5th Annual Quidditch World Cup Coming To Randall's Island This Weekend
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A sport from the pages of "Harry Potter" will come to life in New York City this weekend.
The Fifth Annual Quidditch World Cup is coming to Randall's Island.
This year, 94 teams from around 27 states and four countries will face-off for the coveted World Cup Trophy.
The game, which got its start in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont, has been reworked from the fictional version so "muggles" could play it in real life.
In the "Harry Potter" series players compete on flying broomsticks but in this weekend's games they will run with brooms between their legs.
The basic rules of the rugby-dodgeball-tag hybrid are the same as in the series: teams consist of three chasers, three beaters, one keeper and one seeker.
The object of the game is to capture the "snitch" which in the fictional version is a golden ball with wings.
The snitch in the World Cup is a human who is the only player without a broom. There a no rules for the snitch whose only goal is to avoid being caught by the seeker.
Leah Farrar, Director of Media Relations at International Quidditch Association, says the sport is "full contact and co-ed."
"One of the fun things about Quidditch is not only does it bring together kids from all over the country but also kids from all different types of backgrounds," Farrar said. "Many people may stereotype it as a nerdy game due to its basis in 'Harry Potter' however frequently we have very, very athletic groups who come."
Middlebury College is the reigning world champion -- they have yet to be defeated.
"This year looks to be the year that they might be," Farrar said. "It really exploded this year across the country. We had our first regional matches and out of those have come some extremely strong teams."
Farrar said Quidditch is played in every continent except Antarctica.
The two-day event will feature a headline concert Saturday night. Improv comedians will be on hand to announce every match. There will be a live music and circus performers to provide entertainment throughout both days.
The World Cup Championship will be held Sunday night.
The final movie in the "Harry Potter" series came out on DVD today.
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