Just because the last "Harry Potter" movie is coming out in July doesn't mean that the magical spirit of the wizarding world will end.
Perhaps nothing is more of a testament to the livelihood of "Harry Potter" fans worldwide than the International Quidditch Association, formed in 2007 by Alex Benape from Middlebury College in Vermont.
Today, the IQA is the proud organizer of over 400 college teams and 300 high school teams across 45 states and at least 12 countries. The organization has a set of rules and regulations that help turn the magical sport of Quidditch from fantasy to reality.
The most fascinating part of the IQA is its regional tournament series, which feature several schools competing in a playoff-style setting to claim a championship.
This Friday, the 2011 Swamp Cup will kick off at Kanapaha Park in Gainesville and will include six teams from the IQA's Southeast Region. Admission will be free and donations of children's book will be collected.
The tournament, which runs until Sunday, features the University of Florida's Quidditch team as well as teams from the University of South Florida, the University of Miami, Ringling College of Art and Design, College of Charleston (S.C.) and Cape Coral High School.
The Swamp Cup was put together by the UF Quidditch team, led by Nick Murado, the group's president.
"We've been forming Swamp Cup for eight months, before any other tournaments were announced and before the IQA revealed their regional tournament series," Murado wrote in an email. "I envisioned this as the 'Spring World Cup,' so I had always been a big dreamer."
While Murado's initial vision of having 20 participating teams didn't pan out, he did contact most active regional teams and every team that was interested in participating was allowed to play.
Hannah Pohlmann, co-director of the Swamp Cup and a beater for the UF Quidditch team, said the bulk of the planning for the tournament has taken place in the last four months.
"Our problem is that the southeast is a small region in terms of the number of teams," Pohlmann said. "There are more teams up north and even though I wanted us to have more teams, I think that having six competing is great."
Murado said he isn't competing in the tournament because he was one of the main organizers of the event, but he will coach the UF team through its run in the Swamp Cup.
He said that the ultimate goal for the team is to win the tournament, and to do that it will have to advance through a double round robin format in the preliminary rounds on Friday and Saturday.
According to the Swamp Cup's website, the playoffs will then be held on Sunday with the top four teams advancing. After a single round robin playoff, the top two teams will advance to a best-of-five series in the finals.
To prepare for the tournament, the UF team has been practicing Wednesdays and Sundays at Flavet Field.
"Practices have changed [as we get closer to the tournament]," Murado said. "There has been a higher emphasis on technical skill and drills as opposed to simply playing scrimmage games all the time."
Pohlmann agreed that more strategy was highlighted during practices. As a freshman, Pohlmann has only been playing since the fall semester, but she said the practices have been more intense as the team works toward the Swamp Cup.
As a beater, it's Pohlmann's task to throw a dodgeball at the chasers. If she hits a chaser, that player has to drop the Quaffle (a volleyball) and take a lap around the field before they can continue playing. More on the logistics of how the game is adapted from the "Harry Potter" books to real life can be found at the IQA and Swamp Cup websites.
With the tournament starting this weekend, Pohlmann and Murado are focused on running the event with "integrity and efficiency," according to Murado.
However, Pohlmann said she is already looking forward to future Swamp Cups. This year's Cup is one of the first regional tournaments ever, and Pohlmann called it a "guinea pig" for the future.
She said that with a strong foundation of mainly underclassmen that share a common love for Quidditch, the sport has an opportunity to blossom at UF.
"Our goal is to have 30 or 40 teams come out to compete in the future," she said. "I want the Swamp Cup and Gainesville to be the place to be for the regional tournament."
