Quadball is an official team sport that began as "muggle Quidditch" in 2003 and officially became Quadball in 2022. Two teams of seven players each, astride PVC pipes and opposing each other on a rectangular pitch, compete with the primary objective of passing a ball through the defenders' hoops, while preventing their opponents from passing it through their own hoops. The sport is played around the world.
Rules of the sport are governed by the International Quadball Association (IQA), and events are sanctioned by either the IQA or that nation's governing body. A team consists of a minimum of seven (maximum 21) players, of which six are always on the pitch: three chasers, one keeper, and two beaters. The seventh position, known as a seeker, joins each team after a time period known as the "seeker floor" (20 minutes under all three major rulesets). The pitch is rectangular, , with three hoops () at either end. Teams are required to be gender-balanced: each team may have a maximum of three non-seeker players who identify as the same gender on the field at one time, making quadball one of the few sports that not only offers a gender-integrated environment, but an open community to those who identify as nonbinary.
To score points, chasers or keepers must get the quadball—a slightly deflated volleyball—into any of the three opposing hoops, which scores the team 10 points. To impede their opponents, beaters can use dodgeballs to hit opposing players and temporarily remove them from play. Once hit by an opposing dodgeball, that player must dismount their stick, drop any ball being held, and return to touch their own team's hoops before re-entering the game.
The ultimate goal is to have more points than the other team by the time the flag—a tennis ball inside a cloth tube hanging from the shorts of an impartial official dressed in yellow—is caught. After twenty minutes of play, the flag runner moves onto the pitch and tries to evade the two seekers. When one of the seekers catches the flag, that team is awarded 30 points. If this leads to the catching team having more points overall than their opponents, the game ends immediately with the catching team winning. In the event a team catches the snitch but still trails in points (or is tied for points) the game goes into an overtime period, with the target being the score achieved by the non-catching team plus 30 points. The first team to reach the target score wins the game; alternatively, either team may concede at any time during the overtime period. Matches or games often run about 30 to 40 minutes including stoppages, but tend to vary in length due to the unpredictable nature of the flag catch.
Rules vary from the IQA standard in domestic competitions, most notably in the US. In games sanctioned by Major League Quadball (MLQ) and US Quadball (USQ), catching the flag results in 35 points, which help teams reach a set score, 60 (MLQ) points above the score of the leading team before the seeker floor. The first team to reach this set score wins the game.
History
Quadball was originally called quidditch, and has its roots in the fictional Harry Potter sport of the same name. While versions of quidditch originate as early as 2003, the sport that would evolve into quadball was first created in 2005 at Middlebury College by Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe. It grew into its own distinct sport after ten publications of rulebooks.
In 2007, the first World Cup took place, won by Middlebury. Starting in 2008, an annual World Cup was hosted in the United States, attended by collegiate and community teams. Canada often sent several Ontario or Quebec teams, and Australia, Mexico and France each sent a team once. In 2012, the IQA hosted the Summer Games, where five nations sent national teams, and two years later, the IQA hosted the Global Games, where the United States defeated Australia for the gold medal.
In December 2021, US Quadball and Major League Quadball proposed changing the name of the sport to avoid a potential trademark dispute with Warner Bros and to distance themselves from Rowling and her views on transgender people. Names suggested include "quidball", "quadball", "quickball", "quicker", "quidstrike" and "quadraball". In July 2022, the new name "quadball" was announced, which references the game's four balls and retains 'Q' as the first letter. The International Quidditch Association also adopted the name of "quadball" at this time. Since then, "quadball" has been used to represent sanctioned versions of the sport around the world.
Play
Each match begins with six of the starting players (excluding the seekers) along the starting line within their keeper zone with brooms on the ground and the four balls lined in the centre of the pitch. The head referee then calls "brooms up!", upon which players run to gain possession of the balls. The flag runner goes on the field at 19 minutes, and the seekers are released at 20 minutes.
Goals are worth ten points. Once a point is scored, the quadball must be given to the other team's keeper, and almost immediately returns to the offensive. Games can last any length of time longer than 20 minutes, depending on the skill and endurance of the seekers and flag runner.
The game may end after the flag has been caught through what is called a clean catch by the Flag Referee, The Head Referee, and the Flag Runner. The team that caught the flag is awarded 30 points. If the catching Team now has more points than the other, they win and the game ends immediately. If, however, they have fewer points or are tied, the game goes to overtime, with a set score of the non-catching team score plus 30 points. The winner is determined not by the flag catch, but by the number of points earned throughout the entirety of the game. Depending on the score teams will delay the flag catch to better their chances of winning. Teams that are losing tend to defend the flag by placing themselves between the Flag Runner and the opposing seeker.
Positions The players positions are shown by the colour of the headband they wear on pitch. Chasers (white headbands) are responsible for passing the quadball and scoring points by throwing the quadball through one of the opponent's goals for 10 points. Chasers may enter into physical contact with opposing chasers or keepers. There are three chasers on the field for each team. Keepers (green headband) function as chasers with extra privileges. The keeper is invulnerable to dodgeballs as well as having indisputable possession of the quadball when within their team's keeper zone, an area around the team's hoops. There is one keeper per team. Beaters (black headband) attempt to hit the opposing team's players with dodgeballs and attempt to block the dodgeballs from hitting their team's players. Beaters may catch a dodgeball to avoid being knocked out. As there are three dodgeballs for the four beaters on the pitch, the fourth, dodgeball-less beater puts pressure on the team in control of both dodgeballs (often called "dodgeball control" or "dodgeball supremacy"). If a beater is on a team that has no dodgeballs, they may raise a hand above their shoulder with their fist closed and claim "dodgeball immunity" to prevent being knocked out by live dodgeballs as they collect the third dodgeball. A team that has two dodgeballs may not prevent the other team from collecting the third dodgeball. Beaters may enter into physical contact only with other beaters. Seekers (yellow headband) attempt to catch the flag. They may not forcefully contact the flag runner but are permitted to contact the other seeker. The flag runner is released after 19 minutes, giving the seekers a chance to watch the flag runner before being released 1 minute later, after a total of 20 minutes of game time. There is one seeker on the field for each team.
Equipment The game is played with six standing hoops, three on each side of a square pitch. Each player must hold a broomstick between their legs. There are three different types of balls in play, and five in total: the quadball, three dodgeballs, and the flag.
Stick
The stick serves the purpose of being a handicap such as one-handed dribbling in basketball or using only one's feet in association football. The player must stay mounted on their stick continuously unless they have been hit with a dodgeball, in which case the player needs to dismount from their stick and return to their hoops. To be mounted on the broomstick means that the player must hold the stick between their legs and not have it fully on the ground. If a player comes off of their stick for any reason, they have to dismount fully and return to their hoops to tag back in and remount.
Players can substitute a variety of objects for stick depending on the level of seriousness. Many teams play on PVC pipes of about 3 feet or 1 meter in length; these are usually made, but can also be purchased from specialist quadball suppliers.
Hoops Three hoops, each across, are placed on either side of the pitch on poles of differing heights (, and ), placed apart. Chasers and keepers can score by throwing the quadball through any one of the hoops, from either front or back, gaining ten points for their team per score. Any player experiencing a knock-out effect from either dismounting their stick or getting hit with a dodgeball must touch with any part of their body excluding the stick to the pole or loop of any one of their hoops and then remount before returning to play.
Volleyball The volleyball is slightly deflated and can only be manipulated by chasers or keepers. Used for scoring, it may pass through any hoop from either side. Regardless of which team caused the volleyball to pass through the hoop, as long as it is in play, a goal is scored against the team whose hoop was scored upon, which is counted to be 10 points.
Dodgeballs The dodgeball is a slightly deflated standard dodgeball, in circumference, that can only be manipulated by beaters. There are three dodgeballs. The dodgeballs are used to hit any other player on the field. Upon being hit by a dodgeball, a player must dismount their stick, drop any ball that they may have been carrying, and touch their team's hoops before resuming play. There also is no friendly fire, meaning that dodgeballs thrown by beaters cannot affect any of their teammates.
Flag
The flag is a tennis ball placed at the bottom of a long yellow pouch that is attached to the back of the flag runner's shorts like in tag rugby. The flag-runner is allowed to be more physical than other players.
Only seekers may make advances towards the flag or the flag runner, and no forceful contact with the flag runner is allowed. If the flag is not caught within a certain period of time, handicaps for the flag runner come into play. Catching the flag awards 30 points.
As of the release of Rulebook 8, the flag runner is relegated to playing only on the field in the same fashion as the other players. Previously, flag runners left the pitch to be pursued by seekers returning to the field after a predetermined amount of time.
The flag runner has the following handicaps imposed on them as the game progresses, to even the field if they are significantly more skilled than either seeker
Rules USQ (originally IQA) has released 20 iterations of the Rulebook, each building upon the last. The modern IQA has released 10 iterations of the Rulebook since it split from USQ.
Playing
Each match begins with four of the starting players (excluding the seekers) along the starting line within their keeper zone with sticks on the ground. One beater from each team has a dodgeball with them. One chaser and one beater from each team line up at the midline, and the quadball and the contested dodgeball are placed in front of them.