Students compete in the ultimate wizardry of match-ups
By Maria Riegel, Special Writer
Despite South Brunswick winning state championships in several sports this year, Harry Potter and his crew need not worry when it comes to the premiere game at Hogwarts.
South Brunswick High School’s Renaissance Club held its third annual Quidditch Tournament on March 8 in the high school’s main gymnasium.
”This was our third year of Quidditch,” Renaissance club member Brendan McCann said. “It’s our annual fundraiser.”
Quidditch is a game played in the Harry Potter novels and films, but unlike the big screen version, players definitely had their feet on the ground.
The game is a combination of polo, soccer, rugby and hockey with a bit of basketball thrown in, performed on magic brooms.
While the supply of good, flying magical brooms is sadly lacking, an organization called the International Quidditch Association formed in 2005 to bring the fictional game into the real world, according to the organization’s website.
Students in colleges and high schools across the country can now participate in the game and even compete with other institutions.
The website provides a comprehensive rule book for the game that explains how it is played and how the scoring works.
Eight teams consisting of SBHS students and teachers from each grade competed in the tournament.
The green team was named “Snitches Love Sosa,” the turquoise team was named “Grande’s Army,” the white team was named “The Committee,” the black team was named “Siriusily Black,” the blue team was named “The Prisoner’s of SBHS,” the red team was named “Team America,” the purple team was named “Dumbledore’s Army,” and the gray team did not have a name.
There were 11 matches, with the final match pitting the gray team against Snitches Love Sosa, who won the day.
Film fan favorites Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and non-alcoholic Butter Beer were sold at the event.
In addition, Dumbledore’s Army, a club that has members with an interest in Harry Potter, sold baked goods.
According to Brendan, the funds from the $5 door charge to get in to Quidditch are used to run an annual paraprofessional luncheon.
”We raised about $1,000 in profit from Quidditch this year,” Brendan said.
Brendan said that crowd spirit decreased this year but the amount of participants’ increased.
”We had a lot of participants this year, but less fans,” Brendan said.

