Muggle Quidditch is a sport based on Quidditch, the fictional sport developed by British author J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series of novels. It is most popular amongst college students. The sport was created in 2005 at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.
In Muggle Quidditch, as in fictional Quidditch, there are seven players on each team, 3 chasers, 2 beaters, 1 keeper and 1 seeker. Muggle Quidditch has been adapted for play on the ground, with game play confined to a playing field comparable in size to a hockey rink.
Three circular goals are placed on either side of the pitch. The goals are often hula hoops held up by PVC pipes. All players are required to carry a broom between their legs at all times. Volleyballs are used as the quaffle, and dodgeballs serve as the bludgers. While the Snitch is a magical object within the canon of the Harry Potter novels, in Muggle Quidditch the Snitch is simply a tennis ball contained in a sock tucked in the waistband of the snitch runner. The snitch runner is a neutral player affiliated with neither team dressed in all gold or yellow. After release, the snitch runner (and thereby the snitch itself) is allowed to roam an area beyond the playing field. When played on a college campus the range is often the entire campus. The seekers search for the runner around campus; if they fail to catch him, he returns to the field after a specified time.
The game begins with the quaffle and bludgers placed in the center of the field and all players in line with their respective goalposts. After the snitch is out of sight, the referee yells 'brooms up!' to start the game.
Read more about Muggle Quidditch: Positions in Muggle Quidditch, Equipment, International Quidditch Association, International Quidditch Association World Cup, 2009 Intercollegiate Quidditch Association World Cup, 2010 IQA World Cup, 2011 IQA World Cup, College and Community Teams