Broomsticks, dodgeballs and volleyballs flew around Kingsmen Park Nov. 1 during Student Life Outdoor Recreation’s first game of Quidditch. The event was part of the bi-weekly Afternoon Adventures series.

“Muggle Quidditch” resembles rugby, tag and capture the flag all in one game. The end goal is to win with the most points. Volleyballs are thrown into hoops and dodgeballs are thrown at other players to prevent them from scoring. If you catch the “snitch,” you win the entire game. The snitch is a ball that is attached to the waistband of a player who is not a member of either team, according to the U.S. Quidditch website.

Coordinator of Recreational Sports and Wellness Ryan Kolter said this event is exciting because students are able to be active, have fun, run around with friends and make new connections.

“We sort of wanted to experiment and try our hand at Quidditch and just kind of provide an opportunity for students to experience that, because they probably haven’t had the chance to do that from a campus perspective before,” Kolter said.

Nearly 10 California Lutheran University students showed up to play. However, the rules of Quidditch require two teams of seven.

Sophomore A.J. Nybo has never played Quidditch before, but said it is an opportunity to try something new and have some fun.

“[Also] an intramural would be fun if we would get people out here and maybe get a couple people playing against each other, that’d be cool,” Nybo said.

University of Southern California Los Angeles and University of Texas are some of the many colleges that have an official Quidditch team.

Outdoor Recreation Student Intern Cameron Mendez said she hopes this is something in store for the future of Cal Lutheran.

“Hopefully Outdoor Rec and these Afternoon Adventures can perhaps start a club if people are more interested in it because it is actually a club at a lot of schools,” Mendez said.

Students are able to submit other activity ideas for Afternoon Adventures by dropping by the Wellness Resource office in the Student Union or reaching out by email.

“Everyone is always busy, but to just take 20 minutes out to be a part of the campus culture and participate in the fun thing that fellow students, that staff, that your professors have taken time to put on for you—it’s for you,” Kolter said.

The next Afternoon Adventure is the rock climbing event Nov. 15. from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Leanna Kontos
Reporter