Quidditch Comes to Haverford

Don't miss out on a chance to see a beloved fictional sport come to life! The Keystone Cup, a competitive quidditch tournament taking place at Haverford College on October 18th, 2014, will bring together top teams in the quidditch world. The event is free and open to the public.

Inspired by the game from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, quidditch has evolved into so much more than fiction. The co-ed, contact sport boasts over 300 teams around the world. Locally, there’s a developing community of quidditch players and teams, including groups at Pennsylvania State University, Villanova University, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University and Swarthmore College.

The Keystone Cup aims to bring competitive quidditch back to a broad audience in the Philadelphia area. The Cup consists of eight teams, selected based on skill, talent and spectator-appeal. Participating teams include Villanova University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and New York University. Situated on Haverford College's campus, and organized by local high schoolers, the Keystone Cup hopes to facilitate a lively, young and exciting atmosphere--ideal and fun for competitive quidditch.

Two Greater Philadelphia Area high school students, Jack McGovern and Liam Scott, have piloted the organization of the Keystone Cup. McGovern, who has been attending quidditch tournaments since 2010, is a familiar presence in the international quidditch scene.

“The Keystone Cup really started as an idea from the quidditch community. Captains and players would ask me when I was going to host ‘Jack’s Invitational’,” McGovern said. “We're so excited to make this a reality. It’s so cool to think that our tournament has attracted high-quality quidditch teams from Indiana to North Carolina."

US Quidditch, the governing body of quidditch in the United States, recently recognized the Keystone Cup as an officially sanctioned event. As a sanctioned event, players on each of the Keystone Cup's eight teams have the opportunity to gain experience and improve their ranking for the 2015 USQ World Cup in Rock Hill, SC.

"The Keystone Cup gives us a great opportunity to learn from talented teams outside of the Midwest," said Dan Daugherty, head captain of Bowling Green State University, the defending Midwest Regional Champions. BGSU is one of several teams traveling eight hours or more to play in the Keystone Cup.

Teams will contest preliminary round games in the morning and early afternoon. An elimination round and championship game will be played in the late afternoon. Admission to the Keystone Cup is free and fans young and old are encouraged to attend. For more information, check out the Keystone Cup website, like the Keystone Cup on Facebook and follow the Keystone Cup on Twitter.

Official Keystone Cup Promo

The official Keystone Cup promotional video depicts the sun rising over the Lower Featherbed Field at Haverford College, where the Keystone Cup will be contested. Next, short clips of exciting quidditch gameplay from regular season tournaments, regional championships, World Cup VII in North Myrtle Beach flash across the screen. The quidditch game footage is courtesy of UNC Quidditch and Rogue Sports TV. After the names of the eight teams competing in the Keystone Cup pop up, the Keystone Cup logo slides into the picture.

Quidditch Photography

Games from Turtle Cup IV in College Park, MD on September 28th, 2014 and IQA World Cup VII in North Myrtle Beach, SC on April 5th, 2014. All photography by Nicole Harrig. Contact keystonecupquidditch@gmail.com for versions of the photos below without watermarks.

Photo by Nicole Harrig 

Photo by Nicole Harrig 

Photo by Nicole Harrig

Photo by Nicole Harrig

Photo by Nicole Harrig

Photo by Nicole Harrig

Photo by Nicole Harrig 

Photo by Nicole Harrig

Photo by Nicole Harrig

Photo by Nicole Harrig

Quidditch Links

International Quidditch Association
The International Quidditch Association is the international governing body for the sport of quidditch.

US Quidditch
US Quidditch is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to governing the sport of quidditch and inspiring young people to lead physically active and socially engaged lives in the United States.

The Keystone Cup
The official Keystone Cup website for event news and information.

The QuidKid
The oldest active site for quidditch news, analysis, commentary, interviews and rankings. Keystone Cup Tournament Director Jack "ThePhan" McGovern is the founder and sole contributor.

The Eighth Man
The quidditch community’s go-to media site for analysis and strategy. 

Keystone Cup Flyer

The Keystone Cup flyer was designed by Crystal Hutcheson. It depicts the Keystone Cup logo with all eight attending teams listed in the bottom right corner. The date, time and place are scrawled over a set of light gray hoops.

Keystone Cup Logo

The Keystone Cup logo was designed by Crystal Hutcheson. In quidditch, each team has three chasers and one keeper who work together to score a goal through any one of the three hoops. The hoops are depicted inside the keystone, a state symbol of Pennsylvania.

Contact Us

Below is the Keystone Cup's primary media contact and its social media outlets.

Jack McGovern 

Tournament Director

Keystone Cup Quidditch, Inc.

keystonecupquidditch@gmail.com

Keystone Cup Quidditch, Inc. |

  keystonecupquidditch.blogspot.com

Twitter | Facebook