Howard County Will Host 2020 Major League Quidditch Championship
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- Calling all wizards, witches and even Muggles: the 2020 Major League Quidditch Championship is coming to Howard County!
The championship, featuring the 12 best teams across the U.S. and Canada, will happen on August 15 and 16, 2020, at Troy Park in Elkridge.
Teams will compete for the Benepe Cup, named after the league's founder.
Quidditch, the popular sport from the Harry Potter series, has been adapted to combine elements of basketball, rugby and dodgeball, Major League Quidditch officials said.
Unlike the book and film version of Quidditch, in which players on broomsticks chase or avoid enchanted balls, athletes in the real-world version run with brooms between their legs and score points with a slightly deflated volleyball while avoiding being hit by a dodgeball.
The Golden Snitch, the ball Harry Potter and other characters called Seekers would catch to end the match and score 150 points for their team, is played by a person with a ball tied around their waist.
Quidditch has grown to more than 500 teams in 26 countries, the league said.
"We are thrilled that Major League Quidditch has chosen Troy Park at Elkridge for its 2020 championship tournament," county recreation department director Raul Delerme said in a statement. "Like the Harry Potter books, quidditch has grown into a global phenomenon and one we are delighted to showcase next year at one of Howard County's finest sports venues."
Howard County beat out three other cities, including Madison, Wisconsin; Racine, Wisconsin and League City, Texas, to host the games.
The announcement comes a little more than a month after another Howard County community, Ellicott City, transformed itself into a version of the Diagon Alley wizarding shopping center, drawing thousands of visitors to the city's historic downtown.
