You’ve definitely heard of quidditch, but maybe not quadball – the rebranded name for the sport inspired by Harry Potter.
The fictional-turned-real game began to gain popularity on university campuses during the 2000s as the books and movies took the world by storm.
Stirling is no exception. The Dumyat Dragons (named after the hill that overlooks the uni) are a small but mighty team of quadball players.
Masters student Triskele Corbal is the club’s president and undergrad Hagi Batbayar is their VP.
“It is similar, minus the flying part,” Corbal explained to Brig. “We have a broom, we have a pitch with three hoops like in the movies.
“It used to be more chaotic before. The snitch [an actual person IRL as opposed to a flying golden ball in the HP universe] could run away, take the train, swim somewhere, like really go far away.
“They quickly stopped doing that because they realised it was impossible the finish the game, so now the snitch stays on the pitch.”
The main objective remains scoring goals. Corbal describes it as a mix of rugby, dodgeball and basketball.
On a personal level, the pair spoke about how they got involved with the sport.
“I read [Harry Potter] quite late, almost when I was graduating high school,” Batbayar said. “I was just trying to catch up with all the Harry Potter things.
“I found out that people played quidditch in real life, then started looking for the universities that do… I was like ‘I’m definitely doing this.’”
Corbal had a similar experience:
“I used to hear about quidditch when I was in France and I always wanted to try, but I got injured and couldn’t do sport… I started in first year [at Stirling].
“I started to play because I like Harry Potter, like a lot of quadball players but it’s not a majority anymore because of JK Rowling.”
The evolution of the books’ creator from hugely successful writer to someone who spreads hate speech on Twitter has been disappointing for fans to say the least. Rowling’s views on trans people are one of the reasons why the sport was rebranded and given a new name.
QuadballUK announced in a statement last year: “The name change indicates a firm stance with our trans players and members, as well as giving us more firm legal footing and opening up greater opportunities for funding and external partners.”
The sport in its current form is rather unique regarding gender: it is completely mixed and full contact.
Corbal had a complicated relationship with highly gendered sports growing up:
“When I was younger, I didn’t realise I was genderfluid, but I was seen as a woman and I didn’t really like it.
“The atmosphere in quadball is really different… even if you’re not really good at it, you still have a space.
“I know a lot of queer people who are insecure about their fitness… being in a team where you have the opportunity to do tournaments and there is no pressure [is great].”
Batbayar said they were “never a sporty person” at school, but quadball still provided a welcoming environment.
“I was last picked for team sports, I couldn’t catch balls or run,” they said.
“[Quadball] was very nice because the sport was not serious, nobody was there to be like ‘you’re supposed to do that, you have to look a certain way to play.’
“We did a lot of basics and that felt like I could get into it without being judged. The gender part of it was never ever made fun of.”
Corbal added that the Stirling club was really supportive of their own gender identity.
“I realised I was genderfluid a few years ago, so I started to play quadball as a female,” she said.
“[When I came out] no one questioned it, it was great.
“I’m not saying everyone is really open about their identity, but they are more safe to do so… being around queer people being proud and being open with that probably helped me to be more confident in my identity.”
Batbayar also said: “People have really random reasons for trying out the first time, but I think the reason they stay is because they find the community really welcoming and also very queer… not a lot of sports have that many queer people.”
The mixed-gender aspect is definitely something that attracts the LGBT+ community, according to Corbal.
“We don’t care about your gender,” they said.
“If you arrive in the team and you say ‘I’m trans, I’m nonbinary’ or ‘I’m cis’ … you are still part of the same team, there is not a separation between any genders.”
However, the sport does have a gender maximum rule, meaning there can only be a maximum of four people of the same gender on the pitch at one time.
The president added that other sports could learn a thing or two from quadball:
“It is possible to play with other genders!
“Even if it’s not something you do on a regular basis, you can still organise games and sessions with different genders.
“There are some sports I don’t really understand why it’s gendered… the more I’m growing up the less I understand it.”
Batbayar agreed: “I think the gender divide in sports is really toxic.
“Especially at university level where the stakes aren’t as high, of course there’s competitive teams, but you’ve got a lot more freedom to actually introduce these new ways into the sport.”
Corbal says they would “like to be optimistic” about the future of quadball.
“I think it could be a really great game, but we need to fight for it,” she said.
“Most people don’t take us seriously, so we need to do a lot of work on that. It might have started as something from Harry Potter but it’s really different now.
“[The name] quadball is a good way to become more serious and to differentiate from Harry Potter… I think it was a good decision to change the name and it’s creating our own identity.”
The Dumyat Dragons train every Wednesday from 1pm outside Airthrey Castle. As they are a society and not a sports club, it costs just £5 to join and a gym membership is not required. Follow them on Instagram @stirlingdragons for more information.
Feature image credit: Dumyat Dragons
Film, media and journalism student. I like writing about my inability to eat gluten.
