Emerald City Admirals: Seattle, WA
Emerson College Quidditch: Brookline, MA
Emory University Quidditch: Atlanta, GA
Falcon Warriors Quidditch Club: Bowling Green, OH
Florida Atlantic University Owls: Boca Raton, FL
Florida Gulf Coast Quidditch: Fort Myers, FL
Florida International University: Miami, FL
Florida State University: Tallahassee, FL
Florida's Finest: Miami, FL
George Mason University: Fairfax Station, VA
Grand Valley Grindylows: Allendale, MI
Grove College: Grove, PA
Harvard Horntails: Cambridge, MA
Hofstra University Flying Dutchmen: Hempstead, NY
Hopkins Hallows: Baltimore, MD
Horn Tailed Horcruxes: Irvington, NJ
Humboldt State University Flying Lumberjacks, Arcata, Ca
Illini Ridgebacks Quidditch Team: Urbana, IL
Illinois State University Firebirds: Normal, IL
Indiana University Midnight Snipes Quidditch: Bloomington, IN
Indiana University South Bend Titans: South Bend, IN
Iowa State Quidditch: Ames, IA
Ithaca Community Quidditch Team: Ithaca, NY
James Madison University Quidditch, Harrisonburg, VA
Kansas Quidditch: Lawrence, KS
Kutztown University Quidditch: Kutztown, PA
Lock Haven University Quidditch: Lock Haven, PA
Lone Star Quidditch Club: Austin, TX
Los Angeles Gambits: Torrance, CA
Loyola University Chicago: Chicago, IL
Loyola University New Orleans: New Orleans, LA
Macaulay Honors College Marauders: New York, NY
Mansfield University Fire Ferrets Quidditch: Mansfield, PA
Marquette University Quidditch: Milwaukee, WI
Maryland Quidditch: College Park, MD
Miami University: Oxford, OH
Michigan Quidditch Team: Ann Arbor, MI
Michigan State University Spartan Quidditch: East Lansing, MI
Minnesota Quidditch: Minneapolis, MN
Mission Blues Quidditch: Redwood, CA
NAU Narwhals: Flagstaff, AZ
New York Badassilisks: New York, NY
New York Quidditch Club: New York, NY
Northwestern Kneazles: Evanston, IL
Ohio State Quidditch: Columbus, OH
Ohio University Flying Bobcats: Athens, OH
Oklahoma Baptist University: Shawnee, OK
Oklahoma Quidditch: Norman, OK
Oklahoma State University: Stillwater, OK
Osos De Muerte: Waco, TX
OSU The Mighty Bucks: Columbus, OH
Penn State University Nittany Lions: University Park, PA
Philadelphia Honey Badgers: Philadelphia, PA
Portland Augureys: Portland, OR
Purdue Intercollegiate Quidditch Association: West Lafayette, IN
Q.C. Boston: The Massacre: Brookline, MA
Q.C. Carolinas: Winston-Salem, NC
Q.C. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh, PA
Quidditch Club of West Virginia University: Morgantown, WV
Rain City Raptors: Bellingham, WA
RCQC: Winter Park, FL
Ringling College of Art and Design Quidditch: Sarasota, FL
RIT Dark Marks: Rochester, NY
Riverside Quidditch: Moreno Valley, CA
RPI Remembralls: Troy, NY
Rutgers Nearly Headless Knights: Edison, NJ
San Jose State University Spartans: San Jose, CA
SanMarcos Sharknados: San Marcos, TX
Santa Barbara Blacktips: Goleta, CA
SHSU Quidditch: Huntsville, TX
Silicon Valley Skrewts: Mountain View, CA
Silicon Valley Skyfighters: Newark, CA
Skidmore Quidditch: Saratoga Springs, NY
South Bay Blazers: San Jose, CA
South Jersey HellHounds: Glendora, NJ
Southern Illinois University Quidditch: Carbondale, IL
Spartan Spitfires: East Lansing, MI
Stanford Quidditch: Stanford, CA
Stony Brook Quidditch: Stony Brook, NY
SUNY Geneseo: Geneseo, NY
Syracuse University Quidditch Club: Syracuse, NY
TC FROST: Minneapolis, MN
Tennessee Tech Quidditch: Cookeville, TN
Tennessee Time Turners Quidditch: Knoxville, TN
inTENNsity Quidditch: Cookeville, TN
Texas A&M Quidditch: College Station, TX
Texas State University - San Marcos: San Marcos, TX
Texas Tech Quidditch: Lubbock, TX
The Long Beach Funky Quaffles: Long Beach, CA
The Lost Boys: Lomita, CA
The Moscow Manticores at the University of Idaho: Moscow, ID
The Nightmarchers: Honolulu, HI
The Rogues: New York, NY
The Silver Phoenix: College Station, TX
The Southern Storm: Rock Hill, SC
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Quidditch: Chapel Hill, NC
The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX
The Warriors: New York City, NY
Tribe Quidditch : Fort Smith, AR
Tufts University Tufflepuffs: Medford, MA
Tulane University: New Orleans, LA
UAFS Lions Quidditch: Fort Smith, AR
University of Arizona Quidditch: Tucson, AZ
University of Arkansas Quidditch Club: Fayetteville, AR
University of British Columbia Quidditch: Vancouver, BC, Canada
University of California Los Angeles: Los Angeles, CA
University of Florida Quidditch: Gainesville, FL
University of Massachusetts Amherst: Amherst, MA
University of Miami: Coral Gables, FL
University of Missouri: Columbia, MO
University of North Texas: Denton, TX
University of Northern Colorado: Greeley, CO
University of Rhode Island: Kingston, RI
University of Richmond Spiders: Richmond, VA
University of Rochester Thestrals: Rochester, NY
University of South Carolina: West Columbia, SC
University of South Florida Quidditch: Tampa, FL
University of Southern California: Los Angeles, CA
University of Southern Mississippi: Hattiesburg, MS
University of Southern Indiana: Evansville, IN
University of Texas at San Antonio Club Quidditch: San Antonio, TX
University of Vermont Quidditch: Burlington, VT
University of Wisconsin: Madison, WI
Utah State Quidditch Club: Logan, UT
Villanova Community Quidditch: Villanova, PA
Virginia Quidditch Club: Charlottesville, VA
Western Washington Wyverns: Bellingham, WA
Wichita State University: Wichita, KS
Wizengamot Quidditch of VCU: Richmond, VA
Wooster Scottish Nationals: Wooster, OH
(More still forming)