What?! The Snitch just slapped that seeker!

Last weekend I participated in the 1st EVER intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup (Muggle Style). It was the most fun/hilarious experience of my life!
Ok, for those of you who don’t know, I’ll give you a brief overview of the rules of Muggle Quidditch:
1. As in true Quidditch, there are 3 chasers, 2 beaters, 1 keeper and 1 seeker on a team.
2. The 3 chasers have to get the Quaffle (a somewhat deflated soccer ball) through the goals (3 hoolahoops painted gold and mounted on 2x4s). Each goal is worth 10 points.
3. The 2 beaters throw the 3 Bludgers (red dodge balls) at other players. If you are hit by a Bludger you must run back around your own central goalpost. If you are holding a ball when you get bludged, you must drop the ball.
4. The keeper guards the goals.
5. The seeker tries to catch the Snitch (a person, dressed all in yellow, with a yellow sock with a ball in it hanging out of their belt. You catch the Snitch when you get the sock out of its belt). The Snitch is worth an additional 30 points and may run anywhere on campus as long as it returns to the Quidditch pitch every 5-10 minutes.
6. Game play ends ONLY when the Snitch is captured.
7. All players, except the Snitch, must accomplish their objectives with a broom between their legs at all times.
Yes, I know that it sounds like the most ridiculous/insane sport ever. It is. And that’s exactly why it’s such a blast! You realize 5 seconds into the first practice that if you care at all about what other people think of you, you will not be able to play the game because running with a broom between your legs is the most ludicrous looking thing in the world. At the same time, that’s kind of nice, because you immediately weed out everyone who isn’t truly dedicated.
Middlebury College in Vermont started the game, at least they started it here in the States, I guess there are some European teams and we’re trying to get in contact with them because we really want to have an international World Cup. But anyway, last Sunday Middlebury hosted the third ever Quidditch Cup, and Vassar became the first ever traveling Quidditch team. It was quite the event! I have pictures, but my friend has my camera right now. I’ll be sure to post them as soon as I can!
Middlebury has 12 Quidditch teams, and they all played off agaist eachother. Vassar, being the only other college there, automatically made it to the final round, so before that we just hung out and watched. Wow. Middlebury takes its Quidditch seriously. The team that we ended up facing was named “The Mollywobbles” which is quite clever. Our team is the “Butterbeer Brewers” (Vassar’s mascot is the Brewers, it makes me feel right at home :) ).
Oh my god. We got slaughtered in the match. The final score was something like 90-0. Ouch. But I play beater, and my personal goal was to bludge one person, and I had three or four important bludges in a row, plus other random bludges, so I was happy. Actually, our whole team walked away ecstatic, because we’d literally been practicing for 3 weeks and Middlebury’s been practicing for 3 years, and The Mollywobbles won the Cup last year, too. Plus, our team is made up of entirely freshmen, and their team is mostly upperclassmen and they’re ALL rugby players! And they play Quidditch like they play rugby. We were getting tackled left and right. It was hilarious. And really, 90 points is not that bad. They were actually impressed with our defense. And next year we’lll be much more prepared!
We’re trying to get more colleges at the World Cup next year. Ideally we’d be able to get the European teams here. But, more realistically, Sarah Lawrence is starting a team, so I think they’ll be there! I really can’t wait!