Quidditch Swamp Cup Recap

The first ever Quidditch Swamp Cup was played at Kanapaha park from Friday to Sunday this past weekend. We went to the legendary event and were amazed at the combination of physicality, brutality and vigor with which all the team members attacked the game. After three days of exhaustive competition, the University of Miami took home the trophy, which was rumored to be filled with pure tiger blood.

It was a strange pairing of fierceness and silliness, as the six teams ran around with brooms between their legs, hurling dodge balls (bludgers) at each other and aiming a volleyball (the quaffle) at three hoops made from PVC pipes. But, that’s not all: this game is violent, with few regulations on tackling and no rule preventing one player from ramming directly into another, forcing him to the ground and brutally ripping the quaffle from his hands. Really, the violence in the game is comparable to rugby, except Quidditch players also have large broomsticks.

Yet, all of these intense scuffles were kept light by commentary from International Quidditch Commentator Alex Benete, who added quirky input throughout each game over a P.A. system.

Perhaps the most entertaining part of Quidditch (and rightly so) is watching the snitch. Instead of a small flying golden ball with wings, the snitch in ground Quidditch is a person — usually without a shirt — who has a tennis ball in a yellow sock hanging out of the back of his or her shorts. The snitch leaves about five minutes prior to the start of game play, when the seekers leave to find it. This weekend, the snitch usually disappeared somewhere in Kanapaha park for about 15 minutes and then came running out on to the field, where he or she would dodge players, balls and seekers, sometimes cackling with glee. In Alex’s words, “Snitches be crazy.”

Overall, the first ever regional IQA tournament was a successful one and, though the Gators didn’t come out on top, Quidditch at UF definitely made history.

-KL, photos by Justin Duncklee