 "Photo: Brian Tedder, Collegian Staff")
With sleet and rain falling on a snow-covered ground, Amherst College's quad hosted the first nationally televised Quidditch match ever.
Yes, you read that correctly, Quidditch as in "Harry Potter." The Quaffle, Bludgers and Golden Snitch were flying all over the field, as were the players on their brooms. No movie was showing; it was the muggle version of the game being played between Middlebury and Amherst Colleges.
The muggle, or human, version of the game has been sweeping colleges around the country in the last few years. The refined version used in intercollegiate play started at Middlebury two-years ago and has since spread to over 80 colleges.
"It started a couple years ago, and I helped to expand it to the collegiate level," said Alex Benepe, the Intercollegiate Quidditch Commissioner from Middlebury. "I like to see the teams in their school colors. We have 80 schools now, and our goal is to have it in all of them."
For those who haven't been apart of the Harry Potter mania, Quidditch is featured in every book but the final one. The muggle version is a cross between soccer, rugby and dodgeball.
The game is played on an oval-shaped field known as a pitch and consists of seven players in four positions. The Chasers pass the Quaffle (volleyball) amongst themselves and try to shoot it through one of three goals for points. The Keeper is charged with protecting the goals. The Beaters, who in the book are armed with clubs, are in charge of protecting their teammates by knocking opposing players off their brooms using dodgeballs. The final position is the Seeker, whose job is to chase and capture the golden snitch.
In the muggle version, the golden snitch is a person.
"In the book, the snitch is a little golden ball that flies around, and you need to catch it to end the game," said Donny Dickerson, the golden snitch. "In our version we have a goofy guy like me dressed in yellow, and I have a sock stuck to my butt; and if you grab it, the game is over."
Quidditch has become so popular that it has garnered national attention.
CBS's Early Show was in attendance as meteorologist and feature reporter Dave Price broadcasted live from the Amherst Quidditch field.
"Congratulations, you're about to introduce 1.5-million people to Quidditch," Price told the players and crowd before the first live broadcast of the morning.
"One of our producers had heard that there was an effort to start a Quidditch league," said Price. "What's amazing is that 133-million copies of Harry Potter have been published in the United States, 400-million world-wide. It's a phenomenon. And everyone knows Quidditch. When we found out about the league, we were all over the story."
With the story now on the radar, it became time to find a college from which to play the match and broadcast the report.
"We were looking at a number of colleges," said Price. "We looked at Vassar. We looked at going to Middlebury and Princeton. But we thought the combination of this beautiful setting, would make for a great competition between Middlebury and Amherst, and a great sense of school spirit."
It's not difficult to understand why Quidditch has become popular on college campuses.
"Look outside," Price said. "It's 7 o'clock on a college campus. On a Friday in sleet and snow, and you have all these people outside. That's why we came here, and we have not been disappointed."
Price confessed that he was never a fan of Harry Potter. To research Quidditch, he went to Princeton and not only watched but also played.
"To be honest, I was not one of those people who was part of the Harry Potter phenomenon," said Price. "We went to Princeton and watched a match last week, and I actually played. I'll tell you, it's a great sport. It's a combination of rugby, soccer and dodgeball. It's a fast-paced, rough-and-tumble game."
On Friday morning Price didn't play, but he did dress in gold and took the role of the golden stitch.
This is just one in a long line of on-location stories for Price.
"I love these things," Price said. "The great thing about being a weather guy is you get to see a lot and do a lot, and this is just one example of it. We were in Davidson yesterday talking NCAA hoops; Monday we are going to be at [Major League Baseball's] opening day in Miami. Wednesday we're in Washington D.C. for the Cherry Blossom Festival; Friday we're at the Final Four in San Antonio. It's a great way to have fun and get paid at the same time."
Ryan McAskill can be reached at rmcaskil@dailycollegian.com.
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