Quadball: 5 Things To Know About Muggle Quidditch

Are you looking for a fun idea to get back into sports with the arrival of spring? How about trying quadball? This team sport, also known as Muggle Quidditch, is directly inspired by the Harry Potter universe! Here are 5 things to know about this sport that has captivated Muggles.

It's a sport inspired by the wizarding world.

It's not a coincidence that quadball is also known as ground quidditch or Muggle Quidditch. This sport is directly inspired by the Harry Potter universe, and more specifically, the wizards' favorite sport!

Just like in J.K. Rowling's novels, each team consists of 7 players. The players must score goals through hoops, dodge bludgers, and of course catch the golden snitch! The goals are three hoops arranged on each side of the pitch.

It is played with brooms even though no one flies.

This discipline made its debut in the United States in 2005, before spreading worldwide among fans of the young wizard. Quadball, being designed for Muggles, has naturally undergone some adaptations to the team sport conceived by the author of the Harry Potter saga!

In our magic-less world, teams don't fly on brooms but play with a broomstick between their legs. Each player must hold their broom between their legs at all times, or they will incur a penalty. That's why this mixed-gender ball sport is also known as "broom on grass"!

In quadball, the quaffle is an under-inflated volleyball so it can be grasped with one hand, the other hand being used to keep the broom between the legs. The bludgers, three of them present on the field, are under-inflated dodgeballs.

The magical golden snitch is replaced by a flag that must be caught to end the match. It consists of a tennis ball tucked into a yellow sock and carried by a neutral player who does not have a broom.

This player, called the Snitch Runner in English, is recognizable by their yellow outfit. They wear the sock containing the golden snitch halfway inserted into their shorts, like a tail. And of course, they do everything possible to protect this ball from the seekers.

According to the official rules of the sport, the golden snitch runner only enters the field at the 17th minute of play to prevent the game from being too short. As in the novels of the Harry Potter saga, it can only be caught by the "seekers," and each team has only one seeker.

It is a serious discipline despite its fictional origins.

Despite its fictional and even fantastical origins, quadball is now a sport governed by very serious rules. It is also a demanding and very physical sport as it combines elements of handball, rugby, and dodgeball.

In this team sport, each goal scored through the hoops is worth 10 points, and catching the golden snitch earns 30 points (as opposed to 150 in the fictional Quidditch).

To clearly distinguish the roles within each team, it's not rocket science! The broomstick-riding players wear colored headbands:
• A white headband for the three chasers who score goals through the hoops.
• A green headband for the keeper who defends the hoops.
• A black headband for the two beaters, who can temporarily put an opposing team member out of play by hitting them with a bludger.
• A yellow headband for the seeker, whose role is to catch the golden snitch worn by the golden snitch runner.

This sport was renamed quadball in 2022.

In 2021, American Muggle Quidditch leagues announced a name change to break free from the Quidditch trademark. This trademark is owned by Warner Bros Company, which made it difficult to secure sponsors.

Muggle Quidditch was officially renamed quadball in July 2022. This decision also allowed the sport's participants to distance themselves from J.K. Rowling's statements about transgender individuals.

The need to dissociate from the writer was especially strong because this sport is very popular with the LGBT community due to the mixed-gender teams. In quadball, there are no male or female categories.

There is a World Cup in this discipline.

Muggle Quidditch quickly sparked international enthusiasm, leading to the organization of the first world competition in 2012 just before the London Olympics, under the name Summer Games.

After being renamed to Global Games in 2014, the tournament was called the Quidditch World Cup in 2016. Since the inception of world tournaments, they have been won three times by the United States in 2012, 2014, and 2018, and once by Australia in 2016.

Although it has never won a world title, the French quadball team is one of the best in Europe. It notably became the European champion at the first European Games held in July 2015.