By Ben Oldach, Capital News Service

The University of Maryland, along with hundreds of other colleges across the world, has adopted a sport that comes straight from a storybook: Quidditch.

Quidditch was played by hundreds of witches and wizards in the magical world created by J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.  But the sport has been played by non-magical students -- on the ground, not in the air --  since 2005, when the magical game was adapted to the real world by students at Middlebury College in Vermont who were looking for an alternative to bocce ball.

“Muggle Quidditch,” as it is known, quickly spread across the world and has found a home at the University of Maryland.  The Maryland team is ranked second in the world and will travel to Florida to compete in the Quidditch World Cup in April.

Would you play Quidditch if you could?