Athlete Profile

• Name: Sarah Christie
• College: Newnham
• Degree: HSPS – 2nd Year
• Hometown: London

Sarah Christie plays for Cambridge University Quidditch Club, known competitively as the Cambolts. She was part of the team that finished 11th in the Southern Cup and in 23rd place at the British Quidditch Cup. Last year, the Cambolts also prevailed over the Oxford Quidlings (the Dark Blues’ second team). She also acts as the Club’s Secretary.

Quidditch came from a fictional book in which players could fly! How has that been resolved?

The ‘flying’ element is dealt with by every player having a ‘broom’ – which tends to be a PVC pipe – which must remain between your legs at all times. If at any time you drop your broom, you become out-of-play. This can happen often when you’re trying to catch a ball. If you get hit by one of the two Bludgers – which function like dodgeballs and are thrown by the two Beaters – you have to drop your broom, run back to your hoops and tag back into play.

What are the rules of Quidditch? How closely do they stick to J.K. Rowling’s original ones?

Quidditch is a contact sport: in order to gain possession of the Quaffle – the main scoring ball which, if thrown between one of the hoops at either end of the pitch, scores you 10 points – opponents can tackle you between your shoulders and knees. There are three Chasers and a Keeper on each team who interact with the Quaffle.

The rules with the Snitch are slightly different. There is still a Seeker who aims to catch the Snitch, which comes into play about halfway through the game. But the Snitch is an impartial person who has a sock with a ball in it – so the Seekers chance the Snitch and try to grab that sock. It’s a bit like tag rugby. If they do, they earn their team 30 points and end the game. In the books, catching the Snitch is worth 150 points but that would’ve made it impossible to win. The 30 points actually make it more interesting, because you’re having to pay attention to the score – sometimes if you’re losing the game by a lot, you’re still trying to catch the Snitch to end the game to minimise the effect on your tournament ranking.

Tragically, the rule that the Snitch could run absolutely everywhere has been removed – they found having people running across university campuses wasn’t that convenient. So now, the Snitch has to stay inside the pitch, but that can still be interesting: because the Snitch is an impartial player, they have extra rules (they can, for example, lift up Seekers and carry them or steal their brooms). So it’s still entertaining and fun to watch, even if they aren’t running through Sainsbury’s or Market Square.

Quidditch is one of the few mixed-gender sports. How is that enforced?

Quidditch is a gender-equality sport, so there is a quota requirement for gender diversity on every team. For example, you can’t just go to tournaments with an entirely male roster – at any time, you must have on the pitch two players that identify as a different gender to the majority of your team. And if you fail to meet that quota, you get carded. The gender can be female, agender or non-binary: QuidditchUK is really open about self-identification!

It keeps with the spirit of Harry Potter by retaining the fact that Quidditch is a mixed-gender sport. It adds to the fun too, and can actually work in people’s favour in respect of the different position available. It can be hard to meet the quota, though – we have sometimes struggled when we’ve had many guys. It’s good, though, because it forces you to think about keeping a gender balance on your team.

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What traits help facilitate success in Quidditch?

It depends heavily on the position – each requires you to play in a different way. In terms of Chasers and Keepers, some of our prominent players have played rugby and that with the tackling – some Quidditch matches can get extremely tackle-heavy and resemble a rugby game! But being quite small and agile can help if you’re trying to move the Quaffle quickly down the pitch. If you’re being tactical, you can fit any sort of ability into gameplay.

What is the hardest thing about the sport?

Even though matches don’t tend to last longer than 20-25 minutes, the biggest struggle for many can be the stamina. Quidditch is always a really tiring, high-intensity game. But if you have a squad with lots of players on it, this can be overcome: there are rolling substitutes and you can send a maximum of 21 people to a tournament!

How did you first get into Quidditch?

I was, of course, a big Harry Potter fan so I had heard about it before – and it sometimes gets a mention in the national press too. So I decided to try it out at Cambridge and signed up at the Freshers’ Fair.

What is the state of the sport in Cambridge, in the UK, and internationally?

Quidditch in Cambridge has been going for about two or three years. Much like Cambridge University, it was set up by ex-Oxford players. The society is a strong one socially – we have weekly drinks – but we could do with more players as there is a regular turnout of about 12-15 at training. There is no official Varsity game yet, but we organise to play both of Oxford’s teams – the Radcliffe Chimeras and the Quidlings – outside of tournaments at least once each year. We’re also planning a Varsity match in Oxford this Michaelmas!

In the UK, there are only a couple of teams that aren’t based at universities. The sport is really strong and rapidly expanding: we had 32 teams at the British Quidditch Cup this year. The most famous team in the country is probably the Oxford 1st team – the Radcliffe Chimeras, who were founded six or seven years ago.

The story is quite similar on the international stage: what originally started out as a sport in American universities – particularly in Texas – is now seeing more and more countries participate. In fact, there was a World Cup played this summer in Germany in which 21 teams competed: it was won by Australia, and the British team came in third!

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What is your training schedule like?

On the whole, Quidditch is quite a low-commitment sport, although this may change due to the keenness of our new captain! We train as a team for two hours a week. Training takes place at Jesus Green on a Sunday between 12 and 2, and we are usually surrounded by tourists taking photos. We also frequently run extra fitness practices. Quidditch works really well for people who are really sporty already because they can use the talents and fitness they already have.

How do you reconcile a Cambridge workload and your training schedule?

The most difficult thing is to reconcile with work are the tournaments: there are two a year and they take up the whole weekend. Other than that, I make sure my essay deadlines fit around playing Quidditch on Sunday. It also functions as a nice break from the library – it was such a welcome discovery to realise that sport keeps you happy and active after Quidditch practice.

How might somebody interested get involved in Quidditch?

The easiest place to find out lots about Quidditch is through our Facebook group, but if anyone has any specific questions about Quidditch they can email me (slc81@cam.ac.uk).

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.