Quidditch comes to Hawai`i

Imagine two teams of seven zooming around in the sky, a roaring crowd cheering on their house of choice, and a commentator attempting to yell the plays and score on a loudspeaker.

Three players attempt to throw a quaffle between through three hoops being blocked by a keeper. Two more players hit two crazed bludgers at the opposing team, attempting to knock them off their brooms. On each team, one nimble and speedy player weaves in and out of the chaos, chasing after a speeding, golden snitch earning the team 150 points and end the game.

Does any of this sound vaguely familiar? Harry Potter fans should be all over these references. The game described is what all Potterheads like to call Quidditch, brought to life by author J.K. Rowling in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in June 1997.

Then on Oct 5, 2007, Middlebury College in Vermont played the first official muggle (a non-magical person) version of the game. Now, there are teams all over the world with 733 registered teams in the International Quidditch Association in the United States alone.

Hawai`i can join in the competition with its very own team, Luna’s Nightmarchers. The first two practices, along with tryouts, will happen this coming Saturday, Sept. 29, and Sunday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. at the Ala Moana Beach Park.

However, there are a few little tweaks to the Quidditch game that differentiates the magical version from the muggle version.

For starters, the game is played not in the air but on the ground, though brooms are still a mandatory for players. For the bludgers, there are three dodge balls instead of the usual two that are thrown by the two beaters.

The snitch also has a bit of a twist. The person who plays the snitch has a sock with a tennis ball hanging out of his or her shorts and gets to hide somewhere off the field until the game is well under way. It is then where the seeker would run back and taunt the two seekers, attempting to remain uncaptured.

“You know, I was a little skeptical about it (the Quidditch team) due to a questionable number of fans here compared to other countries and the mainland,” said Noelani Tu`u, 25, and a graduate of Chaminade University this past spring. “But then so far we have quite a number of people expressing their interest to joining the team.”

Tu`u has helped get the team off the ground by putting up flyers. It is estimated that about 30 people expressed an interest in being part of Luna’s Nightmarchers.

If you’re interested in joining Luna’s Nightmarchers or would like more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/HawaiiQuidditch/.