Quidditch craze, team comes to UNC

The "Harry Potter" buzz around campus has not been about the upcoming DVD and theater releases of the final two movies, but rather the new quidditch team starting at UNC.

On Saturday, students gathered in the University Center to learn how they can join the first University of Northern Colorado quidditch team. Taylor Starr, a freshman music composition major and co-captain of  the team, was the driving force behind its inception.

"There's been a lot of people who have tried to bring it up at UNC," Starr said. "I really was the pushing ground behind it and solidified it here."

The love of "Harry Potter" has similarly been the inspiration for quidditch teams all across the United States, Canada and Europe. The International Quidditch Association started in 2007, and the NCAA began to recognize quidditch as sport in 2010.

The UNC team has about 15 players now, which will be enough for the first match, but is looking for more members for next year. Starr said he is hoping for 25 players so the team can be under the wing of athletics.

Without magic's contribution to the game, elements of the sport have been altered.

Even though players are unable to fly, all are required to run with a broom between their legs at all times.

Another big change is the golden snitch. Because enchanting the ball to fly on its own is not an option, there is one player dressed in all yellow hiding and running from the seekers. The game ends when a player gets the tennis ball in the sock stuck into the back of the snitch's pants.

Junior acting major Emma Cohn said the position of beater is the most enticing.

"I'm not a big runner, but I think it'd be fun to be the person beating up other people, not in a mean way, but it'd be fun," Cohn said.

The UNC quidditch team is one of four teams starting in Colorado on the collegiate level. Colorado State University, University of Colorado and Denver University are also looking to start their own. On April 30, UNC is looking to play CSU in Colorado's first ever collegiate quidditch match.

"I am so excited," said sophomore forensic psychology major Genae Gerardi, who is also a co-captain. "The fact that we're going to be the first quidditch team in Colorado to play a match, that's awesome."