How To Play Muggle Quidditch: The Players

The imaginary game Quidditch, invented by J.K. Rowling for her popular Harry Potter series, is finding a home in the real world on college campuses across North America.

This is part two of a series of articles explaining the rules of Muggle Quidditch. To learn about the balls and equipment you'll need, please read part one: Getting Started.

In order to play Muggle Quidditch, you need two teams with at least 7 players each. (10-14 players per team is recommended, to allow substitutions.) You also need one extra player, the Snitch Runner, and one or more referees.

As in Harry Potter's Quidditch, the teams are divided as follows:

• 1 Keeper
• 1 Seeker
• 2 Beaters
• 3 Chasers

The Keeper's job is to defend his team's hoops and prevent the other team's Chasers from throwing the Quaffle through them.

Most Keepers stay near the hoops in an area called the Keeper Safety Zone. Within the Keeper Safety Zone, Keepers:

• can throw, carry, or kick the Quaffle
• are immune to Bludgers
• cannot have the ball stolen from them while they are in sole possession

Outside the Keeper Safety Zone, Keepers are subject to the same rules as Chasers.

The Seeker is the most famous Quidditch position because it's the position Harry Potter plays.

The goal of the Seeker is to Snatch the Snitch from the Snitch Runner. Seekers cannot touch any other game ball.

Seekers are not allowed to assault or block the Snitch Runner in an attempt to capture the Snitch. If the Snitch Runner falls down, game play is paused until he or she can get back up. Any Snatches in which the Snitch Runner is knocked to the ground or tripped are not counted.

A Quidditch Team has two Beaters. The goal of the Beaters is to hit opposing players with the Bludgers. Beaters can hit opposing players of any type with the Bludgers, including Chasers, Seekers, other Beaters, and any Keepers outside of the Keeper Safety Zone.

Any player struck by a Bludger (except Keepers within the Keeper Safety Zone) must immediately drop any ball he or she is holding and return to his or her team's goal zone to circle once arond it. This is called the Knockout Rule. Until the circle of the goal zone is complete, the player is out of play and cannot interact with any other players or balls in any way.

Unlike other players, Beaters are allowed to catch Bludgers thrown at them by the opposing team. If they successfully catch the Bludger, the Knockout Rule does not take effect and the Beater can remain in play. Beaters can also deflect incoming Bludgers with any Bludgers they are carrying, and pass Bludgers to friendly Beaters.

Beaters can carry Bludgers for as long as they want, but can only kick it once at a time. After kicking a Bludger, Beaters must pick a Bludger up and carry it before they are allowed to kick again.

There are three Chasers on a Quidditch team. The goal of the Chasers is to throw the Quaffle through the opposing team's hoop goals in order to score 10 points.

Chasers can carry the Quaffle as long as they want, pass it to friendly Chasers, and attempt to steal it from opposing Chasers. They can use it to block incoming Bludgers, but can not kick it more than once without picking it up and carrying it first.

Chasers must throw the Quaffle from at least one foot outside the other team's Goal Zone to score.

The final player you need to play Muggle Quidditch is the Snitch Runner.

In the Harry Potter books, the Snitch is a small golden ball enchanted to fly away from the Seekers. Would-be Muggle Quidditch players have tried many different methods of duplicating the capricious randomness of the magical Snitch, from rubber bouncy balls to remote controlled cars.

The most successful is the human Snitch Runner devised by the Middlebury College Quidditch team. The Snitch Runner carries the Snitch in a long sock tucked into his or her shorts like a tail, and uses every legal method possible to evade the Seekers. The capture of the Snitch ends the game.

Snitch Runners receive a head start before the rest of the players are allowed to begin the game and have a much wider field of play than the other players. (Exactly how wide depends on where you are playing - make sure it is well defined before the start of the game to avoid misunderstandings.) Snitch Runners can hide behind bushes or buildings (though generally not inside them), flip capes over player's heads, taunt and even foul the Seekers (within reason), and use acrobatic somersaults and handsprings to get away.

The ideal Snitch Runner is an extremely fast, agile runner, preferably with a background in cross country running or soccer. If nobody is available with sufficient endurance to run steadily for up to an hour, you can use more than one Snitch Runner and switch off as necessary. Many successful Snitch Runners also have some background in wrestling or gymnastics to help them safely foul or evade the Seekers, and a clownish streak adds to the game's fun.

Beginning Quidditch leagues might start with only one referee, but a total of four is recommended. Their duties are as follows:

Commissioner: Announce the start of the game, coordinate matches, recruit team members, and act as the leader of the team or league.

Head Referee: Observes play and calls fouls as appropriate, announces the return of the Snitch Runner to the field.

Goal Referees: Ideally one for each goal zone. Goal refs stand behind the goal hoops and announce whether each shot is a goal or a miss.