quidditch, sport Inspired by the “Harry Potter” books by JK Rowling, it has been renamed Quadball.
“Today marks an important step in the history of our game, and it is an equally big step forward for Major League Quadball,” the league said in a news release Tuesday.
The sport’s two governing bodies, US Quidditch and Major League Quidditch, announced last year that they were attempting a name change for two reasons.
First, because the Quidditch name was trademarked by Warner Bros., it limited the expansion of the game and its opportunities for sponsorship and broadcasting.
Second, the leagues hoped that the name change “could help them distance themselves from the works of JK Rowling,” which has come under scrutiny in recent years for anti-trans comments.
“Our sport has developed a reputation as one of the world’s most progressive sports on gender equality and inclusivity, partly thanks to its gender maximization rule, which stipulates that a team consists of the same gender. There cannot be more than four players in the field at a time,” he said at the time. “Both organizations feel it is imperative to live up to this reputation in all aspects of their operations, and believe that this is a step in that direction. One step.”
The International Quidditch Association will also adopt the name change globally.
Images combine via Michael Mathe/Getty Images
Rowling has received repeated backlash from fans, LGBTQ+ groups and allies, and even the main stars of the “Harry Potter” film franchise, over her comments about the trans community.
For example, in June 2020, she wrote a lengthy blog post in which she questioned whether social media-affected “transitions” have led to more people coming out as transgender. She also said that she is concerned about the safety of women in the bathroom because of trans women.
Like the game in the “Harry Potter” books, quadball has four positions: chasers, beaters, keepers, and seekers. There are two types of balls in each game: a cuffl and three bludgers.
The game incorporates elements of rugby, basketball and dodgeball, with six to seven players per team on the field at a time. There are three hoops of varying height at each end of the pitch for scoring. Each player must climb on the broomstick while playing. Unlike Rowling’s books, players do not fly.
The game was first adapted by Xander Manschel and Alex Benepe at Middlebury College in Vermont in 2005 and is now played by more than 600 teams in 40 countries.
