By Norma Hernandez
Reporter
If you’re still waiting for your Hogwarts letter, it might be coming sooner than you think.
The Student Recreation Center at CSU Bakersfield, held their first Quidditch tournament on May 2, 2018.
Quidditch is a sport best known from the popular and beloved books and films of Harry Potter.
Roxanna Hernandez, a junior majoring in engineering sciences, was the coordinator of the event and said that they held two Quidditch clinics to teach participates how to play.
“The idea came from my coordinator, [Kareem Bland], he got it from IMS program from other universities, and then he brought it on to the SRC director, Mary O’Mahoney, and then they started an event,” said Hernandez.
Quidditch is becoming a popular and authentic sport in big universities like UCLA and USC. To play quidditch, each team needs seven players. The tournament only acquired seven participants, so SRC employees joined in to fill in the empty positions to have a complete game.
Jorge Murillo, a senior majoring in business administration and the manager for sports at the SRC, also took part in the tournament and played a Seeker.
“The Seeker, what it does, is goes and gets the Snitch,” said Murillo. “So the Snitch has the ball that’s tied to his or her back and two of the seekers actually go and try to get that ball and once the ball is obtained by one of the seekers, the game is over.”
Elizabeth Trujillo, freshman majoring in kinesiology, came out to the Quidditch tournament by herself. Although not a Harry Potter fan, she is a fan of the SRC.
“I love the SRC, I love the events that they do, I love coming out [and] being active,” said Trujillo.
In spite of the low turnout, the SRC will continue to try to reach out to students through several informational and training clinics throughout the month, social media presence, and one on one interaction with students.
Murillo said you don’t have to be a Harry Potter fan to play Quidditch because it’s more about joining a fun sport and meeting new people.
“You don’t have to have any experience to play. For example, I’m the worst at volleyball, but I go and play and have a good time,” said Murillo.
Photo by Andrew Paredez/The Runner
CSUB runners and staff came out to participate in the CSUB Quidditch tournament on May 2, 2018
