The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Kathleen Gorby

The players arrive to the muddy field in twos and threes on a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon.

Team Win confidently believing in its name, takes to the field following its experienced Keeper, Drew Shields. Its opponent, Team Fire Truck, takes its time as seasoned player Peter Zona, a freshman history major, explains the rules of the game to a couple of first-timers.

A small group of onlookers excitedly take their seats across the fence as the players break into teams and decide positions. The players line up in front of their team's goal hoops, brooms extended in front of them.

"Are you ready?" Shields, a freshman advertising major, exclaims over the howl of the wind as players wiggle in their places.

"Brooms up."

And they're off, running to retrieve the Quaffle and Bludgers from the center of the field, their brooms immediately placed between their legs as if by magic.

Led by former Quidditch World Cup teammates Zona and Shields, students played the second game of Quidditch in Syracuse University history outside of the Women's Building on Sunday.

The sport, created and made famous by author J.K. Rowling in her Harry Potter series was first played at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on flying brooms. Then Quidditch was adapted for Muggle (non-magical) athletes in 2005 by a student at Middlebury College in Vermont. The game is now spreading to campuses around the country.

Zona said he and Shields first started playing Quidditch in high school.

"One of our friends in high school just said 'hey, want to play Quidditch?' So we just said 'hey, why not?'" He said.

Shields, Zona and their Quidditch team - the Ives Pond Quidditch Club - went on to compete in this year's Intercollegiate Quidditch Association World Cup, held at Middlebury College.

"We want to eventually send an SU club team to the IQA and it would be pretty cool to play in the Carrier Dome too," said Zona as he picked up his broom and headed back to the field.

Right now, the team is unofficial, simply composed of students who show up to the Women's Building on Sundays to play. Zona and Shields have been posting flyers across campus to spread the news.

"We were really interested in how they could do it," said Abby Lambert, a freshman advertising major, speaking for a group of onlookers who decided to watch the game after seeing flyers around campus.

Continued...

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