Social Workout

Buns of Steal

My Day At Quidditch Tryouts

Today's free workout: Quidditch team tryouts, Riverside Park. "Are you here for Quidditch?" Now, this was a phrase I never thought I'd hear. But here I was, in Riverside Park, answering, "Yes, in fact I am." With those words, I descended into the fascinating and bizarre land of Quidditch, that magical game that until recently lived only on the pages of Harry Potter, though really we all knew it was a matter of a time before it sprung onto intramural sports fields across the world.

Ok, let me back up.

First, Quidditch. It's a fictional game, per Harry Potter. In the book, the game is somewhat of a cross between basketball and dodge ball, played while riding on brooms. In real life, Harry Potter enthusiasts (of which there are scary amounts) have adopted the game, with various degrees of success (the flying part poses a challenge). There's even a Quidditch World Cup, and apparently, Middlebury (spoken in hushed tones on fields around the country) is the undisputed king of the sport.

Which brings me to how I found myself running around a park, slightly hung over on a Saturday, dodging bludgers and chasing a golden snitch.

Remember the Crunch membership guy who had so graciously extended me a 2 week pass to try out their kickass classes? Well, he and I kept in touch, and lo and behold, he is a Harry Potter enthusiast. So, the day after I came back to NYC, this, from him, over my gchat: "Wanna come to Quidditch tryouts?"

Now, I would not call myself a Harry Potter fanatic. But, I've read all the books, I've seen the movies, and I at least knew that the word Quidditch was not gibberish. However, nothing prepared me for the scene I encountered when I showed up on the field.

First, the participants: from what I gathered, most were sourced from an online Harry Potter meet-up group called "The Group That Shall Not Be Named" (if you don't get the joke, go back and read some more HP). So, naturally, everyone was decked out in Harry Potter gear, from round rimmed glasses to "Bella Trix" t-shirts (again, if you don't get it, read the HP).

So, while I wouldn't call this the most coordinated bunch I've ever seen, once we actually started to scrimmage, these people were vicious! I got clawed, shoved and tackled as I attempted to throw the quaffle through the goal. It was chaos.

The scene consisted of a discombobulated but enthusiastic throng, wearing different colored sashes, sprinting at each other, some hurling dodgeballs (bludgers), others body checking, and still others trying to weave towards 3 side by side "baskets" (actually, hoola hoops attached to poles). I wasn't really sure what was going on, but everyone else (who knew the rules inside out) seemed to have a decent grasp on the game. Pretty intense, and hilarious when the person who had just waxed poetic on the beauty of Harry Potter coming to life, is suddenly feeding you a dirt sandwich.

Now, the workout part: I'm happy to say that between the warm-up (orchestrated by Crunch guy, thus at least somewhat intense) and 3 subsequent hours of running around, dodging bludgers and trying to throw a ball through three different hoops, I had worked up a sweat. Actually, I'd go so far as to say that Quidditch is more intense than traditional "intramural sports" (e.g. kickball, dodgeball, other excuses to play flip cup and make out with your teammates).

So, fine, I won't be joining the Quidditch team. Honestly, I was there more for the novelty of the experience (and the free workout!), but the players are really gung ho and excited about this new... sport? Who knows, maybe 2014 Olympics will see a new team sport candidate...

For the ongoing adventures of Buns of Steal, an impoverished but equally resourceful law student in New York City (with a stint in D.C. for the summer!), hoping to make it through 2010 without ever paying for a gym membership, visit "Buns of Steal."