There may not be any flying broomsticks but one Stirling woman is hoping to help Scotland sweep to the top of the Quidditch world.
Cambusbarron native Rebecca Norman, who studies at the university, has recently been appointed as the Scottish national team’s manager ahead of the Quidditch World Cup event - set to be held in Virginia in the United States in 2023.
The sport, based on the original concept from the Harry Potter novels, was first started in 2005 and has grown in popularity across the globe, with teams from all over the globe now participating.
With the sport growing rapidly, the 2023 occasion will be the first time that Scotland will send a team of its own rather than as part of the UK.
And Rebecca - who also manages the local Dumyat Dragons team based in Stirling - is keen to spread the word about the positives of Quidditch to competitors from all backgrounds.
She said: “I first started playing while at university in Preston and I actually went looking for the Quidditch stall at the sports fair because when I was at high school, I saw people playing while at the uni library. We accept players from everywhere and there are six or seven players on the pitch at the one time - with a keeper, three chasers and two beaters, before the snitch comes into the game after about 20 minutes.
“The World Cup now has around 30 to 40 teams involved so it is quite a wide-ranging event, with teams in Europe, the US and South America all flourishing.
“I was a fan of the books and started playing for that reason, but we are getting more and more people who are playing it as a sport independent of the books and the fact it is a mixed gender sport is a big factor as well.”
In the absence of broomsticks, players often substitute in plastic tubes, with teams of seven players aiming to throw their ‘quaffles’ through the hoops to score points, while avoiding the ‘bludgers’ thrown by their opponents.
Meanwhile, the precious ‘snitch’ - which flies in the original series - is replaced by a tennis ball at the end of a long pouch placed in the back of the shorts of a designated ‘snitch runner’, with each team’s designated seekers aiming to secure the vital item for a bonus points haul.
With the sport still in its infancy, most of the Quidditch squad still dip into their own pockets to be able to play the game - but Rebecca admits they hope to find other sources of funding as it continues to grow in popularity.
Rebecca added: “There has been relatively slow and consistent growth, rather than an explosion in the game and with the pandemic, the focus has been on maintaining what we have and not losing any teams.
“Funding is difficult to come by because of the size of the sport so it’s funded mainly by the players at the moment, but the hope is to look for sponsors and hold fundraising events in the future.
“The community within Quidditch is the most important part; it’s the only mixed gender, full-contact sport that I’ve come across and the inclusivity creates a really amazing environment that values people on their talent.’’
