The Hofstra University Quidditch Team, The Flying Dutchmen
Photo Courtesy of Alanna Boland
J.K. Rowling’s multibillion-dollar book and movie franchise, “Harry Potter,” has inspired multiple attractions at Universal Studios theme park, and more recently, a Broadway show. But students longing for a more immersive, accessible “wizarding world” experience may find it right here at Hofstra.
Quidditch, the once-fictional sport invented in the universe of Harry Potter, has been recognized as a club sport at Hofstra since 2010. The team’s official name is the Flying Dutchmen.
Rather than riding on flying broomsticks, real-life quidditch players run while holding a pole between their legs that resembles the weight of a broomstick. There are three goals set up at each end of a quidditch field, and there are four balls involved in the game – a quaffle, which is a volleyball, and three bludgers, which are partially deflated dodgeballs.
There are five positions in quidditch: chaser, beater, keeper, seeker and snitch. Chasers aim to get quaffles through the goals, beaters throw bludgers at the opposing team in order to distract them, keepers are goalies and seekers try to capture the opposing team’s snitch. Getting a quaffle through a goal scores a team 10 points, and hitting someone with a bludger temporarily takes them out of the game.
The Flying Dutchmen’s executive board consists of President Monzerrath Mendoza, a junior sociology major; Vice President Jonathan Fidis, a senior history and criminology major; Treasurer Liam Roeth, a sophomore computer science major; Secretary/Public Relations Chair Lizbeth Peralta, an English and fine arts major; and Field Coach Andrew Alter, a senior political science major.
The team usually holds e-board elections in December, but they recently held one on Monday, Oct. 14. At the time, two positions were left unfilled after the club’s former president and secretary/public relations chair stepped down. The current e-board may be temporary, since the team will hold elections again in December.
According to Mendoza, transitioning to a new e-board mid-semester may seem like a big adjustment, but so far it has gone smoothly.
“Now I have a complete e-board – everybody knows what they are supposed to be doing and [are] doing the very best [they] can,” Mendoza said.
Quidditch is played by hundreds of college teams around the world, and if a team meets certain qualifications, it can be recognized by United States Quidditch (USQ), the quidditch national governing body. USQ runs regional and national competitions, in which only officially recognized teams are eligible to compete.
According to the USQ website, teams that seek official recognition need at least seven members per team, with each member paying a $60 fee.
“We’re not official, unfortunately, even though we paid the fee,” Peralta said.
“We have enough people, but we don’t have enough interest in tournaments. Technically, we would be official if we put everyone’s names in the roster, but we’re not going to place people in that position if they don’t want to be in the tournaments.”
Peralta also said team membership “has slowly been going downhill” over the past few years.
“When quidditch first started out, Harry Potter was all the rage and people thought it seemed really cool – but now the hype is dying down. In the past, there were also a lot more athletic people who wanted to join. A lot of people in other sports wanted to do this because it was both nerdy and sporty – now, for some reason, people get this misconception that quidditch is not athletic and [they] are wrong.”
Peralta added that even if the team did have enough members to participate in a tournament, they may not be able to physically get there.
“Tournaments are mostly out of state – for example, the regionals [were] in Rhode Island this year – and [there are] problems with transportation since not a lot of us have cars.”
Mendoza said the team “can play in unofficial tournaments,” but they “cannot compete in regionals” or play against “any officially recognized teams.”
So far, the team has not played any games this semester – official or unofficial – and they have not yet planned any for the future.
Despite their recent setbacks, Mendoza is optimistic about the future of the team.
“I grew up in a community that was very close, and when I got to Hofstra it was like there was nobody that could relate to me,” Mendoza said.
“[Quidditch] gave me people that I really do love and it kind of gave me a home. It’s given me so much that I would feel horrible not doing everything in my power to bring it back up to what it used to be – or at least up to something that I can pass on to the next generation.”
Alter, the field coach, echoed this sentiment of friendship.
“I’ve made some good friends over the years,” Alter said.
“Doing it for four years, [I’ve met] a lot of people who I otherwise would not have met. Friendship is probably the biggest thing I’ve gained from this sport.”
Fidis said he was originally drawn to the sport because he was a fan of Harry Potter and was “looking for a way to work out that was not going to the gym.”
“I came because I was interested in the game, but then I stayed because the people were awesome,” he said.
The Flying Dutchmen hold three practices a week: Wednesdays from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., Fridays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Their Wednesday and Friday practices are on the Intramural Fields and their Sunday practices are on the field next to the fitness center.
Students do not have to complete a tryout to join the team, and can join at any point during the school year. Those interested in contacting the team can email [email protected].
