Quidditch, the real-life sport based on the beloved broom-flying game from the “Harry Potter” book and movie series, has officially been changed to “Quadball.”
U.S. Quidditch and Major League Quidditch — now rebranded as U.S. Quadball (USQ) and Major League Quadball (MLQ) — both announced the name change this week. The International Quidditch Association (IQA) will also follow suit in adopting the new name.
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“The IQA is very excited to be joining USQ and MLQ in changing the name of our sport and supporting this change across our members worldwide,” said Chris Lau, chair of the IQA Board of Trustees, in a statement. “We are confident in this step and we look forward to all the new opportunities quadball will bring. This is an important moment in our sport’s history, and I personally am thrilled to be a part of it.”
Back in December, North American associations U.S. Quadball and Major League Quadball discussed the potential name change primarily due to two reasons: To trademark an original name (Warner Bros. still owns the trademark for “Quidditch”) and to separate ties with “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling.
Rowling has received widespread criticism for her series of tweets about the transgender community.
“Our sport has developed a reputation as one of the most progressive sports in the world on gender equality and inclusivity, in part thanks to its gender maximum rule, which stipulates that a team may not have more than four players of the same gender on the field at a time,” U.S. Quadball and Major League Quadball said in a joint statement last year. “Both organizations feel it is imperative to live up to this reputation in all aspects of their operations and believe this move is a step in that direction.”
According to the governing bodies, the sport is currently played by nearly 600 teams in 40 countries.
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