By Emma Weidmann | Staff Writer
Baylor Club Quidditch changed its name from Bears Quidditch Association after becoming a club sport, giving the group more freedom and resources to bring the fictional sport to Baylor.
As a club sport, Baylor Quidditch can now use the Baylor Intramural Fields for practice three times a week and get fundraising for tournament travel. Quidditch can also table at Late Night with other club sports in the McLane Student Life Center and has access to the Club Sports Office for safety resources like having paramedics at their games, as well as having more safety advisers.
Denver freshman Amelia Uhde said playing quidditch has been the highlight of her freshman year since finding the group through Late Night, and it has given her a way to exercise and provided her with a strong group of friends.
“I really got close to people on the team and because of that, I have a really strong support system,” Uhde said. “Even though it’s a competitive club sport, the people really care about you as well. It’s a great community, especially as a freshman when you’re looking for that group of people. My best friends came from the quidditch team.”
Uhde said one of the most exciting moments for her with the team so far has been the opportunities for competing against quidditch teams from across the state.
“I love the athletic component as well,” Uhde said. “I’ve been to two [tournaments] so far, and in a couple of weeks, we’ll have our third one. Everyone has different playing styles, and the wonderful thing about quidditch is that there’s such a strong community between college teams. They’ll come up and just start conversations with each other, so even though you’re competing, you still have that community aspect as well, and it’s a great team bonding experience.”
Lubbock junior Caleb Williams, president of Baylor Club Quidditch, said one of his most cherished memories of quidditch was when the team won on a “next score wins” goal at his first tournament: Sam Houston State University’s “Breakfast Taco.”
“It was a very jubilant experience,” Williams said. “I got to go and hug my coach who taught me how to play. I remember it fondly.”
Uhde said hopefully since becoming a club sport, quidditch will be able to reach more students to provide them with the opportunity to learn more and join the sport.
“I’m looking forward to how our team is going to develop,” Uhde said. “As of now, our team is less well known so we are smaller, but I’m looking forward to reaching out to people and getting awareness that Baylor has a quidditch team … [Being a club sport] makes it a bit more official, so people who still want to be competitive have that athletic aspect. We are pretty serious at practice. We want to win as well.”
When Williams and Uhde joined the quidditch team, neither was a huge fan of the Harry Potter franchise. In fact, according to Williams, half of the members of the quidditch team joined for the uniqueness of the sport, rather than their interest in the “Wizarding World.”
“It is a sport that has not been solved yet, and it’s not like any other sport,” Williams said. “You’ll see the best teams in the nation every year come out with completely new sets and schemes and defensive alignments, and it’s really fun to look at that and say, ‘What’s this going to be like? What are they going to do now? How are we going to go about beating that?’”
