The Chaser stretched out his arm and, with one last push of adrenaline, locked his hand around the small yellow sphere.
He fell to his knees in a slide of victory. The Snitch had, at last, been caught.
Such scenes of celebration were abundant at Saturday’s Quidditch tournament at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center.
The Quidditch tournament, held on Saturday of Harry Potter Week, included 14 teams with seven moving on to single elimination bracket play.
The final game featured the Penthouse Pigwidgeons and Snitches Get Stitches, with the latter coming out victorious.
One of the main goals of the tournament was to get some new people out to try Quidditch, so most of the tournament’s participants were brand-new players.
“Some of them look more brand-new than others,” said UCLA class of 1979 alumnus and Quidditch fan Brian Lowe, who has been to several Quidditch matches.
Lowe said there are many attributes needed to be a competitive Quidditch player.
Among the most important, he said, is youth.
“You have to be 20 years old because it would kill me to play. I don’t think you’re going to see too many senior Quidditch teams,” Lowe said.
“Oh my God, yeah. It hurts. You can look at the bruises on me,” said Patrick Matian, a second-year physiological science student. “We have a girl on our team who’s scraped from here to here and her face is cut.”
In addition to its brutal nature, players said the sport is also physically challenging.
“It’s an incredible workout – very, very challenging. There is definitely more to it than most sports,” said Adam Richardson, a second-year engineering student and Quidditch team member. “It has a very whimsical side. But it’s a very real sport. It’s full contact.”
Richardson participated as one of the Snitches in the tournament.
Although the sport can be rough, players say its whimsical appeal attracts players of all backgrounds and skill levels.
“We’re from everywhere on campus. We have engineers, we have theater students and everything in between,” said third-year Katelynn Kazane, a member of the UCLA Quidditch team and organizer of the tournament.
Kazane also said that the Quidditch team has open practices, which offer new players the opportunity to continue participating after the tournament.
“It’s actually really fun,” said first-year undeclared student Lizzie Zweng, a newcomer to the sport. “I think it’s something that every Bruin should try.”
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