Canada takes bronze in international Quidditch tournament

CTV Vancouver: International Quidditch tournament The best of the best from around the world competed at a Qudditch tournament in Burnaby.

The magical sport of Quidditch made the leap from the pages of Harry Potter to the field in Burnaby this weekend.

Seven teams from around the world gathered to take part in the biennial Quidditch Global Games in Burnaby Saturday.

Hugh Podmore of Team Canada said real-life Quidditch players face many questions about their sport of choice.

"You tell somebody you play Quidditch you'll typically get asked one of two things: One is, 'Do you really fly?' and the other one would be 'Wait, how does the snitch work? Do you have a flying golden ball?'"

While there is no magic golden ball as is the case in J.K. Rowling’s fictional world, the snitch ball is represented by a golden person. One of the game’s goals is to grab the beanie from that ‘golden’ person’s back. Since it first began, the sport’s rulebook has changed eight times.

Rebecca McLaughlin of Team United Kingdom said the sport is an combination of several more conventional sports.

“It’s rugby meets basketball meets dodgeball with some wrestling in the middle,” she said.

The sport was first played on a university campus in Vermont and thousands of players now take part in the sport acrorss North America including at the University of British Columbia.

“In the beginning I think our generation was the one that grew up with Harry Potter so just finding a way to bring that part of our childhood to life was special,” said Katie Stack of Team U.S.A.

Other Quidditch players had no history with the Harry Potter book series before joining the sport.

“I’ve never seen the movies I did not grow up with Harry Potter,” said longtime Quidditch player Tad Walters. “When I came to college I really wanted to play a contact sport and so I saw Quidditch and I was like, ‘Hey why not?’ And since then I’ve been hooked.”

Though these players won’t get more than a few inches off the ground Podmore said the energy and excitement gives players a sense of magic.

“Once you get out there it feels like you’re flying.”

Team U.S.A. took the gold medal, Team Australia earned silver, and Team Canada earned bronze.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts