Each week reporter Jeff Darge searches campus for a new club to join.
I have never read a Harry Potter book. It's hard for me to admit that because when I do I am usually challenged on whether or not I had a childhood.
Despite this, I was familiar with aspects of the series, such as the Sorcerer's Stone, Snape and Quidditch. What I didn't know was how anyone ever managed to turn Quidditch into an actual sport. That's why I laced up my cleats and joined ASU's Quidditch team to find out.
When I arrived at the practice on ASU's band field, I started to wonder if I was in over my head. I'm not the most athletic so playing a sport like that is brand new to me. I did not even know the first rule of Quidditch.
Not long after I arrived, I introduced myself to Brentlee Cass, mathematics sophomore and the chaser captain for ASU Quidditch. He in turn introduced me to the team.
The practice began with stretching, as practice in any sport should. After that, I got my first taste of the game in the form of a passing drill. It was a catch and pass exercise that reminded me a lot of the kind that basketball players do. I was starting to get comfortable. Surely, it would all be simple from here.
Hey guys! Don't forget, ASU has launched a fundraising campaign to help us travel to tournaments, including the West...
Posted by ASU Quidditch on Friday, February 5, 2016
This hope was turned on its head when I was placing PVC pipe between my legs. This was my "broom," and if I lost control of it, I was ruled ineligible in play until I touched my team's hoops. My objective was to run with the broom between my legs, catch a slightly deflated volleyball called a Quaffle, and put it through the opposing team's hoop.
It was here that I discovered that running with a three-foot pipe between your legs is difficult. Who knew?
As the drill carried on, I began to see the support that this team provides each other. I cut in for a pass and completely lost control of the broom as I caught it. Whenever I mess up during a sport, I have a look of slight dejection and disappointment. I assume I had this look as the broom fell because I was given instant positive reinforcement. Members told me that while I may have dropped the broom, I still caught the pass and that was still something.
I get the feeling that members of the team can catch slight confusion and frustration relatively quickly. Most members of the team that I spoke to had never played the game before when they joined. This was a comforting fact. I was sure they too had their confusion and dropped brooms and passes.
When the drill finished, I was successfully catching some of the balls being thrown to me. I wasn't Larry Fitzgerald on a broom, but I was learning.
The practice moved on to it's final segment: a scrimmage. Here I was going to get a real taste of the game. I was filled with excitement. I had heard so much about the game and now I was actually going to play. I took a few minutes to have the game's rules explained and then came off the bench to get in my first minutes as a Quidditch player.
The sport is interesting because there is so much going on at once. The keeper runs the offense while the chasers try to get open to score. Meanwhile, the opposing chasers run defense while the keeper tends goal. While this is happening players called beaters are trying to render players ineligible by hitting them with a dodgeball. These players must then follow the same routine as players who fall off of their brooms.
This all may sound confusing. That's because it is. Within minutes of taking the field I was already pulling myself out to have the finer points of the game re-explained. About five minutes later, I retook the field, confident that this time I would understand what was going on.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!! #DanHansonInvitational #Undefeated ❤️
— ASU Quidditch (@asuquidditch) January 31, 2016
I understood the game better the second time. A beautiful thing about this sport is that it incorporates elements from other sports such as basketball, football, rugby and even soccer. I gravitated towards the basketball elements of the sport like cutting into the rim to get open and hopefully shoot a lay-up.
After spending some time on the field, I began to feel my body ache. I had forgotten that sports are not my forte. I called for a substitution and came off the field for the last time.
After I came off, I saw the last element of the game begin. The seekers took the field to claim the golden snitch, which is a tennis ball in a sock affixed to an impartial player's backside.
This sport is a spectacle. Action existed on every part of the field, and I wondered why it isn't broadcasted on ESPN.
This confusion-turned-to-appreciation is not uncommon. Even team captains like Cass joined the team confused.
"I had never seen it played or played it myself," he said.
The team is extremely inviting. Cass had the best advice to those who are new to the game and interested in playing.
"Come out and try it for yourself," he said. "Everyone just thinks we're a bunch of Harry Potter fans. No one realizes that it's a tough sport. If anyone is on the fence definitely just come out, and I'm sure you'll fall in love with it."
Political science sophomore and beater captain Ryan McGonagle came to the team not expecting to actually like the sport.
"I came out because I thought it was a joke, but I stayed because I loved it," McGonagle said.
This love is shared by the entire team, not only for the sport, but for each other.
"All of my closest friends at ASU are on the team," psychology freshman Celia Evans said.
This is not to say that the team is exclusive. My experience confirmed that. The entire night different players were checking in on me to make sure I was enjoying myself and that I understood what was going on.
Students interested in Quidditch should go to a team practice at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the band field as well as Sundays at 4 p.m. on the west field of the Sun Devil Fitness Complex.
Related Links:
Rethink fact and fiction: It's Quidditch season at ASU
ASU Quidditch is not just for Harry Potter nerds
Reach the reporter at jdarge@asu.edu or follow @jeffdarge on Twitter.
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