EVENTS & HOLIDAYS

Salt Lake City To Host 2021 U.S. Quidditch Cup

Jul 5, 2019, 9:18 AM

Utah Hex and University of Utah students playing as the Crimson Flyers battle during a game of quidditch in this file photo. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – It promises to be a magical sporting event.

The Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City will be hosting the 14th U.S. Quidditch Cup on April 17 – 18, 20201, according to a statement from RAC.

This will be the first time a major quidditch event will be held west of the Rocky Mountains.

“We are thrilled to be the first western host site of the U.S. Quidditch Cup, a one of a kind, exciting event for both players and attendees,” said Chris Laughlin with the Regional Athletic Complex. “The U.S. Quidditch Cup will be a great addition to the wide variety of sporting events hosted at this premier athletic facility and we look forward to introducing quidditch to our region.”

Utah Hex captain Nicholas Burk tries to score against the Crimson Flyers during a Utah quidditch game in Salt Lake City in this file photo. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News) MIDDLEBURY, VT - OCTOBER 26:  Middlebury College hosted the first large Intercollegiate Quidditch Tournament. Twelve teams from around the country traveled to Middlebury College: Princeton University, Vassar College, Louisiana State University, University of Washington, McGill University, University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Chestnut Hill, Emerson College, Green Mountain College, and Ives Pond, a club team from Buffalo, New York. Quidditch, the sport from JK Rowling's Harry Potter books, was adapted into a real-life game which began at Middlebury College in 2005. The sport is a cross between soccer, dodgeball, and rugby. The goalie for Green Mountain College blocks a shot by a player from Ives Pond on Sunday afternoon.  (Photo by Christopher Capozziello/Getty Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 18: The snitch runner poses in their uniform during the Crumpet Cup quidditch tournament on Clapham Common on February 18, 2017 in London, England. Quidditch is the fictional game played by Hogwarts students in JK Rowling's Harry Potter novels.  In 2005 two college students in Vermont created "Muggle Quidditch" to be played on a field for non-magical participants. The sport took off and is now played by  hundreds of teams across the world with a global cup competition every two years. True to the original game two teams of seven players sitting astride "broomsticks". Each team has to advance the quaffle ball to one of three opposing hoops against bludgers who knock out the players. The game is won when the snitch (a tennis ball in a sock) is caught and whoever has the most points wins.  (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) ravis Walker of the Utah Hex rushes to score during a Utah quidditch game in Salt Lake City in this file photo. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News) Utah Hex and University of Utah students playing as the Crimson Flyers battle during a game of quidditch in this file photo. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

The U.S. Quidditch Cup is the national championships for U.S. Quidditch, featuring 84 teams from two divisions: collegiate and community, according to the RAC statement.

Quidditch is a mixed-gender, contact sport played by more than 450 teams worldwide, according to usquidditch.org.

“(Sixty) collegiate teams and 24 community teams will qualify through regional championships and at-large bids and have the opportunity to compete at US Quidditch Cup to be crowned the National Champions in their division,” the website states.

Quidditch is played with seven players to a team all mounted on brooms. Three chasers score goals by putting the quaffle (a volleyball) through any of three hoops at the opposite end of the field. A keeper defends the hoops, while two beaters throw bludgers (dodgeballs) at opposing players to temporarily knock them out of the game. Meanwhile, each team’s seeker tries to catch the snitch: an autonomous yellow-clad athlete who has a tennis ball in a custom-made velcro tail hanging from the back of their shorts, similar to flag football. A game of quidditch ends when the snitch tail is caught, and the capturing seeker’s team is awarded an additional 30 points.

According to RAC, the 2021 event in Salt Lake City is anticipated to draw around 7,000 attendees with a direct estimated economic impact of $2.6 million.

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Salt Lake City To Host 2021 U.S. Quidditch Cup