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This past summer while visiting colleges with my rising high school senior the tour guides when talking about club sports opportunities were sure to mention the Quidditch club. Yes, quidditch of Harry Potter fame. Little did I know that it’s a real sport with at least five times as many people playing quidditch over team handball in the U.S., if not a whole lot more.

And, believe it or not, our Beach Handball National Teams have two talent transfers from the Quidditch ranks. Current national team members Missy Sponagle and Alex Browne have both represented the U.S. in international Quidditch before transitioning to Beach Handball. Yes, this sport is even formally organized, both nationally (US Quidditch), and internationally (International Quidditch Association).

Alex Browne was kind enough to chat with me about his quidditch experience and even take some gentle ribbing. (I’m thinking quidditch players are used to it and and accordingly have skin way thick enough to handle it.)