A Harry Potter-inspired Catalonia-Spain 20 minutes from Carles Puigdemont's home.

BarcelonaThe walkers and runners Those who get up early on Sunday to exercise on the banks of the Besòs River are surprised when they see, near the Badalona neighborhood of Artigues, a group of boys and girls running up and down with a PVC stick between their legs and various types of balls in their hands that they throw at their friends, and try to act like a circus, strategically arranged on the grass that exists between the water and the bike path. "Some ask us what we play, others indiscreetly film us and some cyclists who call us 'Harry Potter!'" laughs Brais Costoya, one of the regulars at the Sunday sessions of the Catalan quadball team, a discipline that was born in 2005 from sport and the inspiration of quiddit. It has been practiced in Barcelona for years.

Last Sunday's training session was the last before the Catalan team traveled to Belgium to play in their third World Cup, which has been underway since Friday in Tubize, a Walloon town 20 minutes by car from Waterloo, where Carles Puigdemont lives. In the group stage, Catalonia faces Hong Kong, Mexico, Belgium—finalist of the previous edition—and Spain. The match against the Spanish national team is this Saturday. "We don't wear the flag because yellow is not allowed by regulation, but we do wear national symbols like the dragon and the cross of Sant Jordi. It's never happened, but if we qualify among the top three, it will be heard on the podium." The Reapers"explains Marc Alcalà, president of the Quadbol Association of Catalonia (AQC).

Coexistence with Spain

"When the sport first appeared, the Catalan teams couldn't agree with the Spanish and organized their own federation, which is a founding member of the International Quadball Association. That's why we have our own national team and can officially face Spain," Alcalà explains. In the first matches between the two teams, there was a lot of rivalry, but that has changed over time. "There's no political tension on the pitch: we get along very well, we all know each other. In fact, we're a little fed up with always being paired with Spain. We'd prefer to play against India, Vietnam, or the United States," comments Anna Caro, a player for the national team and president of the only club currently in Catalonia, Barcelona.

The fact that it's such a minority sport means quadball isn't recognized as an official sport. "We have regulations, governing bodies, and competitions, but we don't reach the minimum number of clubs to join a federation. This limits us, of course. We can't access subsidies, and we pay for everything ourselves. Furthermore, quadball is played on natural or artificial grass, and in Barcelona, it's incredibly difficult to find fields. That's why we train in public spaces, in the Parque de la Paz or at Llorenç Savall, in Vallès Occidental. It's the closest we can afford," complains Alcalà, also a national team player. "To grow as a sport, we need more teams, especially outside of Barcelona. Before, we had them in Terrassa, Tarragona, and Sant Joan de Vilatorrada," he recalls.

Harry Potter Is Past

"At first, most of the players were probably Harry Potter fans, but now there isn't as much of a bond, and they don't use capes and broomsticks like they used to," explains Costoya, who debunks the geeky stereotype with which the sport was associated. Quidditch to quadrocopter, precisely, to distance ourselves from the series, from Warner Bros - thus avoiding problems with the royalties- and the ideological positions of author JK Rowling - she is accused of making transphobic comments -. And also so that we are taken more seriously as a sport," reveals Alcalà.

"Quadball stands out for its inclusivity and for being mixed. In fact, there is a rule according to which there can be no more than three players of the same gender per team - when there are six on the field - or four - when the seventh comes out - on the pitch. In addition, trans and non-binary people can play without any problem. We defend their rights, as well as those of the LGTBIQ+ community, and that is why the gender with which each person identifies is considered their gender on the field," proclaims Caro about this discipline that combines characteristics of rugby, handball, the game of kill and the handkerchief, in which Catalonia competes, officially, against Spain. ~BK_S