How inclusive is Quidditch really?
a comment by Daniel Knoke // translated by Luis Teschner
Um den deutschen Text zu lesen, klick hier.
Despite all the gender inclusivity, deciding moments are often played out between two men. An example: the snitch catch during the finale of the European Quidditch Cup 2018.
© Juliane Schillinger (https://www.facebook.com/VanKlaverenQP/)
Quidditch is not as inclusive as commonly claimed. While this statement might raise a few eyebrows, a closer look can only leave one result: That in many areas, Quidditch is not inclusive at all.
The first topic is almost engraved into the sport of Quidditch and immediately springs to mind: gender inclusivity. The community prides itself on letting people of all genders play on pitch equally. In this case, ‘all genders’ particularly means ‘more than two’ and implies an acknowledgement of non-binary identities beyond male and female. All the inspiring individuals that continuously work hard in the community to push gender inclusivity forward, slowly but surely, make the world a better place. With this, Quidditch provides a much-needed contribution to society which should not be played down. Cases like Poland, where more and more regions create “LGBT free zones” show how necessary it is to act today.
Does the gender rule need a reform?
In the fight for equal rights across genders, Quidditch is a trailblazer. That’s because all genders are not just accepted, but gender diversity is a must for every team. The gender rule states that at all time during a game, a maximum of four people of the same gender can be on pitch. As Quidditch is played with six (seven respectively from minute 18 on) players, teams therefore are required to have different genders in their roster. Thus, diversity is ensured.
Sadly, that’s where the problems begin. While in past years (at least in the German quidditch scene), many teams played 50-50 with three male and three female players and sometimes even had a majority of females, recent trends show the opposite. Most of the leading competitive teams play with four males and four males only. Thanks to the gender rule, two women and/or non-binaries still get to be on pitch, but often they’re downgraded to observers. That said, strong counterexamples exist and show how non-male players play vital roles in their teams and dominate games. European case in point: the METU Unicorns from Turkey. With their undisputable power, their female players wowed everyone at the recent European Quidditch Cup. Still, it’s examples like this that bring the otherwise discouraging truth to light.
We are losing our females
There’s a reason why the formerly mentioned European Quidditch Cup resulted in a discussion that gave birth to the slogan “play your females or lose your females”. In that regard, the German development is worrying. Some might even say that we’re already losing our females. And if you look at Germany’s top teams and at who’s coming to their trainings, many of them prove that exact statement. Men show up, everyone else doesn’t (as much). As an example, the author of this text looked at his own team, the Berlin Bluecaps. He analysed their trainings of the last months and looked at who came how often. The results: Usually, two thirds are male and one third non-male. Often, there was an even stronger imbalance.
If this development surprises you, there is an easy explanation. Why would non-male players come to training, if they won’t play important games and positions. Motivation plummets. Luckily, players have reacted and made a written request that will be decided on during the next plenary meeting of the DQB. They want to change the gender rule, so that no longer can four people of the same gender play at the same time. Instead, a maximum of three is supposed to be established. Even though this request has its deficits and needs to be extensively discussed, its implementation would be a strong signpost showing where German Quidditch is headed. Because right now, more and more people see that quidditch is not always as gender inclusive as we wish it to be.
The majority owns a German passport
How diversity handled in other areas? Here as well, we see deficits. Looking around the big German tournaments, most people are white. Statistics, taken again from the Berlin Bluecaps, support this observation: out of 52 members, 44 own a German passport. Factoring in the diversity of a metropolis like Berlin, this result is even more astounding. So, is Quidditch not inclusive of immigrants or people with migration background?
Also, let’s talk about money for a minute. Is Quidditch a sport for the high and middle class? Or more provocative: is it too expensive for poorer people? The accusation to be exclusive in this regard is a little harsh, especially for German Quidditch. For years now, cheaper than cheap gym halls have been made available for everyone as an accommodation at tournaments. Still, money is an issue. Tournament fees have risen steadily, and other costs are fixed, too, such as travelling to game days. Those are often hundreds of kilometres away. Last season, the Berlin Bluecaps had no tournament or game day in their league apart from the ones they hosted that was less than a hundred kilometres away. The closest actually was the one in Halle which was a drive of 169 km.
A monthly wage for Quidditch travels
Then again, driving is not the most ecological way to travel. If, for that reason, driving should be substituted with travelling by train, you can get unlucky and pay a three-digit amount for a return trip. Adding that up for multiple league days, two or three tournaments and maybe additional fantasy tournaments, you can estimate to pay an average monthly wage each year just on travel expenses. Other sports like handball don’t have this problem as clubs are abundant. You just have to ‘travel’ to the next neighbourhood or city.
Similar experiences regarding money were made in the discussion about Trading Cards at the European Quidditch Cup. Although it should be stressed that this was no one’s direct fault, the situation is another factor that can be summed up by the statement: Quidditch is not very inclusive for anyone on a tighter budget.
Growth could solve multiple problems
The last topic to be discussed is education. Is Quidditch only for college students? For this one, there aren’t really any numbers available, but some observations still catch the eye. Many teams are or were part of college sport programs and therefore target university students as their main recruiting audience. And it might just be a gut feeling but don’t at least 90% of Quidditch players either have a degree or work on one?
Some people didn’t come across Quidditch at their home university. They met the sport on a semester abroad. Typically, let’s say an apprentice for hairdressing does not go abroad for their studies or take part in college sport programs. Therefore, they have a substantially smaller chance to get involved with the wonderful sport that is Quidditch. Thus, Quidditch isn’t really inclusive here either.
But this finding might also be the biggest chance for Quidditch to grow to be more inclusive. Problems could be solved by approaching non-students that so far have not gotten in contact with the sport. This would diversify the quidditch world by bringing in people from outside the universities. However, there’s more than that: more people also mean more teams which then in turn means less travel and smaller costs (what’s not to love about a potential Berlin league). Finally, among the newcomers, there would hopefully be many non-male players to balance out the gender ratio again. And that’s something to wish this wonderful sport.