Quidditch

Scout Quidditch

This is a sport based on Quidditch, the fictional sport developed by British author J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series of children's novels.

There are seven players on each team: 3 chasers, 2 beaters, 1 keeper and 1 seeker. Game play is confined to a playing field comparable in size to a hockey rink.

Three circular goals are placed on either side of the pitch (field). The goals are often circular tubes on top of PVC pipes. Volleyballs are used as the quaffle, and dodgeballs serve as the bludgers. While the snitch is a magical object within the canon of the Harry Potter novels, in quidditch the snitch is simply a tennis ball contained in a sock tucked in the waistband of the snitch runner. The snitch runner is a neutral player affiliated with neither team dressed in gold or yellow. After release, the snitch runner (and thereby the snitch itself) is allowed to roam an area beyond the playing field. When played on a university or college campus the range is often the entire campus. The seekers search for the runner around campus; if they fail to catch him, he returns to the field after a pre-determined time.

The game begins with the quaffle and bludgers placed in the center of the field and all players in line with their respective goalposts. After the snitch is out of sight, the referee yells "Brooms Up!" to start the game. The game continues until the snitch has been caught. 30 points are awarded to the team who captures the snitch, and the team with the highest amounts of points wins.

Positions in quidditch

• Chasers are responsible for passing the quaffle and scoring points by throwing the quaffle through one of the opponent's goals for 10 points. Three chasers from a team may be in play at one time. When a bludger hits a Chaser in possession of the quaffle, he or she must drop the quaffle and run back to his or her own goalpost to simulate recovery time. The quaffle is given to the opposing beater who threw the bludger to pass to one of his teammates.
• Keepers are the goal protectors (similar to soccer goalies) and must try to block attempts to score by the opposing team's chasers. One keeper from a team may be in play at a time. The keeper is invulnerable to bludgers when within their team's keeper zone, an area around the team's hoops. Once outside of the keeper zone, the keeper serves as a fourth chaser.
• Beaters attempt to hit the opposing team's players with bludgers - this must be at waist level or below - and attempt to block the bludgers from hitting their team's players. Two beaters on a team may be in play at a time.
• Seekers attempt to catch the snitch. Though the snitch leaves the pitch at the start of the game and often does not return until a predetermined period has passed, seekers are able to search for the snitch off the pitch throughout the game.

The game is played with six standing hoops, three on each side of an elliptical pitch. There are three different types of balls in play, and five in total: the quaffle, three bludgers and the snitch.

Three hoops are placed on either side of the pitch of differing heights (3 ft, 6 ft, and 4 ft), placed 7 ft apart. Chasers and keepers can score by throwing the quaffle through any one of the hoops, from either front or back, gaining ten points for their team per score. Any player experiencing a knock-out effect from getting hit with a bludger must touch with skin any one of their hoops before returning to play.

The quaffle is a slightly-deflated regulation volleyball that can only be manipulated by chasers or keepers. Used for scoring, it may pass through any hoop from either side. Regardless of which team caused the quaffle to pass through the hoop, as long as it is in play, a goal is scored against the team whose hoop was scored upon, which is counted to be 10 points.

The bludger is a slightly-deflated dodgeball that can only be manipulated by beaters. At any given time there are four beaters in play, but only three bludgers. The bludgers are used to hit any other player on the field. Upon being hit by a bludger previously in the possession of an opposing beater, the player suffers the knockout effect. This means they must dismount their broom, drop any ball that they may have been carrying, and touch their team's hoops before resuming play. It's worth noting that there is no friendly fire, meaning that bludgers thrown by beaters cannot affect any of their teammates.

The snitch is a tennis ball or balled-up socks placed at the bottom of either a gold or yellow long sock. The sock is tucked into the back of the snitch runner's belt as if it were a tail. The snitch runner may do everything in his or her power to protect the snitch from being snatched by seekers. Only seekers may make advances towards the snitch or the snitch runner, and no forceful contact with the snitch runner is allowed. The game ends when the snitch is grabbed by a seeker, awarding that seeker's team 30 points.

Each match begins with the seven starting players along the starting line within their keeper zone with their eyes closed (so as to not watch where the snitch goes) and the four balls lined in the center of the pitch. The head referee, when he sees the snitch fall out of sight, then calls "brooms up!" to which players run to gain possession of the balls. After Brooms Up is called, the seekers must not interfere with other positions and wait near the pitch until the end of the seeker floor, usually 10 minutes. After the seeker floor the seekers are released and may run off pitch to search for the snitch.

Play style runs rapidly, with quick change-of-hands of the quaffle as every point (with each being worth 10 points) scored against your team gives your team the ball. Once a point is scored, the quaffle must be given to the other team's keeper and almost immediately return to the offensive with the chasers returning to their keeper zone or proper side of the pitch; beaters are not bound to return to their side of the pitch nor exit the opposing team's keeper zone at any point. Games generally last 20 to 50 minutes, depending on the skill and endurance of the seekers and snitch.

The game is won only after the snitch has been caught cleanly, and the team that caught the snitch is awarded 30 points. The winner is determined not by the snitch catch but by the number of points earned, thus it is not unknown to see teams losing by a wide margin push a snitch catch to end the game.

There are numerous fouls and illegal plays a player can commit, where varying degrees of illegality will earn a player anything from a warning to a red card and permanent expulsion from that match.

There is no hard-contact sport allowed in Scouting, so unlike Muggle Quidditch there is no tackling or pushing. The quaffle cannot be stripped from a chaser's hands, but can be intercepted.

After several various types of illegal play, the head ref will blow his whistle twice to indicate stoppage of play where each player must drop any ball he was holding. Most fouls result in a yellow card being given. With a yellow card, the player awarded the card goes to the penalty box for 1 minute, or until his team is scored upon. Players may not sub from the penalty box, however, if a keeper is awarded a penalty he must trade headbands with a chaser as a team must have a keeper on the pitch at all times.

When a red card is given, the player who committed the foul must sub off for somebody else on his team. The player who received the red card must leave the pitch. His replacement then has 2 minutes in the penalty box, and is not allowed to leave the penalty box for those 2 minutes even if his team is scored upon. A red card can either be given outright or can be the result of two yellow cards in a game.

The snitch, however, only has a few explicit restrictions such as pushing either of the seekers.

The quidditch pitch is marked with cones, but it is not binding to players, meaning players can continue play outside the boundaries, but within the spectator zone. Balls are not allowed to be kicked off the pitch under penalty nor is play allowed in the spectator zones. Players are asked to return to the pitch when play continues out of bounds.

On the edge of the pitch are two penalty boxes where players who have committed fouls that warrant yellow cards are sent for one minute.

Each official game requires having several referees present as well as an official snitch. The referees are the head ref whose job is to control the field and administer fouls and yellow or red cards to offending players, assistant refs who assist the head referee in watching for illegal plays, the snitch ref who follows the snitch once they enter the field and determine whether or not the catch was clean and the goal refs whose job is to determine if the ball went through the hoop, and if the player who tried to score was or was not beat. Assistant refs are oftentimes called bludger or beater refs, and their job is to call "beat" (or, in French, "touché") when the beat was clean (meaning hit the opposing player) and to help determine whether a goal was scored based on the beat. Snitch refs, whilst the snitch is off field, act as an additional bludger ref.

The snitch, being a neutral player, is tasked to run off the pitch before the initial "brooms up!" call. Since they originate from neither team, it is also under their judgement to help the referees to determine whether or not the catch was clean.