Quidditch World Cup moves to New York City

The Quidditch World Cup will move from the Middlebury campus to a new location in New York City’s DeWitt Clinton Park for the fall of 2010.

In an e-mail sent in August to the Quidditch student group, tri-commissioners Andy Hyatt ’12, Kate Olen ’11 and Phil Palmer ’12 announced the move of the iconic fall event “to a larger stage to display our talents and love for the game.”

The commissioners explained that the Manhattan park would provide a more central location that would allow not only more college teams to attend, but also high school teams and a larger audience of fans and aspiring players.

Although many Middlebury fans were disappointed by the move, the commissioners are working to provide a fan bus system that could transport players, students, faculty and other fans to the tournament.  International Quidditch Association (IQA) President and Commissioner Alex Benepe ’09 hopes that “current students, players and supporters step up to the plate” to make the World Cup “the largest migration of Middlebury students to an athletic event in Middlebury's history.”

Benepe adds that the move will “launch Quidditch to the next level and share this unique phenomenon that started at Middlebury with the rest of the world.”

Although some point to the coincidence between the move and Benepe’s father’s position as commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Benepe insists that he “applied through all the normal avenues (filling out applications, paying the fee, etc.), and did so well in advance … it’s not like we got special treatment or had to step outside of the rules in order to secure the space.”

The Midd Cup will still take place on campus and the commissioners anticipate that “fall Quidditch will be bigger than ever.”  They hope to hold matches against teams at the University of Vermont and Green Mountain College.

“With this fulfilling fall schedule of Quidditch, we will be able to find the Middlebury team most fit to represent our school at the World Cup,” the tri-commissioners said.

Quidditch began at Middlebury in 2005 as an intramural sport. Benepe formalized the IQA as a non-profit organization earlier this year in order to promote the sport and, as the IQA Web site states, “bring magic to communities.”

“New York City is a centralized location that supports arts and creativity and has a very large audience for the game,” said Benepe. “Envisioning a blue sea of Middlebury fans lining the field in the heart of Manhattan is a thrilling prospect.”