Jim Curry is definitely a Hufflepuff.
Curry, a member of the University of Arkansas Razorback quidditch team, said an icebreaker question for people who play quidditch is, "What's your Hogwarts house?" Even without a sorting hat, players tend to find the proper fit among the four houses defined in the
Harry Potter tales of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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International Quidditch
University of Arkansas Razorback Quidditch
Fast Facts
• University of Arkansas Razorback Quidditch is ranked 11th in the International Quidditch Association standings.
• Quidditch is a co-ed sport played by more than 300 teams around the world, and 80 teams played in the International Quidditch Association World Cup.
• The team reached the Sweet Sixteen in the IQA World Cup VII April 6 in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., beating Syracuse University Quidditch Club, Steel City Quidditch Club, Michigan State University Spartan Quidditch and Long Beach Funky Quaffles in pool play. The team bested University of California at Los Angeles in the round of 32 and lost to Texas A&M Quidditch in the Sweet Sixteen.
Source: IQAquidditch.com and IQAworldcup.com
"I am Hufflepuff and proud," he said. "Hufflepuff is celebrated for being just and loyal. I just feel like I am a fierce friend."
Curry, 22, described team member Jordan Key as a Gryffindor, and team member Ethan McCormick as half Slytherin and half Ravenclaw. If players don't know their Hogwarts house, he directs them to Pottermore.com, a website approved by J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. Quidditch is a game in which players fly on broomsticks and was created by Rowling in the novel "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."
Quidditch as played by ground-bound Muggles, people who can't do magic, is a co-ed sport that is often compared to rugby, lacrosse and dodgeball, Curry said. There are also hide-and-seek and basketball elements in it, he added. Team members play with brooms between their legs at all times, according to IQAquidditch.com.
He said many people outside the sport don't take quidditch seriously.
"We are definitely athletes, and we are, I think, a lot more intense than many other sports out there," Curry said.
Key, 21, said there is a gradient on the type of people who play quidditch. Some people are solely athletes who don't read the Harry Potter books or watch the movies and just want to play and win a game. On the other end of the spectrum, there are players who are "Harry Potter nerds that just want to play Harry Potter-type games and have a good time." He described the University of Arkansas Razorback quidditch team as typically falling in the middle of the spectrum. Key and Curry both grew up reading the Harry Potter books.
"Some of us are very much Harry Potter nerds, but at the same time, we consider ourselves athletes," Key said.
Razorback team members have fun and hold Harry Potter watch parties outside of practice, but they are focused when they're in practice and tournament play. McCormick said he doesn't believe they would do as well in the sport if they weren't serious in practice. The team is ranked 11th in the International Quidditch Association standings and qualified for the IQA World Cup the last two years. This year's World Cup was April 5 and 6 in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the team made it to the Sweet Sixteen, as it did in 2013, he said.
"I don't think about Harry Potter when I play. I think about hitting someone as hard as I can," McCormick, 23, said.
NAN Our Town on 04/17/2014