College teams spar in Quidditch tournament

When Zachary Dell'Acqua started college at Stony Brook University this year, he took the advice of a senior who told him everyone at college should try an activity they expected to be "dumb."

So Dell'Acqua joined the school's Quidditch team - to compete in a sport modeled after the fierce flying-on-broomsticks matches in the Harry Potter books and movies. He has since decided it's not as silly as he thought it would be.

"It's actually really cool," Dell'Acqua said.

The freshman from Center Moriches spent Saturday with his team at Quidditch World Cup IV in Manhattan. For the first time, the competition usually held at Middlebury College in Vermont is taking place at DeWitt Clinton Park, on 11th Avenue between 52nd and 54th streets. The event was held on the weekend before the opening of the seventh movie in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1," which will be in theaters Friday. Tournament play, meanwhile, continues today.

The Quidditch rules are modified, as obviously players can't fly. Instead, they run around with broomsticks between their legs and try to score by throwing a volleyball into the goal. The "golden snitch," whose capture always signals the end of a game, is a cross-country runner dressed all in yellow, with a tennis ball in a sock tied to his waist. The players must grab the ball, flag-football-style, to end the game.

The collegiate competition is sponsored by the nonprofit International Quidditch Association.

Saturday, Stony Brook University won its match against Transylvania University, from Kentucky, but lost against the College of Charleston and Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill College. Late Saturday, the team was awaiting outcomes of other matches to learn if it had been eliminated from the tournament.

Stony Brook team member Anthony Zutter, a senior from Centereach, said he plays because he's been reading the Harry Potter books since he was 11 years old. He is studying to be a librarian.

"When I'm on the Quidditch pitch, I feel complete," Zutter said.

Teammate Audrey Agas, a freshman from Queens' Richmond Hill neighborhood, said she plays because it's fun.

"Is there any other reason I need?" she said.