The Quidditch World Cup Finals in Vermont

(Chapel Bells Ring out, slowly slipping into the Harry Potter Theme..)

They appeared in 1998 not long after the first book came out.

9 or 10 year old boys with messy hair and a penchant for round dark glasses.

The girls wearing scarlet and gold scarves.

FX: McGill Chant.

Well that first wave of Harry Potter readers is about to graduate college.

Alex Benepe over PA: Hello! Welcome to the 2008 College Quidditch World Cup!

That’s Alex Benepe, a senior at Vermont’s Middlebury College and master of ceremonies for this year’s College Quidditch World Cup.

Even if you’ve read the books, Quidditch isn’t an easy game to visualize.

There are hoops and balls and brooms everywhere. One of the members of the original Quidditch think-tank, Rainey Johnson describes it like this:

Rainey Johnson: I think of Quidditch as 3 games. You’ve got dodgeball. And then you have basketball being played, people throwing it through the hoops. And then you have this game of tag.

Alex Benepe is the sport’s prime mover in this world

But it was his friend, Alexander Manshell, who had the initial idea:

Alexander Manshel: ….we’re sitting down at the lunch table and we’re trying to figure out what to do with a our Sunday afternoons and so all the sudden the idea pops into my head – quidditch. And I say “Quidditch”.

Alex Benepe over PA: Players brooms down. Eyes Closed. And the snitch Rainey Johnson is loose...!

In the books, the snitch is a flying golden ball .
Catch the snitch and your team wins.

For the last 4 years, Rainey Johnson has been the snitch.
He can’t fly and he isn’t golden – but he can run fast, and he is wearing a glaring yellow outfit.

Alex Benepe over PA: Brooms up! (Cheers)...

The players lift their brooms from the muddy turf, lock them between their thighs and then - let us just say for the purposes of going with the moment - they begin to fly - madly toward the center of the field, toward four balls.

A white quaffle and three pink bludgers.

Announcer: Alright – Liz Harron Swede has got the quaffle, she’s looking for a pass. Caught! Headed down field...bludgeoned.

The brooms here act as a kind of equalizer and make this a sport that anyone can play.

Big or small, slow or fast.

Male or female.

Players in action at the College Quidditch World Cup. (Sean Hurley, NHPR)

Announcer: Goooooallllllll! Ive’s Pond College! Que emotional essa qui? (Rambling inaccurate Spanish commentary)

While the spirit of Harry Potter is present – there are owls here and minstrel music - it’s first and foremost a sport and competition.

Many of the players haven’t even read the books.

Like Robert Aube, of Green Mountain College, they just like the game:

Robert Aube: It’s just a really great good feeling when you’re out there playing. Running around with a broom between your legs and capes flowing in the wind, it’s like this very childish feeling. And I think every college student wants to be a child at least one more time before they’re thrust out into the world.

Announcer: We’ve got a scuffle there in mid-field. Man, it’s getting violent out there Ken.

Susan Kelly: Oh my gosh! It’s very rough. I’m afraid someone’s gonna get hurt. It’s a really rough game.

That’s Susan Kelly. She drove over from Glens Falls, New York to watch her son play.

Sean: And how has your son done so far?
Susan: Well, he hasn’t played, he’s going to play next. He’s a badger. A badger? Is that what they call it? What do they call it?
Sean: I think it’s a bludger.
Susan: A bludger!
Announcer: We’ve got the bludgers flying, the quaffles flying. (Crash) And a fall on the bench there....Reparo! (Laughter)

This will be Alex Benepe’s last College Quidditch World Cup.

But the guy who got this game off the ground isn’t sure he can put his broom away..

He wants to see if this sport has legs outside the college crowd.

Alex Benepe: I mean I really love this. I don’t know if I’m ready to stop doing this. I feel like this could keep on growing and I would love to be a part of it. And it’s something more than anything else that I’ve ever done that really makes me feel good at the end of the day. And I think that’s not something that I should ignore.

After Middlebury defeated Vasser to claim this year’s World Cup, a hundred filthy Quidditch players rally on the muddy field, and hoisted Alex Benepe aloft.

In a top hat and long tailed tuxedo, he drove his fist toward the sky.

Alex Benepe over PA: We end every day by screaming Quidditch, as long and as loud as we can...
Crowd: Quidditchhhhhhhhh!...

For NHPR News, I’m Sean Hurley