Muggle Quidditch in 2 minutes

It is incredible to me that I still get notifications from this video, and that it's still one of the most watched "how do you quidditch?" explainers on YT. "Muggle quidditch" has changed considerably since 2012, and this is in many many ways not the best material to learn about it. A few years too late, I would like to update this description to offer more up to date and useful information to anyone who stops here.
Some useful references:
iqasport.org/ International Quadball Association, the international body foreseeing quadball/quidditch
iqasport.org/a... handy directory of national organizations or nations where something quadball-related is happening
• How to Play Quadball probably the best updated resource on how the game is played at the time of writing; note that this is based on the US Quadball ruleset which differs from the international one slightly, notably starting procedure and endgame rules
If you're curious to try I warmly encourage you to get in touch with a nearby team, your country's National Governing Body, the IQA. Or even reach out to me, I'm always happy to help!
---
For some background, I am arguably the person who brought real-life quidditch to Italy in 2012. This video complete with Italian subtitles, as well as a translation of the rules at the time - I believe the first ever translation - were my 2 weapons of choice along with a FB page to find other crazy people to join me. All footage used here was taken from this documentary by then International Quidditch Association, now US Quadball: • Video . No quidditch had been played in Italy yet, and very little in Europe... or anywhere outside of Northern America really.
Today (2023) many countries have active teams, we've had national teams play 5 World Cups, 4 European Games, and 2 Pan-American Games, Europe plays 2 yearly club level continental competitions. About a year ago the US spearheaded a name change to "quadball" which is meant primarily to gain independence and legitimacy. (Long story short, our survival so far is in no small part thanks to Warner Bros' saying: as long as you make no money we're ok with it.) The growth has slowed considerably in recent years but it continues.
To anyone who has left, and will leave, disparaging comments I can probably say nothing to change your mind. I can offer what I have lived in these years, do of it what you will.
Quidditch, or quadball, however you'd like to call it, is a very interesting sport to play. Your team plays the same sport but also 3 very different ones at the same time, and they have to work together if you want to win. I have played several sports but never found the same mix, and it keeps being fascinating. There's room for competition as well as casual goofing around, and all sorts of people join us. I've known sports fiends who joined to have a laugh and dunk on nerds, who are still around now. As well, we have plenty of bookworms who had never done a minute of sport in their life who now work out, train, learn tactics, and love competitive play.
I've played in 10 or so countries, met people from all over some of which are still among my best friends, met my now wife - who stopped playing before I ever started, but that's another story and shall be told another time. I've co-founded and chaired a small national sports organization, started a team, captained and coached a national team, helped organize tournaments including a World Cup (as small as my contribution was)...
None of this might be extraordinary, but it's been a big part of my life for almost a dozen years, and most of it was FUN. It's by far not the only interest or even the only sport for me, but current me would be a little worse off without it, and likely a different person.
More on theme with some of the comments. Yes, we are (mostly) aware it can look dumb. We care relatively little. It's a genuinely interesting, challenging, and competitive sport. Most people who play it nowadays take it seriously enough, at the same time most of them know that when your sport requires a stick between your legs it's a good reminder not to take everything too seriously. Especially when it's all about running after a few balls on a field, or watching someone else do it.
Try it, don't try it, like it, don't like it. It won't upend our lives or yours. Might make it more fun though.

[@lizardlenny]

No rules being a snitch? I'd just jump in my car and let the game play on forever.

[@quidditchinzurich8720]

+Stuart Gibbons One Snitch did exactly this. And since them there is there a rule against that. :)

[@netspider86]

Like +Quidditch in Zürich says. Also Zürich folks, did you actually start a team in Zürich?!

[@quidditchinzurich8720]

netspider86 We are trying to ^^ At the moment we are 3 Organisators plus 5 People who played once. But we are growing. Maybe we can really start calling us a team/community in January 2016. As soon as we got 14 People we can call us the best Team in Switzerland ;)

[@Levoid1]

:]]]

[@SchokiKatze]

+Quidditch in Zürich Das ist jetzt fast ein Jahr her, habt ihr nun eine volle Mannschaft? :D

[@justinlawlor1924]

😂 I was told this would be hilarious to watch, I was not disappointed.

[@myacidninjatheamazing1025]

Someone mentioned it'd be hilarious on tiktok

[@jaylety4214]

Jimmy rees 😂

[@RectifyCo]

Jimmy 😂😂😂

[@Ghahu]

this is so fucking ridicilous i love it

[@netspider86]

Pretty much how I got into it. Have been playing for 1.5 years now and it's becoming more and more interesting!

[@CollieFlow3r]

I am the UK Head Snitch and will be snitching at the next World Cup. Being a snitch is awesome!! I love playing tricks on the seekers :D they can be so thick sometimes. I sat in the crowd one time and they had no idea where was (I was in disguise)

[@amamiyakarin33]

LOL

[@danielthebookaddict3041]

Nicole Stone i would love to play seeker but i cant find any middle school teams in my area

[@LhytSix]

That's hilarious! Good job snitch :P

[@BrookieMacc]

Nicole Stone LMAO THATS GREAT I wanna be the snitch so bad now😂😂

[@GTG1821]

"What are these Muggles up to ??? THEY ARE RUNNING ON A BROOM THAT CAN'T FLY ??? AND WHERE'S THE FCKING SNITCH????" -Dumbledore asked calmly-

[@jerona]

Kinda crazy how this is worldcup and the girl at 00:45 doesn't even dismount her broom after being beat. I hate when players do that, they need to be carded so hard xD

[@Independentfellow]

the biggest problem I see with this game is the pointless brooms held between the players' legs. In the books it is their conveyance, but here it makes the players seem immature, undignified, and discreditable. Obviously my opinion is not universal, as there are people willing to be seen playing this in public. Whatever get these (adults in most cases) outside and running around I guess. If this puts a smile on your face, go for it.

[@aizatnazeri3863]

It's to make the.players to hold the balls with only one hand to make it more difficult

[@danielthebookaddict3041]

Independentfellow it is more difficult with one hand

[@kastro4460]

I play Quidditch and I can confirm what they said, getting a ball while running is hard, you either use one hand or squeeze you legs a bit to use the two. If you broom falls, it's the same as getting hit by a bludger, back to the hoops

[@oncerpotter3272]

Seriously guys, If you are commenting on this fantastic video like " what the fuck is this?" Then why are you even watching this. And secondly, if you haven't read the books or watch the movies of Harry Potter then that explains why. And besides Quidditch is a brilliant sport that gives a lot action. And to @MordecaiVertecimes comment, the points are like that. That's how its like in the books and the films.

[@safirak7988]

This is so AWESOME!!!

[@EmilyA1984]

That's a good way to do Quidditch, but I have a question--if you're organizing a Quidditch match between, say, two schools, then do you have to find a third party who doesn't attend either school, to be the Snitch? Because, if it was between School A and School B, and the Snitch person attended School A, then he or she is obviously going to be loyal to School A, and (maybe even subconsciously) try harder to run away from the School B players.

[@netspider86]

There is a growing contingent of dedicated Snitch Runners especially in the biggest quidditch countries. If you cannot afford to do that, a good solution is alternating between A and B for snitching. It needs to be pointed out that generally snitches who have at least a minimum level of skills pride themselves in being unbiased and making it as hard as possible on both teams to catch them.

[@UndeadKiev007]

Cyprien !

[@danielgarfias1559]

I wanna be the snitch

[@amamiyakarin33]

I'd be a snitch if i wasn't so extremley slow

[@Narendersingh-id5ng]

@@amamiyakarin33 i hope you are snitch after 5 years now

[@robjapan]

I like everything but the broom thing is silly. I think the snitch is awesome but maybe it would be better if it was a ball handing from a drone that flew above the playing field?

[@netspider86]

The broom thing is... controversial. It started as a silly thing the first times they tried playing. It still sticks around for "tradition" so to speak, but really because it's a self imposed handicap such as e.g. hitting the ball with a stick (field hockey). It's different from "you can only use one hand" because the requirement is just "don't drop the fucken stick" so you could control it either with hands or legs. As for the snitch, it would be another thing entirely. Nowadays snitching looks more like this (2.bp.blogspot.com/-TzUeExC_jZQ/UYUoK16LkaI/AAAAAAAABI0/S2H7EpikviI/s640/snitch-iqa.jpg) than what you see in the video - I should really update it somehow! So yes one could argue the drone thing would be better, but I/we alll feel like this fits the rest of the game much more. Picture 12 people playing a contact sport tackling each other all around the field, while the remaining two run around looking up and waving their arms in the air; we already have enough ridiculous elements as it is, we should probably not add more :P

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

@@netspider86 Imagine this in weightlessness in orbit? Brooms can also have thrusters installed in them. Would be pretty realistic.

[@4Corry]

Hey well at least the muggle version has a reasonable snitch score instead of a score so ridiculous that the rest of the game is practically pointless.

[@ellesmameldr5890]

This is amazing xD

[@CoolMonkey-je5ly]

I love HP. I've read all the books (except the spin offs) seen all the films, listened to the audio books, been to the theme park and going to the new one in October. ever since I saw philosopher/ sorcerer's stone I've wanted to be a wizard and fly on brooms. but I think this is SAD. my schools putting a game on and you can sign up but I'm not gonna cos it just feels like the saddest thing ever.

[@MicheleClabassi]

Well, up to you. As someone who's being playing for almost four years I can say: if you're looking for something like LARP, or something that is as close as possible to the fantasy version, probably not for you. If you enjoy several sports in general, specifically contact sports (in more developed countries at least), it'll surprise you if you give it a try, AND you'll find a sport where most people share several of your passions. :)

[@tobehonestidontknow2844]

Jax Dagger fuck you

[@tobehonestidontknow2844]

CoolMonkey2641 thats fine but it. Seems like fun

[@joeybray6269]

Jax Dagger she said it's not like LARP dumb ass

[@thepurpleflute9740]

Over half of this video is about the snitch. I don't particularly like that this undermines all the other players that are not snitch nor seeker (and I've been a snitch/seeker player in Mid-Atlantic for 4 years now). At first, I was intensely disappointed about the lose of off-pitch snitching, but at this point I find that this sacrifice has made this sport more respectable to those who already have a hard time getting over that we're on brooms. There is now a more competitive atmosphere to Quidditch that I absolutely love and I think nowadays the other 7 positions outside of snitching (the people who are actually competing) have gained much more recognition now more than ever; particularly, I find, the beaters are the most important. It doesn't matter how agile, big, focused a seeker is-- the slightest tap of a bludger could make this player lose the game. I am a gold-ranked snitch(bitch), and beaters are the gods of the game.

[@netspider86]

I was a fan of losing off-pitch seeking from before it was suggested, so absolutely loved it from the start, hehe. It's fun to look back at this and realise how much snitching and the seeker position have changed and become more focused on competition. I may miss snitch tricks from time to time (e.g. hiding in plain sight with some sort of disguise is brilliant) but we can always keep those for unofficial games. And as a part time beater I agree, I am curious to see if tactics will develop enough that we can get a balance matched up from good chasing + mediocre beating VS mediocre chasing + good beating, whereas nowadays the latter has a definite advantage.

[@gracefields2279]

Next all they need is the triwizard tournament!!!

[@Bedhed47]

Very cool. Dont see why they have to have brooms though

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

Can't they use some drone as a snitch?

[@parvitz]

not chaotic enough

[@gizzybm9785]

i love this video cuz we had to wright a report on a weird sport and this expaind the rules in 2 mins

[@MicheleClabassi]

Heads up that these rules are by now fairly outdated. Still gives you a good idea of the sport, but the snitch in particular now is much more limited to on-pitch play and is less whimsical, more evading seekers and throwing them around.

[@gizzybm9785]

@@MicheleClabassi omg thanks sooooooo much i would have defonitally failed if not for u

[@gizzybm9785]

@@MicheleClabassi tnx soooooooooo much

[@netspider86]

My first reaction too really. And second, and third... But turns out it's cool!

[@mugglesarecooltoo]

What do you do if the snitch takes your broom?

[@netspider86]

Hey sorry never got around to comment this. You get it back, run back to your hoops, remount the broom and then you can come back into play. Though if the snitch takes your broom he needs to make sure to take your opposing seeker too, and not hold it for long.

[@mugglesarecooltoo]

netspider86 So he can't just steal one person's broom then? He needs to take both?

[@netspider86]

mugglesarecooltoo More or less: it's more a guideline than a rule though

[@Holzawaffle]

I can't decide who I am in Qudditch! First I wanted to be Seeker. Then Chaser. In Muggle Qudditch, Snitch or Beater.

[@gregM49]

Sans déconner, ils se rendent pas compte de l'air bien débile qu'ils ont à courir en tenant un balais entre les jambes? Les mêmes règles sans le balais, c'est possible?

[@melanieb8578]

Ce n'est pas vraiment un sport tiré d'Harry Potter sinon ;)

[@melanieb8578]

Mais par contre, ça doit pas être très pratique :/

[@ann-lc5lt]

Wait there really is Muggle Quidditch? Where Have I been in my life!

[@MicheleClabassi]

Yes been around a while, if you're in Northern America, Europe or Oceania especially it's quite likely you can find a team near(-ish) you or go watch an event. But it's growing elsewhere too! This video is also a little outdated in a few ways, it's getting more "serious" a little bit at a time, and top level gameplay is more interesting, even if it's hard to find good footage to get an idea.

[@mystaee2914]

If i was a snitch, i'd get a bunch of friends, wear masks, yellow shirts, and just sit in the crowd seeing who could find me first.

[@zebjensen4251]

well that was actual a unicycal but close enough.

[@lilielilili]

I play this game on a camp... Its fun !!

[@netspider86]

Siamo e sempre saremo in cerca di boccini per i tornei giocati in Italia, assicurati di tenerti al passo col quidditch italiano seguendo la pagina Facebook di Italia Quidditch! :)

[@madisonh.9944]

The snitch is pretty much god on the field I died😂

[@conchiherrera6756]

Es facil???

[@conchiherrera6756]

Truco ir siempre a por la snitch

[@ij1302]

"Riding bicycles"😂😂😂

[@onurhanekmekci4786]

Why they don't use drones for snitch ? It can be look very real.

[@jaceseldom8236]

Geeks have inherited the earth!

[@Klindir]

XDDDDD THIS BIG FAN FICTION AHAH love it i want to play Galactic soccer too and basket like Kuroko.

[@amamiyakarin33]

Kuroko Tetsuya? Thank you anime friend (I think)

[@Klindir]

Yes Kurookoo

[@omega_9995]

Cyprien a raison...

[@corneliu8827]

the only thing that bums is that the Bludgers don't fly _automatically_ . what a shame.

[@electro_yellow9295]

This is sad

[@netspider86]

You can try! Only need to find an event where they need snitches, or there are snitch academies every now and then :)

[@netspider86]

Hahaha, where are you from? Maybe there is a team near you and you can try and decide!

[@conchiherrera6756]

Parece divertido

[@dom-nx9ik]

Rip 1:59 ;-;

[@laurasingleton8846]

"The snitch is pretty much god."

[@eeshsinger]

instead of using brooms why not use cars that would be epic

[@mansfaye1084]

Cyprien

[@MordecaiXLII]

Why are you keeping this stupid points system of 10/30 ? Even if it's not like 10/150, it's still equally stupid to have only multiples of ten...

[@AssItalianaQuidditch]

+Mordecai Vertecimes "Tradition" :P

[@netspider86]

Allora suggerimento: inizia col passare sulla pagina di Italia Quidditch su Facebook!

[@netspider86]

@GiannaLuciaVittoria Allora ti direi di passare sulla pagina di Facebook se già non ci sei ;)

[@Makenzyfly]

what's song in it pls?

[@moosoor]

The first song is the theme from transformers beast machines and the second is flight of the bumblebee

[@1525aaamz]

Riding by circles

[@KsVideocracy]

una buffonata.

[@trentcameron3999]

Can seekers tackle snitches?

[@MicheleClabassi]

No, the only contact they can initiate is breaking free from the snitch's arms. They are allowed limited contact between each other but no tackling (you can only tackle a player in possession of a ball, and seekers are only in possession of the ball when catching the snitch which stops play). By the way, this video is now several iterations of the sports ago (footage is from 2010, the 5th year of life of quidditch as a real sport). It has changed quite a lot! The best look into current quidditch - recently rebranded as quadball - is probably this video by US Quadball: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYq2qWRqZbOooMU. The international rules differ in a few places, notably the starting procedure and the endgame (in the US there is a set score to reach which may or may not involve a snitch catch, in most of the world there is always a snitch catch and you only play overtime to a set score if the team who caught is still behind after that).

[@JafetJuradoDiaz]

LOL

[@MississaugaMissions]

........no. just no.

[@pigurl3.145]

Riding bicycles 😂

[@netspider86]

Bike snitch is awesome :P

[@LenkuDisur]

Wtf on a bike wow

[@johnmcclane2401]

I found this hilarious. I'd love to be a Golden Snitch. Dressed up in all gold silk.

[@snowskyr7097]

This is Wrf

[@itsacruzthing_6014]

Ik a highschool that has this

[@katiearbuckle9017]

O3O I will train only Snitches in my family when I become a mother.

[@EmmaBonn96]

I'd prefer to hit the dodgeball with a stick

[@annd725]

VOGLIO FARE IL BOCCINO D'ORO!

[@ye3m]

😂 I am so confused at what I just saw, anybody want to hire a snitch?

[@3rdcontact]

snitches get stitches

[@mayajade9428]

GO RAVENCLAW WOOP WOOP

[@AlfaRossa88]

this is truly caghin'pett ;))))

[@jacewallace6529]

*becomes snitch* I AM ALMIGHTY!!! XD

[@love4glam]

voglio giocare!!!!!!!!!!

[@elizabethotoole1840]

Bruh I want to play

[@marianam833]

Finally a sport I like

[@justsazza]

holy shit I want to be a snitch so bad hahaah

[@leandrobatista9504]

Não véi!!!🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ Tem retaradado pra tudo!😂😂😂

[@jadewildman1731]

I want to be a snitch

[@ガリバルディ-k1v]

newsbreakやってて気になって見にきた日本人学生いませんか？？

[@miguelblanco9072]

¿DAFUQ???

[@WCalpha]

oO Omg !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@maximehutin106]

just one question . . . WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT ? Stop drug , it's bad for health . . .

[@SubwayOffishal]

Lmao, stop drug

[@Netherspawn_Spn_Of_Netherspawn]

just sad

[@LecceTabletopConclave]

facebook.com/groups/882646731761926/ Squadra Salentina!

[@excalibur1801]

WTF xD

[@AlisonRobin]

im a snitch :)

[@maxitevez8990]

Virgin forever!

[@netspider86]

Yeeeeea.... I can pretty much grant it's not the case... as a starter every team has girls by the rules... :P

[@dariobassi318]

netspider86 virgin and friendzoned,yeah!

[@netspider86]

Dario Bassi if you say so... last time I checked I had a year-and-a-half long (and still in progress) relationship and a steady job, but maybe I'm just dreaming ;)

[@netspider86]

Getting close to 5 and getting married next year, but hey you probably know better than me

[@sarahermellin3640]

what the fuck

[@shinobi99w]

This is cringy

[@lolerr]

Then why would you click on this video?

[@eda6907]

Hilarious

[@laurasingleton8846]

"The snitch is pretty much god."

[@luisgaitan1823]

Why no one reply this, lol

[@MARK-gp9hb]

**day 100, still looking for the snitch, he's out there and just thinking about it terrifies me, yesterday he stole my broom and tackled me**

[@zchr15t1anx]

What the fuck