When Max Cairo ’27 first stumbled upon Brown’s quadball team, he was still a prospective student. While on a frosty campus tour during his junior year of high school, Cairo walked past students running around Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle with brooms between their legs — slipping, tackling and shouting plays at each other as if they were immune to the cold.
For Cairo, that scene perfectly reflects the spirit of the team he would later join as a student at Brown. Brown Quadball, Cairo says, is a community of people who show up in any weather simply because of their love of the sport and their team.
Quadball is based on Quidditch, the fictional sport featured in the “Harry Potter” series. In Quidditch, players fly around the pitch on broomsticks and attempt to score goals by throwing a ball called a “quaffle” past the other team’s keeper into one of three hoops at either end. At the same time, players must dodge hard balls known as “bludgers” while one player on each team, called the “seeker,” attempts to find a small, fast-flying ball known as the “golden snitch.” Once either seeker grabs the golden snitch, they gain 150 points for their team and usually win the game.
A non-magical, grounded variation of the game is played by university students across the country and in leagues worldwide. Brown Quadball Founder and Coach Derik Wagner ’15 described the sport as “fast, physical and dynamic,” with constant movements and “quick thinking” required to keep up with about a dozen players and four balls in play.
According to the rulebook, the sport retains Quidditch’s four positions — chasers, beaters, a keeper and a seeker. Chasers score by throwing the quadball through the opposing team’s hoops, beaters use dodgeballs as bludgers to temporarily “knock out” players, and the keeper guards the hoops. Instead of a flying snitch, the seeker now pursues a “flag runner,” a neutral athlete wearing a detachable tail.
Wagner explained that quadball uses a set-score format. For the first 20 minutes, only chasers and beaters play. After a brief break, officials set a target score for both teams — calculating by adding 60 points to the current score of the leading team. After the flag runner and seekers enter the game, pulling the flag earns 35 points, a boost that can quickly close gaps and change momentum but, unlike the snitch, does not end the game.
Wagner said this structure produces intense, “next-goal-wins” movements that keep matches competitive all the way to the end. A quadball game ends when either team reaches the set score.
Quadball at Brown traces back to a Providence community team Wagner founded called the Providence Ashwinders, composed of Brown students and local players. When numbers declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brown students on Ashwinders applied to turn the team into an official club sport. Brown Quadball officially formed in 2020 and began competing in the Massachusetts Quadball Conference in fall 2021.
Previously called quidditch, the sport, in major U.S. leagues, was rebranded as quadball in July 2022. According to a press release from U.S. Quadball and Major League Quadball, the decision was carried out to distance the sport from “Harry Potter” author J.K Rowling and her anti-transgender positions, as well as to avoid trademark issues with the word “Quidditch.”
Brown Quadball’s team is co-ed — an important trait of the club for many players. Madison Knavel ’28 expressed that quadball’s environment helps “break down barriers.”
“In a political climate that is not always supportive, that inclusivity really matters,” she said.
Brown Quadball also does not hold competitive tryouts and accepts new players all year round, according to Co-Captain Annamaria Di Fabio ’27, who explained that this trait sets the club apart from other sports with stricter policies.
Di Fabio originally joined the team because she wanted a consistent way to stay active. “When I say I’m going to the gym, I end up never going,” she said. Quadball gave her structure, physical activity and a community she felt connected to.
This season represents a major transition for Brown Quadball. The team moved up from Division 2 to Division 1 in the Massachusetts Quadball Conference, facing more established teams.
At the same time, Brown’s roster has more than doubled. Cairo recalled that in his first year at Brown, only about a dozen players traveled to USQ National Championships in Texas. Now, the team has more than 25 student-athletes, many of them first- and second-years who joined this fall.
“We are probably one of the youngest teams in our conference,” Cairo said. Competing against squads with players who have been playing for “three, four or even five years” means Brown must “start from the ground up,” but Cairo sees that as an asset — a chance to learn collectively and build a strong foundation as a team.
Coach Fia Boffey ’24 called this year a “rebuilding year.” Her coaching philosophy focuses on developing fundamentals before applying more advanced tactics, she said, adding that mistakes are considered “team mistakes” rather than individual ones, allowing for players to progress as one unit.
The team hopes to return to Nationals this year, which will take place in California in April.
Co-Captain Meredith Chang ’26 explained that the team has been working hard to raise the estimated $15,000 needed to fund the trip, she said.. Their efforts included a Parents’ Weekend bake sale, Bruno Gives Back Day and fundraisers at both Chipotle and Shake Shack.
For many players, quadball has shaped their social spheres at Brown. Chang, who studies applied mathematics, said quadball introduced her to people she never would have met in her classes.
Stephen Ogunbiyi ’26, who joined during his junior year, said the team helped him form friendships across class years.
“Regardless of your year, you feel connected,” he said.
Knavel echoed that feeling and reflected on how she found community almost right away. “They are one of the most inclusive, supportive groups that I’ve found at Brown. It just ended up feeling like a family,” she said.
Beyond the field, teammates form study groups together, share workout advice and have regular team meals.
“People are not just willing to support you athletically,” Knavel said. “They are also willing to support you academically and socially.”
