For the better part of a
decade, lacrosse has been known as the fastest growing sport in the nation. At
Grand Valley State University, there is another sport that is gaining popularity that also
uses a stick, but this sport comes from the wizarding world of arguably the
most popular book franchise in history.

The GVSU Quidditch club
brings the fantastical sport of quidditch from the Harry Potter book series to
the turf of the Kelly Family Sports Center. The club hosted its first event of
the season in Allendale Saturday, Jan. 21. The Lakers hosted an event earlier
this season in Sparta, Michigan.

“It was really well run,”
said club president Katlyn Feley. “A lot of people came up and asked if we
would host again. Other teams seemed to really like it, and our team seemed to
enjoy having a home tournament.”

The Lakers hosted a five
team tournament that included visiting schools Michigan State and Bowling Green
State. The Lakers placed fourth ahead of the Spartans, and Bowling Green State
earned the top spot.

“It ran really smoothly,”
said GVSU coach Brooke Portwood. “Our team performed pretty well to the
standard that I expected us to.”

This season, the Lakers
are ranked tenth in the region, two spots outside of the top eight that are
invited to the national tournament.

“We just missed
qualifying for nationals by one game,” Portwood said. “We’re right on the cusp
of becoming good.”

Typically 80 teams
participate in the national tournament, and only the top 8 from each region are
invited. The Lakers are ranked 78th in the nation but will be left out of
the tournament.

The club qualified for
nationals in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The team did not travel to nationals in
2014 because of player conflicts, but in 2013 the team made some noise in the
tournament.

“The first year we went,
we actually surprised a lot of teams,” Portwood said. “They didn’t have very
high expectations for us, and we came and actually made it to the second day of
the tournament.”

It has been two years
since the Lakers attended nationals, but another trip could be in the near
future.

“I would love to see this
team go to nationals again,” Portwood said. “We’ve been there before and it
would be great to get there again. We we’re so close (this year).”

The club has been quickly
rising in numbers in the past couple of years. The team currently has 24
players on the roster, which is plenty for a sport that only requires seven
players on the field at one time. With players having other obligations, the
club relies on having reserves readily available.

“It seems that every year
we recruit a good number of people,” Portwood said. “We usually maintain a
solid practicing group of 21 people.”

Although the team is not participating in the national tournament, the
Lakers will be traveling to San Marcos, Texas for the Consolation Cup II March
25 and 26.