Quidditch, is a team sport that was created in 2003 at Nimbus 2003, a Harry Potter convention in Orlando, Florida, United States, and was inspired by the fictional game of the same name in the Harry Potter books by the author J. K. Rowling. Two teams of seven players each, astride broomsticks (or items such as PVC pipes intended to simulate broomsticks) and opposing each other on a rectangular pitch, compete with the primary objective of passing a ball through the defenders' hoops, while preventing their opponents from passing it through their own hoops. The sport is also referred to as "muggle quidditch" to distinguish it from the fictional game of the books, which involves magical elements such as flying broomsticks and enchanted balls—a muggle in the Harry Potter series being a person without magical abilities. The sport is played around the world. Official leagues have adopted the term "Quadball" to avoid copyright issues and have much more stringent rules.
A team usually consists of a minimum of seven (maximum 21) players, of which six are always on the Quidditch pitch: three chasers, one keeper, and two beaters. The seventh position, known as a seeker, joins each team after a time period known as the "seeker floor". The pitch is rectangular, with three hoops () at either end. Teams are required to be gender-balanced: each team may have a maximum of four non-seeker players who identify as the same gender on the field at one time, making quidditch one of the few sports that not only offers a gender-integrated environment, but an open community to those who identify as nonbinary.
To score points, chasers or keepers must get the quaffle—a slightly deflated volleyball—into any of the three opposing hoops, which scores the team 10 points. To impede their opponents, beaters can use bludgers to hit opposing players and temporarily remove them from play. Once hit by an opposing bludger, that player must dismount their broomstick, drop any ball being held, and return to touch their own team's hoops before re-entering the game.
The ultimate goal is to have more points than the other team by the time the snitch—a tennis ball inside a cloth tube hanging from the shorts of an impartial official dressed in yellow—is caught. After twenty minutes of play, the snitch runner moves onto the pitch and tries to evade the two seekers. When one of the seekers catches the snitch, that team is awarded 30 points. If this leads to the catching team having more points overall than their opponents, the game ends immediately with the catching team winning. In the event a team catches the snitch but still trails in points (or is tied for points) the game goes into an overtime period, with the target being the score achieved by the non-catching team plus 30 points. The first team to reach the target score wins the game; alternatively, either team may concede at any time during the overtime period. Matches or games often run about 30 to 40 minutes including stoppages, but tend to vary in length due to the unpredictable nature of the snitch catch.
Variations of quidditch exist, ranging from minor rules changes to fundamentally different game mechanics. The historical rules of quidditch as defined by governing bodies such as USQ and IQA are most similar to the rules currently defining quadball, though there is some geographic variation in those rules as well.
History Quidditch has its roots in the fictional Harry Potter sport of the same name. To denote the difference, the fictional sport uses the capitalised "Quidditch" whereas the sport played as per the IQA rules uses the uncapitalised "quidditch". In April 2017 Oxford Dictionaries recognised "quidditch" as a word.
The sport was created in 2003 at Nimbus 2003, a Harry Potter convention in Orlando, Florida, by Christopher Dickson, a convention staff member. It grew into its own distinct sport after ten publications of rulebooks.
In 2007, the first Quidditch World Cup took place, won by Middlebury. Starting in 2008 there was a World Cup in the United States, where collegiate and community teams would compete. Canada often sent several Ontario or Quebec teams, and Australia, Mexico and France each sent a team once. In 2012, the IQA hosted the Summer Games, where five nations sent national teams. Two years later, the IQA hosted the Global Games, where the United States defeated Australia for the gold medal. The World Cups, held every two years, are now handled by the Quadball version of the sport.
The sport grew at universities in the United States, extending to Canada at McGill University in 2009 and Carleton University in 2010. In 2010, UCLA became the first major university to create a permanent Quidditch pitch, sponsored by actor Matthew Perry. By 2015, there were teams in Australia, the UK, and France. This was followed by teams in Argentina (with teams such as Demacia's Dragons, Cumulus Nimbus), Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Mexico and Brazil.
Establishment of Quadball
In December 2021, US Quidditch and Major League Quidditch proposed changing the name of the sanctioned sport, to avoid a potential trademark dispute with Warner Bros and to distance themselves from Rowling and her views on transgender people. Names suggested include "quidball", "quadball", "quickball", "quicker", "quidstrike" and "quadraball". In July 2022, the new name "quadball" was announced, which references the game's four balls and retains 'Q' as the first letter. The International Quidditch Association also adopted the name of "quadball" at this time. As of 2026, there are no officially sanctioned sporting bodies using the term "quidditch".
Play
Each match typically begins with six of the starting players (excluding the seekers) along the starting line within their keeper zone with brooms on the ground and the four balls lined in the centre of the pitch. The head referee then calls "brooms up!", upon which players run to gain possession of the balls. The snitch runner goes on the field at 17 minutes, and the seekers are released at 18 minutes. Later versions of quidditch rulebooks would incorporate alternate starting procedures where players start from the sideline rather than their keeper zone.
Goals are worth ten points. Once a point is scored, the quaffle must be given to the other team's keeper, and almost immediately returns to the offensive. Games can last any length of time longer than 20 minutes, depending on the skill and endurance of the seekers and snitch runner.
The game may end after the snitch has been caught through what is called a clean catch by the snitch referee, The head referee, and the snitch runner. The team that caught the snitch is awarded 30 points. If the catching Team now has more points than the other, they win and the game ends immediately. If, however, they have fewer points or are tied, the game goes to overtime, with a set score of the non-catching team score plus 30 points. The winner is determined not by the snitch catch, but by the number of points earned throughout the entirety of the game. Depending on the score, teams will delay the snitch catch to better their chances of winning. Teams that are losing tend to defend the snitch by placing themselves between the snitch runner and the opposing seeker.
Official international play
Positions The players positions are shown by the colour of the headband they wear on pitch. Chasers (white headbands) are responsible for passing the quaffle and scoring points by throwing the quaffle through one of the opponent's goals for 10 points. Chasers may enter into physical contact with opposing chasers or keepers. There are three chasers on the field for each team. Keepers (green headband) function as chasers with extra privileges. The keeper is invulnerable to bludgers as well as having indisputable possession of the quaffle when within their team's keeper zone, an area around the team's hoops. There is one keeper per team. Beaters (black headband) attempt to hit the opposing team's players with bludgers and attempt to block the bludgers from hitting their team's players. Beaters may catch a bludger to avoid being knocked out. As there are three bludgers for the four beaters on the pitch, the fourth, bludger-less beater puts pressure on the team in control of both bludgers (often called "bludger control" or "bludger supremacy"). If a beater is on a team that has no bludgers, they may raise a hand above their shoulder with their fist closed and claim "bludger immunity" to prevent being knocked out by live bludgers as they collect the third bludger. A team that has two bludgers may not prevent the other team from collecting the third bludger. Beaters may enter into physical contact only with other beaters. Seekers (yellow headband) attempt to catch the snitch. They may not forcefully contact the snitch runner but are permitted to contact the other seeker. The snitch runner is released after 19 minutes, giving the seekers a chance to watch the snitch runner before being released 1 minute later, after a total of 20 minutes of game time. There is one seeker on the field for each team.
Equipment The game is played with six standing hoops, three on each side of a square pitch. Each player must hold a broomstick between their legs. There are three different types of balls in play, and five in total: the quaffle, three bludgers, and the snitch.
Broomstick
The broomstick serves the purpose of being a handicap such as one-handed dribbling in basketball or using only one's feet in association football. The player must stay mounted on their broomstick continuously unless they have been hit with a bludger, in which case the player needs to dismount from their broomstick and return to their hoops. To be mounted on the broomstick means that the player must hold the broomstick between their legs and not have it fully on the ground. If a player comes off of their broomstick for any reason, they have to dismount fully and return to their hoops to tag back in and remount.
Players can substitute a variety of objects for broomstick depending on the level of seriousness. Many teams play on PVC pipes of about 3 feet or 1 meter in length; these are usually made, but can also be purchased from specialist suppliers.
Hoops Three hoops, each across, are placed on either side of the pitch on poles of differing heights (, and ), placed apart. Chasers and keepers can score by throwing the quaffle through any one of the hoops, from either front or back, gaining ten points for their team per score. Any player experiencing a knock-out effect from either dismounting their broomstick or getting hit with a bludger must touch with any part of their body excluding the broomstick to the pole or loop of any one of their hoops and then remount before returning to play.
Quaffle The quaffle is a slightly deflated volleyball and can only be manipulated by chasers or keepers. Used for scoring, it may pass through any hoop from either side. Regardless of which team caused the volleyball to pass through the hoop, as long as it is in play, a goal is scored against the team whose hoop was scored upon, which is counted to be 10 points.
Bludgers The bludger is a slightly deflated standard dodgeball, in circumference, that can only be manipulated by beaters. There are three bludgers. The bludgers are used to hit any other player on the field. Upon being hit by a bludger, a player must dismount their broomstick, drop any ball that they may have been carrying, and touch their team's hoops before resuming play. There also is no friendly fire, meaning that bludgers thrown by beaters cannot affect any of their teammates.
Snitch
The snitch is a tennis ball placed at the bottom of a long yellow pouch that is attached to the back of the snitch runner's shorts like in tag rugby. The snitch runner is allowed to be more physical than other players.