From page to pitch: Minneapolis Monarchs bring quidditch back to Cities this weekend
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On a summer evening at Van Cleve Park in Minneapolis, surrounded by games of volleyball, kickball and baseball, three hoops on PVC-pipe posts rise from the middle of a field. Slightly deflated volleyballs and dodgeballs sit nearby.
To an outsider, it may look like a bunch of random sports equipment — but to a Minneapolis Monarch, it is the beginning of a lengthy quidditch practice in preparation for their home opener.
Quidditch — once just a fictional game in the popular Harry Potter book and movie series — continues to draw players as a real-life sport.
There are four positions: chaser, beater, keeper and seeker. All players must stay on their PVC-pipe makeshift broomstick while running across the pitch avoiding, or throwing, volleyballs and dodgeballs in search for the golden snitch, and to score points against their opponent.
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Quidditch as an activity outside of the books and movies dates back more than 15 years. In Minneapolis, the sport came a bit later.
The Minnesota Voyageurs, an unofficial quidditch team founded in 2015, allowed Minneapolis to be selected as an expansion team by the Major League Quidditch (MLQ) national league, and created the Monarchs in 2019. They play in the spring and summer.
Cody Narveson — head coach of the Minneapolis Monarchs who’s a beater for the team — joined a intramural quidditch team while attending the University of Minnesota. He has seen the changing landscape of the sport in the Twin Cities.
When the Monarchs are in off-season, many players — including Narveson — join the fall and winter league of the Twin Cities Quidditch Club. Even though he plays year-round, he says he just can’t get enough of the sport after more than a decade.
“For better, and for worse, the time to stop and forget about quidditch doesn’t really happen,” he said.
And while quidditch is based on the fictional sport, that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone who plays for the Monarchs is a die-hard Harry Potter fan. They’ve expressed concerns about the racism and transphobia that Harry Potter author J.K Rowling has been accused of.
“As Harry Potter is progressively a little bit more removed from the younger generations, maybe it was not as formative for them, we can look back fondly on what this book series and franchise meant to us — but now, it means something completely different,” Narveson said.
Chaser Emma Persons, a student at the U of M and second-year quidditch player, said she joined the Monarchs for both her nerdy and competitive sides. She is a “huge” Harry Potter fan. But, similar to Narveson, she says there are a lot of conversations about the relation of the sport with the franchise and what it means to separate them in the name of the game.
“Personally, I try to be very open about the fact that I don’t support anything that J.K Rowling has said. I think quidditch is very inclusive and works hard to make sure that people of all identities and backgrounds feel included,” she said.
Persons said she is looking forward to feeling more comfortable on Saturday for the first home series of her second season with the Monarchs, and hopes to bring the chemistry and relationships she has created with her team to the fans and city.
Assistant coach and chaser Alexander “OB” Obanor played football at Augsburg University and joined TC Frost, now known as the Twin Cities Quidditch Club, after college while looking for an outlet to keep him busy.
He says he is not a big Harry Potter fan but liked the movies.
“A lot of my friends loved the books so I was around those people, but here I am not knowing how to answer questions about [Harry Potter] when we play 21 questions on road trips,” he joked.
Obanor says he is eager to work toward finding new ways to build the sport and making sure that everyone feels included.
Last year, the Monarchs won the north division that includes teams from Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, New York and Toronto. Obanor said they are ready to defend that title and maintain their winning streak.
On Saturday, July 16, the Minneapolis Monarchs will host the Indianapolis Intensity and play three games from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Parade Park in Minneapolis. Tickets start at $5 and can be obtained in advance or at the door.
There will be a livestream on the Major League Quidditch YouTube channel.
