Devoted quadball players willingly travel across state lines to play on organized teams.
Korey Johnson knows what that’s like. But he also saw potential in local athletes and an opportunity to bring a community team to northwest Ohio.
Along with some quadball-loving peers, Mr. Johnson this spring conjured up the Black Swamp Banshees, a club quadball team based out of Bowling Green. Quadball, formerly quidditch, is an adaptation of the fictional game played on broomsticks in the Harry Potter series.
The Banshees started its first official season this fall, and just played in its first official tournament in Bowling Green’s Carter Park on Oct. 1.
A handful of the team’s 24 players are new to the game, while others have up to seven years of experience. Two-thirds of the team are Bowling Green State University alumni who first learned the sport there.
“They’re like family to me,” Mr. Johnson, the team president, said after a scrimmage on Sept. 30, in preparation for the tournament the following day. “I’ve seen all these guys grow.”
“Now we’re friends for life,” added Banshee captain Jack Herrick, who met his wife through BGSU’s team. “We can’t get away from each other if we tried.”
The team will continue to work on its skills and strategy in preparation for the regional championships on Oct. 29-30 in South Bend, Ind. The national championships will be held in Valley Forge, Pa., in April.
Quadball arose as a sport in 2005, and players say its perception has shifted from its earliest days.
"It's starting to shift a bit to the athleticism," said Mr. Johnson, who was BGSU’s captain from 2015 to 2017.
The connection to the fantasy book series is what initially drew players into the game, but that trend is changing, Banshee Derek Parker said.
"More people are coming in [to college] who don't know Harry Potter," he said. "When I was in college, people saw the three hoops and knew what it was."
Mr. Herrick describes the game is a "fun combination of all the sports," including soccer, rugby, dodgeball, and basketball. In play all at once are one volleyball, which scores 10 points when it goes through any of the opponent’s three hoops, and three dodgeballs, which knock players out. The snitch comes out during the second half of the game — it’s a tennis ball in a sock attached to a player’s waistband, and Mr. Parker described this interaction as "more like take the tail out of the donkey" — and awards the team 35 points when caught.
US Quadball, the sport’s national governing body, modifies its playbook season to season to prioritize player safety and improve gameplay.
But aspects of the game aren’t all that’s changed.
USQ changed the name of the game from quidditch to quadball for the 2022-23 season because of trademark concerns and to distance the sport from author J.K. Rowling, who has expressed transphobic views in recent years.
The sport prides itself on being inclusive, which contributed to the local team's name and mascot. In Irish folklore, a Banshee is a female spirit or fairy.
"We're a multi-gender sport, so [having] a female as a major part of the logo and a more inclusive name," Mr. Johnson said, "more of us are represented."
Contact Sarah Readdean at: sreaddean@theblade.com.
First Published October 8, 2022, 2:00 p.m.
