Quidditch is not just for wizards anymore

Think Quidditch is just for nerds and Harry Potter fans? Think again. The Night Furies, Provo’s Quidditch team, is a diverse team made up of fans and athletes alike.

Going on their second year, this season is already setting up to be more serious. The Night Furies have two teams: the tournament team- think varsity- and the practice team- think J.V. Since it’s a pretty complicated sport to learn, the practice team will groom players to play for the tournament team and give those who just want to have fun a less competitive atmosphere.
“It’s a sport, and it’s kind of a hard- difficult sport because there’s four games going on at the same time. There’s the seeker game, there’s the beater game, there’s the chaser game and the keeper game which is a part of that as well,” said team captain Larson Price.

As for tournaments, the team travels a lot for their matches. They are planning to travel to Idaho, Nevada, California and West Virginia (for the World Cup…if they qualify). A lot of the team traveling is self-funded but they also have fundraisers to help cover travel costs. They try to keep expenses as cheap as possible by car pooling and getting cost efficient hotels and food.

Quidditch is officially a community sport team, though lots of people still make fun of it. The team receives flack from outsiders who don’t understand the game.
“People drive by and say, ‘Where’s the snitch Harry?’ all the time,” said Price.

The game is actually extremely athletic. Price, a former UVU Lacrosse player, prefers Quidditch because it’s way cheaper and you still get the collegiate co-ed feel, and a good work out. The game is very tiring and there is a lot of running involved. Every game lasts eighteen minutes, then the snitch is released. The game continues to go on until the snitch is caught, which can run anywhere between 30 seconds and 10 minutes.

So do you have to be a Potterhead to play the game? The answer in no. In fact, Price said, “People who are athletic come out and they play the game and are like, ‘oh, this is fun, I want to keep playing this.’ Then people who love the book are like, ‘oh, I want to go play Quidditch,’ and they come out and they’ll play Quidditch and they’ll show up for two or three weeks. Then they are just like, ‘oh, I get tired.’ So you get kind of this hybrid of both.”

Whether you love Harry Potter and want to hang out with others who share your passion, or you’re a serious athlete, or both (the two are not mutually exclusive you know) the Provo Night Furies have a spot on their team for you! If playing isn’t your style then make sure to catch at least one game, it’s sure to be magical.