U.S. Quidditch (USQ) has selected Goldsboro, North Carolina as a finalist to potentially host the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships at the Bryan Multi-Sports Complex. Visit Goldsboro, the travel and tourism department for the City of Goldsboro and Wayne County, submitted a hosting proposal to the U.S. Quidditch office in February 2021 and received the finalist news in mid-July. Since then, the tourism office has coordinated a site visit for the USQ office to take place in Goldsboro on August 17-19, 2021. The site visit involves USQ representatives touring the host venue facilities and area amenities outlined in the proposal submitted by Visit Goldsboro.
Goldsboro was the host city for the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. Goldsboro was also scheduled to host the 2020 tournament, but the event was canceled due to the impacts of the coronavirus.
According to the U.S. Quidditch office, the 2019 championship weekend was the most attended regionals event in terms of team participation and spectatorship. Collegiate and club teams traveled as far away as Penn State and Drexel University to compete for a chance to qualify for the U.S. Quidditch Cup. Visit Goldsboro assessed the economic impact from the 2019 tournament weekend to be approximately $64,000 due to visitor spending at hotels, restaurants, area stores, and gas stations.
Quidditch originated as a fictional sport invented by author J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter book series. The sport evolved into reality when a freshman at Middlebury College in Vermont laid the foundation for the sport’s rulebook and the very first game of quidditch was played in October 2005. Over the last 14 years, the sport has grown into a widely respected, physically intense sport. Quidditch is a mixed gender contact sport with a unique mix of elements from rugby, dodgeball, and tag. A team is made up of seven athletes who play with brooms between their legs at all times. While the game can appear chaotic to the casual observer, once familiar with the basic rules, quidditch is an exciting sport to watch and even more exciting to play. The U.S. Quidditch official rulebook is available free for download here.
U.S. Quidditch hosts seven regional championships each year with the intent to showcase the growing sport in different areas around the country and increase awareness of the USQ organization. USQ includes official club teams at collegiate and club levels that compete over a yearlong season. The regional championships are part of the qualification process for teams attending the annual U.S. Quidditch Cup. The next national Cup will take place in April 2022 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
“Our office saw this as an exciting opportunity to bring new visitors and their families to Goldsboro, as well as provide a fun experience for our residents. Quidditch is a unique sport, and Goldsboro is a unique city,” said Ashlin Glatthar, director of travel and tourism for Goldsboro-Wayne County. “USQ wants to grow their sport’s awareness, and we want to continue growing our Goldsboro-Wayne County awareness. We felt our organization’s commonality coupled with our premier sports venue make us a great fit as a host, and we’re honored USQ is considering us once again for their 2022 season.”
If Goldsboro is selected as the host for the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship, the event will be free of charge and open to the public. Additional information about the sport and the USQ organization is available at www.usquidditch.org.
