College of Charleston's Quidditch team is real deal (update)

Update May 4: Charleston City Paper writer Susan Cohen gives quidditch a shot...and encourages you to do the same.

After Charleston City Paper managing editor Chris Haire referred to the CofC quidditch team as the "Best Indication that College Kids Have Way Too Much Time on Their Hands" in the paper's Best of Charleston issue, writer Susan Cohen decided it was time to give the quidditch team a fair shot.

And it seems as though she's glad she did so. Read about her experience here.

Update December 6: Thought this was more joke than serious? You thought wrong.

The College of Charleston’s Quidditch team is now ranked 23rd in the world after competing in the Quidditch World Cup in November. They won six of their seven games, earning them the 23rd ranking and a mention in Time Magazine.

There's a bit more info on the news over at the College of Charleston.

The team recently won their December match against Winthrop University, 3-2. Keep up with the team by following them on Twitter at @cofcquidditch.

First reporting: Not Harry Potter? Not a problem. College of Charleston students have formed a Quidditch team and will be competing in the International Quidditch Association’s (IQA) World Cup November 13-14 in New York City.

Want to catch the action? You’re not alone – up to 100 people come to watch the team practice on Wednesdays starting at 6:30 p.m. on the Rivers Green behind the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library.

Participants in capes run around on broomsticks while shooting balls through mounted hula-hoops. Seriously.

More than 400 colleges in 45 states have Quidditch teams and in South Carolina, teams are currently forming at Clemson University, University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina University, Francis Marion University and Charleston Southern University. The first organized Quidditch game was played in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont, with the IQA established in 2007.

The sport is basically a mix between rugby, soccer and dodgeball, according to CofC Quidditch co-president Andrew Edahl. If you’re not on your broom, you’re not in play and matches can get physical.

“It’s not just a fan based club for Harry Potter or the sport because it requires a certain amount of skill to play,” says Laurin Grabowsky, CofC Quidditch co-president. “We have players that are on the soccer team, rugby team, swim team – it’s not easy, but it is really fun!”

There are seven players on the field for each team – 3 chasers, 2 beaters, 2 seekers, each team has a keeper and there is one golden snitch. The keeper guards the goals (mounted hula hoops), the chasers score through the goals with the quaffle (a volleyball), the beaters use bludgers (a playground ball) to hit other players, requiring them to drop their broom and run around their goal before resuming play. The seekers chase the snitch and once a seeker grabs the snitch’s flag, the game is over and the team with the most points wins.

The IQA also promotes Quidditch as a new sport and works with children and young adults to form teams, become active, and bring magic to communities.

For more information, contact Laurin Grabowsky.

Update November 8: Harry Potter is clearly on the brain. Not only has The Post and Courier has followed with their own report and video on Quidditch in Charleston, The State has a post on the sport at USC

And there's a couple other events going on in town, get 'em on our Harry Potter topic page.

With 10 days until the opening of the new movie, I'm sure it will only intensify.

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