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By Rachael Goldenberg

The fifth Quidditch World Cup happening this weekend on New York City’s Randall’s Island is looking like a bonafide event: 1) tickets are required 2) there is a halftime show, and 3) there are now some 100 teams (2,000 athletes) plus spectators.

But even as quidditch looks ever more like an NCAA sport (it’s not), it has retained it’s grassroots vibe, pairing competition with conscience. Starting Fall 2012, look for enforcement of – Title 9 ¾ – requiring teams (which have been dominated by guys of late) to have at least three women on the field at all times. (IQA CEO and Commissioner Alex Benepe explains at 3:25 in this YouTube video). The sport also looks to use it’s athletic-cum-magic aura to make a case for fairness on and off the pitch.

Of course, there is still a cup at stake. This weekend, expect top performances from names you don’t always hear shouted in the college sports world: Middlebury, University of Kansas (okay, so they are good at conventional and non-conventional sports), Emerson, McGill, and Vassar.

Jessie Haladyna, Wellesley College Class of 2012, who plays the (female-dominated) defensive “beater” position, shared her views on the rule change, strategy, and the ethos of the game.

FGN: Why do you like playing Beater?

JH: It’s an aggressive position that requires both physical strength and a solid strategy.

FGN: What is your take on the gender debate? Why do men dominate the offense?

JH: It is disappointing but not unpredictable that it’s necessary to enact the new 4:3 ratio regulation. Quidditch teams typically have more male players than female, but it’s not because of sexist team captains. Quidditch integrates the world of nerdy science fiction fans with brute athletes and cocky jocks. More male athletes try out for this tackle sport than women, and every sci fi fan — male or female – is excited to make the world of Harry Potter come to life. If most of your talent at tryouts comes from male jocks, is it really sexist if they cut the less talented (albeit enthusiastic) Harry Potter fans?

That is how any other sport functions; the weakest players are cut. But if you think I am suggesting that all female players are weaker than the males, you are strongly mistaken. I have played teams whose most intimidating player and highest scorer was the female chaser. It is just hard to recruit athletic women to play the sport.

I fully support quidditch as a co-ed sport. It lets males and females compete equally and learn to value each others’ abilities and attributes. Personally, I love the chance to best both man and woman on the quidditch pitch!!!

FGN: As a former NCAA softball player, how does Quidditch compare?

JH: Quidditch rules are more similar to basketball, football and dodgeball than softball. Like many sports, in quidditch you must throw and catch with accuracy. Softball and quidditch are most similar in the strategy of the game. In softball, it benefits you to know the batter; if she pulls the ball to the left side of the field the defense would play her differently than if she preferred to take the outside pitch on a fly to right field. In comparison, as a beater, I observe each player early in the game to determine if our opponent’s offense or defense will be more of a threat; if their beaters shut down our chasers before they can get anywhere near the hoops, then I’ll concentrate on taking them out of play with my own bludgers. However, if a single chaser continuously breaks away to charge the hoops, I might change my strategy and mark him for the rest of the game.

FGN: Quidditch seems to have a growing philanthropic role.

JH + IQA: This World Cup, the International Quidditch Association (IQA) has partnered with The Harry Potter Alliance, to help promote its campaign for fair trade chocolate. Outside of the Cup, the IQA makes an effort to share quidditch with children – Kidditch! – by supporting elementary school programs to encourage children to learn a sport driven by fair-play and enthusiasm for a magical book series!

FGN: Where is this sport going?

JH: Quidditch is only getting bigger from here! The IQA will continue to inspire young people to lead physically active and socially engaged lives.

Last year's Quidditch World Cup

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There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

BBrothers says:

That was brutal. I just watched that video and I thought I'd linked to The Onion. Are you kidding me? Maybe they're going to go ahead and give trophies to everyone with a uniform too. Let's not forget to stop keeping score.

Fortunately this piece was balanced off with an interview with a Wellesley athlete to get some more gender balance going on, because we all know how gender balanced their admissions policies and overall mojo are.

I'd say let's not stop at that new 4:3 M/F quota. We're going to need at least one ethnic minority, one handicapped (physical), one handicapped (cognitive), one out gay woman, one out gay man, one MtF transvestite one FtM transvestite and one regular old crossdresser. Maybe you should also throw in a redneck too (M or F) but I doubt if they could run with all of the spoiled goofs that are currently in the mix in this cluster. Not sure the math will work out but maybe we could get the government to pass a law to make sure it happens. Then we could get a bunch of attorneys that could make a living by litigating against schools that don't do the proper combo. That would be perfect.

It pretty damn funny how Pappano and her crew talk about how women can compete directly and equally with men but when the teams start to shift more to men because of skill sets and wanting to actually win they want quotas. Kinda can't have it both ways although they seem to be totally comfortable ignoring the obvious.

Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 2:00am EST

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