UNC Quidditch snitches conference victory

The UNC Quidditch team swept through its conference championship in Greensboro this weekend, giving its players hope for greater legitimacy in the coming years.

After going undefeated in the regular season, the team placed first out of 13 teams at the Carolinas Quidditch Conference tournament.

“We dominated pretty much the entire time,” team president Alex Drose said.

UNC won 120-40 in the championship round against Appalachian State University — the same team that knocked it out of the championship last year.

The team entered the tournament as the top seed, and players said they were ready.

“We didn’t just beat everyone we played, we just about physically dominated every team throughout the regular season before the tournament,” said team member Max Miceli, who also writes for The Daily Tar Heel.

Miceli will compete in the World Cup on the Quidditch Cup Carolinas team, which is comprised of students from North Carolina schools.

But he said he has even higher hopes for the future of his home team.

“I honestly believe the UNC team right now is better than the (Quidditch Cup) Carolinas team,” he said. “We could go pretty deep into the World Cup if we were an official team.”

He said one reason the team has been so successful in the past year is because of leadership from sophomore members, who are making an effort to increase the team’s membership and legitimacy.

Team captain Stephan Duga said the team used to be just for fun, but this year its attitude has shifted.

“It has progressed to not only taking Quidditch seriously, but actually winning,” he said.

This year, the team set goals to further increase its presence on the UNC campus and to promote Quidditch as a general sport.

The players will apply to become a member of the International Quidditch Association in the fall, which Duga said would lend the team more legitimacy.

“We wouldn’t just be part of some local conference — we would be competing on a national and maybe international level,” he said.

Miceli said another goal is for the UNC Sport Clubs Executive Board to grant club sports status to the team.

The team applied to the board earlier this year and was unsuccessful, but Miceli said it is certainly still a goal for next year’s team.

Miceli said the team works because of the mix of athletes and Harry Potter fanatics that complement each other.

“It’s an interesting relationship because it’s the goofiest sport, but it’s also freaking awesome because who else can have fun running around with a broomstick between their legs?”

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.