QuidCon Brings Harry Potter's Sport to Life

By now it seems old fashioned to start of a piece about quidditch by saying that it’s “not just for wizards anymore.” Of course it isn’t. In the last eight years, teams based on the Harry Potter pastime—a fantastical combination of co-ed dodgeball, rugby, and broom riding—have cropped up at more than 160 colleges around the world. Fans have even formed the International Quidditch Association, which regularly hosts tournaments (complete with a World Cup) and, starting last year, an annual convention. QuidCon brings together atheletes from all over to discuss strategies, fundraising, and the future of a game that was never intended for Muggle-kind. Seattle hosts QuidCon 2013 at Embassy Suites Seattle July 11–15. IQA chose Seattle in order to capitalize on the recent surge in quidditch teams at Washington colleges. Interested Muggles can see quidditch matches first-hand for free at QuidCon’s all-day tournament on Sunday, July 14 at Fort Dent Park in Tukwila.