Quidditch champs
Young Wellingtonians whose Hogwarts invitations got lost in the owl post now run around with kitchen brooms between their legs and call it sport, just like their idol Harry Potter.
YOUNG Wellingtonians whose Hogwarts invitations got lost in the owl post now run around with kitchen brooms between their legs and call it sport.
Quidditch started as a figment of J K Rowling’s imagination, but South Wellington Intermediate School pupils were able to choose it as their Thursday afternoon sport for the first time this year.
However, they need fellow Potterphiles from nearby Wellington primary schools to play the mugglised game against.
Teacher and coach Jess Robieson wants her pupils to have the chance to compete against other schools next year, instead of simply playing each other in rotating tournaments. ‘‘We put a call out for other schools to come and join us, but no-one answered.’’
Quidditch was so popular at SWIS that Robieson had to cap the number of players at 35. They are divided into five seven-person teams: the Slytherin Snakes, the Gryffindiffs, the You Know Whos, the Mythical Myrtles, and the Flaming Phoenixes.
Each team has three chasers, two beaters, one seeker, and one keeper. Three dodgeballs serve as bludgers, and a volleyball serves as the quaffle.
‘‘It’s BYOB – bring your own broom,’’ Robieson says. But most of the broom heads are lost to the war that is quidditch.
One person is the snitch, and is allowed to go anywhere in the school, provided they are safe, she says. ‘‘The game doesn’t end until a seeker gets that snitch.’’
SWIS pupil Manaia Waikari, 12, drops a tennis ball into a yellow sock, secures the sock to his belt, then sprints off and disappears behind a classroom. He is now the snitch.
Waikari enjoys playing seeker or snitch, following in the broomstick wake of Harry Potter, his favourite character from the series. He likes being the snitch the most because of the freedom he gets. ‘‘You get to roam all around the school and no-one knows where you are.’’
Robieson says the game engages those who have not previously been interested in sport. ‘‘You can see them think to themselves, ‘This is a sport I could get involved in’.’’
Victoria University Wellington Quidditch Club president Lola Valentine says this mirrors university players. ‘‘Half of our club are really sporty people who aren’t that into Harry Potter, and half are nerdy people who are not that into sports.’’
Gryffindiffs beater Finn Culver, 13, says his team is the nerdy team and the Slytherin Snakes are the sporty team.
His cousin Grace Medlicott, 13, agrees, adding: ‘‘And the nerdy team is winning’’.
Even though the laws of physics dictate playing on the ground, this has done nothing to quash the appeal for SWIS pupils.
Gryffindiffs captain Leo HayChapman, 13, says quidditch is his favourite sport. ‘‘I hate sport. This is the only sport I will play.’’
The Gryffindiffs currently top the scoreboard, with 21 wins overall.