Almost 17 years ago in the United Kingdom, a fictional sport known as Quidditch was born in a story that many didn't know would captivate the world and eventually become more than people have ever seen dreamt.Quidditch, featured in the Harry Potter series, is an extremely tough, semi-contact, competitive sport played by wizards and witches. Each game is played between two teams of seven players riding flying broomsticks. The seven players include: three chasers, two beaters, a keeper and a seeker. There are four balls that are used during each game: the Quaffle, two Bludgers and the Golden Snitch. There are six ring-shaped goals, three on each side of the Quidditch pitch, rising high from the ground. During each game, the Chasers attempt to maintain possession of the Quaffle, a spherical ball approximately 12 inches in diameter, and attempt to score a goal, worth ten points, by throwing it through one of three opposing hoops. They can pass it between each other, but only one player can enter the scoring area at a time. The two Beaters must protect the rest of the team from the Bludgers, round black iron balls with a diameter of 10 inches, by hitting them against the opposing team with a wooden bat (like a baseball bat), which they hold in one hand. The Goalkeeper must protect the team's goal baskets by flying in front of them and preventing the opponents from throwing the Quaffle into them. The Seeker's job is probably the most important on the team, and is to catch the Golden Snitch before the opposing team's Seeker. The Snitch is a small golden ball approximately the size of a walnut 1 inch in diameter with silver wings that move so fast that it is almost impossible to see. The capture of the Golden Snitch ends... in the center of the card... it is a magical object included in the canons of the Harry Potter novels, in Muggle quidditch the snitch is simply a tennis ball contained in a sock tucked inside the belt of a snitch. The snitch is a neutral player affiliated with neither team dressed entirely in gold or yellow. After release, the snitch is allowed to wander into an area beyond the playing field. The searchers look for the runner, but if they are unable to catch him, he returns to the field after a predetermined time. The game begins with the Quaffle and Bludgers positioned in the center of the pitch and all players lined up with their respective goal posts. After the Snitch disappears from sight, the referee shouts "Brooms up!" to start the game. The game lasts as long as it takes to catch the snitch. The team that catches the Snitch is awarded 30 points and the team with the most points wins..