It may have started out as a pastime for book nerds re-enacting scenes from Harry Potter, but Quidditch has long since evolved into a real-world sport that's played across the globe. Photo: dpa
Not all football World Cup finals can deliver the levels of magic and drama found in the Quidditch games described in the Harry Potter books and films.
Potter swoops and dives on his broomstick, defying death to win game after game despite dangerous opponents.
The game that Joanne K. Rowling created in the fantasy series of novels 25 years ago has now become a real world sport, played across the globe.
It is particularly popular in Germany, where there are more than 40 teams and around 1,300 active players.
"Germany is the second largest Quidditch nation after the US," says Kevin Kauper of the German Quidditch Association.The game played on pitches worldwide is a dynamic mixture of rugby, dodgeball and handball, with five balls simultaneously in play at times.
The teams are mixed-gender and there are four different positions, namely hunters, keepers, drivers and seekers.
One distinctive feature of the game is that players always have to keep a broom between their legs, no matter whether they are sprinting, throwing into one of the three goal rings on stilts, casting off opponents or tackling.
Fans say the fact that the broom is always present ensures the game is playful. "It's a sport, you walk with plastic poles between your legs. How seriously can you take it?" says Ammon Scheller, 21, who coaches the Hannover Nifflers.
His team was hosting a match in the Northern League, which includes teams from Braunschweig, Oldenburg, Hamburg and Kiel.
That day in the Arminia Stadium, the Braunschweig Broomicorns were dominating, soon after coming second of 28 teams at the German Quidditch Cup, with Munich's Wolpertingers taking the top spot.
Braunschweig's Robin Menzel and another member of the team even play at national level.
The Broomicorns' pink jerseys may be emblazoned with unicorns and rainbows but as a team, they are fierce, playing to win.
Psychology student Menzel, 23, started out playing American football before discovering Quidditch. "In the beginning, there was a great deal of irony involved," he says.
Now, he is fully committed to Quidditch as a sport. "It is tactically very demanding," says Menzel. He also appreciates the different team dynamic in contrast to the very masculine world of American football.
"Of the seven players on the field, a maximum of four are allowed to identify with the same gender," according to the German Quidditch Federation. That ensures people of all genders are welcome.
"In general, the sport of Quidditch is based on the motto that everyone is equal and is treated equally: Women, men and non-binary," says Scheller.
Harry Potter author Rowling meanwhile has been criticised in the past for her comments on gender, with detractors slamming her opposition to social and legal equality for trans women with women born with female sex organs.
While fans of the Harry Potter series are celebrating its quarter centenary, the German Quidditch Federation is not planning any special events.
The association says it is also trying to distance itself from Harry Potter, precisely because of the furore around Rowling's statements.
The first step is a name change for the sport. The German Quidditch Federation wants to follow the suggestion of the International Quidditch Association, which has proposed a new name.
The Association is now weighing alternatives that start with a Q, such as Quickball or Quidstrike, in the hopes that this will pave the way for new sponsorships or partnerships without running the risk of infringing any trademark or film rights.
Sports scientist Annette Hofmann questions whether Quidditch will become established in the long term, however, pointing to newcomer sports that briefly enjoyed their time in the limelight, like the unicycle, for example.
On the other hand, she says, sports have changed since the pandemic, with a decline in membership in indoor sports. Growing numbers of people are opting instead for outdoor sports such as tennis, golf or cycling.
Quidditch can be played outside in city parks, on lawns or on football pitches, so may also benefit from this trend. – dpa/Christina Sticht
