Wizardry of Leeds filmmakers to bring Harry Potter sport quidditch to life in documentary

Caroline Taylor (left) and Jennie Grimes.

The game conjured up on the pages of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter super series has been adapted for mere mortals into an all-action unisex sport with a global following that has a base right here in Yorkshire.

Keepers, chasers, beaters and seekers across the country are vying for places in Team UK’s squad for July’s Quidditch World Cup in Germany.

With competition for places rife, Caroline Taylor and Jennie Grimes, who play for the Leeds Griffin team, are turning Team UK’s journey into a documentary.

A still from the trailer of the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

In February the duo launched a crowdfunding page and quickly surpassed their £1,000 target to help them create Fly the Movie: Journey to Frankfurt and bring real life quidditch to the masses.

University of Leeds student Caroline, 19, said: “The aim is to spread the word about quidditch and to prove it’s not a silly little offshoot from Harry Potter.

“It’s a physical endurance sport that’s hard but a lot of fun and we want to show that. It’s also one of the only mixed gender and full contact sports – it is progressive. Hopefully we can inspire people.”

Quidditch was adapted from the Harry Potter series by American students in 2005. The sport, which combines aspects of disciplines like handball, rugby and dodgeball, is now played in more than 20 countries.

A training session with the Leeds Griffins in Hyde Park. Picture by Tony Johnson.

The film will be available for download once complete. For details visit indiegogo.com/projects/fly-the-movie-journey-to-frankfurt-2016.

What actually is quidditch?

A team consists of 21 people, with seven players per team on the field. Each player has a broom. At the most, there can only be four players on the pitch of the same gender.

There are three types of balls; the quaffle, thrown through the hoops by chasers, bludgers, thrown at opposing players, and the snitch, a tag attached to a runner. When the snitch is caught the game ends.

Teams have one keeper, who guards the hoops, three chasers, who try to score through opposing hoops (10 points), two beaters, who throw bludgers, and one seeker, who tries to catch the snitch (30 points).