Sam Houston is full of outstanding recreational club sports, but in recent years the quidditch team has gained a great deal of attention and success.
In the past, the SHSU quidditch team has been portrayed as a group of nerds who play a game with no competitive aspect, but they are quite the opposite.
“Our team is extremely successful,” club president Hannah Cervenka said. “Every year we have had a 500 plus record and last year we defeated the three time defending national champions University of Texas at the Regional Qualifier and we beat everyone we played by over 100 points.”
Based on the sport played in the beloved Harry Potter films and book series, quidditch is played while on broomsticks and the main goal is to catch the golden snitch and score as many points as possible.
There are four positions and three balls used in the game. There is a seeker, whose main goal is to capture the snitch. In the book series, a snitch is a golden ball with wings that can fly at high speed, but in the muggle world, the snitch is a human dressed in yellow and the only way to capture it is to pull the flag from their back pocket.
There are also two beaters who throw dodge balls at the opposing team, a keeper whose play style is a cross between a point guard and a goalie with their main task being to guard the three scoring rings; and three chasers whose main goal is to get the quaffle into the opponent’s rings.
Since we do not have the ability to fly, the players run around while having broomsticks between their legs. The game is also co-ed with full contact.
Founded seven years ago, the SHSU quidditch team is one of the smallest schools to play the game in comparison to their opponents. In fact, they are one of the only small schools to have both an A team, SHSU Quidditch, and a B team, Death Row Quidditch.
Last year, the team earned a Sammy Award for being the most outstanding recreational club sport.
“We are extremely pleased with ourselves,” team captain TJ Goaley said. “We work really hard to recruit, to make sure our club is the best and to get the recognition for our efforts is just incredible. It is a testament to how much everyone that plays for us really cares about our team. “
The team only competes in tournaments and scrimmages, but when the season begins the team will face off against schools from across the southwest region such as UT, Baylor, Texas Tech, community teams and many others.
The Bearkat quidditch team is a recreational sport, so anyone who is enrolled at SHSU can join. If interested, people can attend a practice that is held on upper Pritchett Field every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The quidditch team will kick off their season on Oct. 15 at the A&M Classic Tournament held at Texas A&M.