On Nov. 12 and 13, the Geneseo Quidditch team flew to Randall's Island in New York City for the fifth annual Quidditch World Cup, hosted by the International Quidditch Assocation.
Although the club was founded two years ago, this was its first time appearing at the World Cup. Geneseo's Quidditch team, known as One Knight Stands, was one of 98 teams from 27 states, the District of Colombia, two Canadian provinces and three countries outside of North America.
After five games of competitive play, One Knight Stands placed 35th.
"We were hoping to do well, but we weren't really sure how we would do because we are a smaller school," said senior Olga Iodko, president of the team. "We were hoping to make it into the brackets. We were really happy [when we did] because there were many schools there. I think it's pretty impressive."
On Saturday Nov. 12, Geneseo faced Arizona State University, Delaware Valley College and University of Florida. On Sunday during the elimination rounds, Geneseo soared past the University of Ottawa before falling to Vassar College, "of all teams," said sophomore seeker Christian Perfas.
The elimination from the World Cup wasn't too upsetting, though since, "[Vassar's] kind of our friendly rival," added Iodko.
"We play them so often," said senior coach and vice president Matt Cavanaugh. "[At the World Cup] we played very hard and they played very hard, but before the game started, we gave each other hugs and afterward, we took pictures together. We hang out with them a lot," said Cavanaugh.
The World Cup was a big hit among the players, audience members and Potter fans alike. According to Cavanaugh, all 15,000 seats were filled with spectators.
"I just liked getting to know other people in general, from our team and from other schools," said Iodka. "It was really fun."
"It was a lot more official than I thought it would be," Perfas said. "I've never seen so many Quidditch teams play at once. It was magical."
The Quidditch team is off until next semester, but they are already planning the next big games, including the first tournament on Geneseo's campus.