Many teachers look to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series for inspiration, but few have taken her ideas quite so literally.
It was recently reported that a PE teacher at a Welsh comprehensive was so desperate to get his pupils exercising that he organised a real-life Quidditch tournament.
A few changes were necessary to the original game, though: the pupils play indoors, for a start, and they don’t fly around on broomsticks. The Welsh variant of “muggle Quidditch” also has no seeker, Harry Potter’s favoured position. But attacking chasers still attempt to put the quaffle (ball) into the goal while coming under fire from defending beaters, who hurl bludgers at them.
The game is a mixture of dodgeball and handball. “When playing, standing still is not an option as doing so will certainly catch the eye of a beater and a bludger will be heading your way.
“This means that players are always on the go, unlike in other sports where players are sometimes not involved in the game,” Mr Vale told The Guardian.
Mr Vale’s version of the game is based on American adaptations, although he simplified the rules. The American variation often uses a human snitch, usually a cross-country runner, who roams freely around campus and can be captured by a seeker to win the game. An Intercollegiate Quidditch Association was set up in Vermont in 2007.
