Vernon鈥檚 Polson Park oval was transformed into a quidditch pitch for the Quadball Western Regionals Saturday, Nov. 11.
Inspired by the sport depicted in the Harry Potter books and movies, quidditch, also known as quadball, is a sport that combines elements of rugby, basketball and dodgeball.
The Vancouver Vanguards, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the Alberta Clippers (made up of players from Edmonton and Calgary) competed in round robin play Saturday, seeking a high seed in the national championships, which will take place in March. Meanwhile, the Eastern Regionals will be held in Oshawa, Ont. next weekend.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been a sport for 10 plus years now and what we鈥檙e working towards is a championship,鈥� said tournament director Katie Doyle, who served as a referee during match play Saturday.
There are several different positions in quidditch. The chasers throw a volleyball through one of the opposing team鈥檚 hoops to score 10 points for their team. The beaters throw one of three dodge balls at the opposing team to temporarily knock them out of play and make them return to their hoops. If a player is hit by a beater, they must drop the ball they are holding.
Meanwhile, the keepers are guarding their team鈥檚 hoops from the opposing chasers, and the seekers (Harry Potter鈥檚 position in the books and movies) are out trying to catch the yellow flag runner to score points, instead of a flying golden snitch. The flag runner is released at the 20-minute mark of regulation play, and from that point on there are two ways to end the game: either the snitch is caught or one team reaches a set score.
Tourism Vernon put in a bid to host the Western Regionals, and Doyle said the city has been great a great host.
鈥淕enerally teams are the ones that place bids for big events like this, but Vernon decided that they wanted to host us, so we鈥檝e done site visits, we鈥檝e been here checking out the fields 鈥� and it鈥檚 been great, we feel very accommodated,鈥� Doyle said. 鈥淰ernon鈥檚 done a great job welcoming us all and making us feel really appreciated for our weird niche sport.鈥�
In the first match of the day, the Clippers beat the Thunderbirds 210 to 10; then the Vanguard beat the Clippers 165 to 20; the Vanguard went on to defeat the Thunderbirds 200 to 95; the Clippers then triumphed over the Thunderbirds 160 to 35; Vanguard then beat the Thunderbirds 230 to 45; the Clippers edged the Vanguard 100 to 95; and the Vanguard then got revenge on the Clippers with a 145 to 30 victory.
After all the action, the Vanguard were named Western Regional champions.
READ MORE: Quidditch western regionals at play in Vernon
READ MORE: Eight days after his brother鈥檚 death, Nelson鈥檚 Riel Martinez wins boxing title
