Brooms up, on your toes, fingers crossed.

Less than two weeks from today, Syracuse’s Quidditch team will battle collegiate teams from all around the world for the sport’s most coveted title: Quidditch World Cup Champions.

“I’m very excited to see how our team performs this year,” said the team’s president, Joey DiStefano, a senior environmental engineering major at Syracuse University.

The team will head to North Myrtle Beach on April 5–6 to compete in its fifth World Cup.

Many find the thought of a Quidditch match played outside the pages of a Harry Potter book puzzling, though the players know all too well how competitive and dangerous it can truly be. Quidditch is a coed, full contact sport with no padding and little protection.

“In past cups, players have been kicked in the head,” said Sarah Parkins, treasurer of the team. “We’ve had people sent to the hospital over concussions, shock, broken bones. It can be really bad.”

But that doesn’t stop the Syracuse Snare. With 42 official International Quidditch Association players and 20 unofficial, the team gained full status as an SU club sport last year — an accomplishment since the club was founded as an organization only five years ago.

Due to World Cup regulations, each team is only permitted to bring 21 athletes. In addition, the Snare has chosen to bring three members for moral support.

Making the trek to the World Cup takes months of careful planning and preparation. To become a qualified participant, teams must first compete in the regional championship. Based on their performance, teams will be selected to receive a bid, securing a spot to compete in the cup.

While teams normally receive bids in the fall, the Snare received its personal invitation only last month. Through the power of social media and word of mouth, pursuits to fundraise the trip took off.

This season, the Snare cites a big part of its success to its Indiegogo campaign, an international crowd funding site, which has raised almost $1,300.

“Our treasurer is a superstar — she’s amazing,” DiStefano said.

According to Parkins, the team was responsible for raising nearly $4,000 to play the field in South Carolina this April. While the price per player generally ranges from $200–300, the extensive draw-in of monetary support radically reduced the price to a mere $15 per person — their most successful season yet.

Friends, family and Snare alumni have chipped in to see that the team makes it to the annual event. The original goal was to raise $750, but that amount was obtained in roughly 24 hours.

By donating on Indiegogo, backers have the option of obtaining a “perk.” For $10, you can have a signed team photo. For a more charitable donor, $1,000 could land you a magical date night with DiStefano.

“My goal as treasurer this year was being able to fund the World Cup fully and stay in the green for next year’s season,” Parkins said. “Right now, it’s looking like we will be.”

In addition to Indiegogo, the Snare held a bake sale with the help of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, sold shirts and jerseys on Teespring and made $300 during their Yule Ball formal this winter. The team was also provided $1,000 by the Sport Department and loaned another $1,000 for hotel and registration fees.

“Being an official club sport this year has benefitted us incredibly with the support of Recreational Services, other sport clubs and the sport club director, Angie Petrie,” DiStefano said. “She has been awesome and so helpful.”

As for predictions, the team is highly optimistic. Some have branded the Snare as underdogs, while others disagree, commending their performance at regionals in Rochester.

Said Parkins: “I think we’ll make it to bracket play. We’ll see where we get from there.”

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Published on March 25, 2014 at 1:00 am

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