The Texas State Quidditch Team: Competitive and Inclusive.

By Diego B Gonzales

Blog Content Contributor

The setting is a grass field at night. A Team Captain is speaking to his team of players. — Team Captain David Avila tells the team his plans for tonight’s practice. | Diego Gonzales

The Texas State Quidditch team includes students from every background to make for an athletic experience that’s competitive as it is inclusive. Quidditch, also known as “Quadball,” is a sport that originated from the Harry Potter series. While the game, as described in the books, includes flying brooms and magical creatures, the real-life version of Quidditch is best described as a mixture of rugby, dodgeball and tag. The team’s “beater” captain (a beater is a player that uses dodgeballs to disrupt opposing players), Brandy Gomez, feels the game is not too different from any other sport, even with its connection to the Harry Potter Series.

“A lot of people hear ‘quidditch,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh, nerds’,” Gomez said. “But I think with the title ‘Quadball,’ people can look at it and see it as a regular sport if you don’t mention the Harry Potter aspect of it.”

Athletes are running together on a grass field at night. Sports equiptment are scattered on the ground. — The team is taking a lap around the field to start practice. | Diego Gonzales

In July of 2022, the Major League Quidditch organization announced that they are rebranding themselves as Major League Quadball. The International Quidditch Association also plans to implement this rebranding. A big reason why this move was made was due to the anti-trans sentiments made by JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, leading to these organizations wanting to create distance between the author and the game.

The game’s inclusivity within its community and rules makes it easy to understand the desire to separate its identity from Rowling. For one, the game has a “Gender Maximum” rule, a rule that states that a team cannot have more than four players who identify as the same gender on the field at the same time. The team’s president, Julie Picasso, feels this type of inclusivity makes the club feel different than other sports clubs on campus.

“[The Texas State Quidditch Team] is a co-ed club, which makes it different than most sports clubs,” Picasso said. “I think that changes up the vibe a little bit. It’s a lot more fun and a lot more wholesome than probably most sports clubs are, because we are LGBTQ+ inclusive. I, myself, a non-binary person.”

Despite any differences the sport or club may have with other sports on campus, the Texas State Qudditich/Quadball club still holds the same values of athleticism and competition just like any other sport. The team’s captain, David Avila, leads the team into competitions and pushes them in practice to reach their full potential.

The setting is a sports field at night. An athlete is throwing a dodgeball at a high velocity at an opposing athlete. — The ‘beater’ team are honing their skills. | Diego Gonzales

Avila has high hopes for the TXST Quidditich team and is looking forward to upcoming games, with the soonest being the game they have in Waco, Texas on Sept. 30, 2023.

“We have our first unofficial tournament this upcoming Saturday in Waco,” Avila said. “After that, our first official [tournament] will be Oct. 21st in Huntsville, Texas. This team has a lot of potential, they’re looking great. We have a lot of athletes this year, and they’re going to surprise a lot of teams. Hopefully we can get in the top ten power rankings again and set the record straight.”

You can stay up to date with Texas State’s Quidditch club by following them on Instagram: @txstquidditch