If you drive by Chesterton High School on Saturday, May 18 and see a swarm of kids running around on broomsticks, no, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. From Noon to 3 p.m., high school students will compete in the 2013 Quidditch Cup, an adaptation of the magical world’s most popular sport—quidditch—from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
The spectacle is open to the public. Admission is free, though donations are welcome. Proceeds will go to the Ronald McDonald House in Chicago.
Organized by the CHS yearbook staff, the event is in its second year.
“It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen,” yearbook adviser Bill Caulton said. “You’ve got people trying to throw a dodgeball through a set of hoops, other people throwing dodgeballs at them, one player from each team chasing a kid dressed up in yellow from head to toe—and all of this is happening on broomsticks.”
In addition to the action on the field, spectators can also enjoy chocolate wands and other Harry-Potter themed foods.
With eight teams, two for each of the four houses in Harry Potter, and 85 total participants, Caulton said this year’s tournament looks to be twice as big as last year’s, which raised more than $1,000 for CHS Art Teacher Adam Schultz’s son Rusty, who had been diagnosed with brain cancer.
“Donating money for a good cause is the ultimate goal,” Caulton said, “but to be able to provide a fun, unique, and memorable event for everyone involved makes it even better.”
Photo: Approaching his opponent's set of goals, sophomore George Romero tries to avoid goalkeeper senior Ronnie Kovach at last year's Quidditch Cup event hosted at Chesterton High School.