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Cleveland’s Major League Quidditch Franchise Joins Women’s Sports Alliance
Cleveland Riff becomes latest member of new Northeast Ohio organization
Cleveland (June 30, 2021) — Cleveland’s Major League Quidditch (MLQ) team is joining a new Northeast Ohio organization dedicated to promoting opportunities for women in sports.
The Cleveland Riff — named after the rich history of rock ’n’ roll music in the city — has become the latest member of the Northeast Ohio Women’s Sports Alliance (NOWSA). US Quidditch’s Ohio Apollos will also join the Riff in NOWSA.
NOWSA is a coalition of greater Cleveland area sports clubs formed in 2018 with the mission of minimizing barriers for Northeast Ohio women to participate in sports after high school or college. Other members include the Akron Women’s Rugby Club, Burning River Roller Derby and the Cleveland Disc Association.
“NOWSA is all about bringing attention to local athletic opportunities for adults and making them accessible,” said Elise Bigley, co-founder and director of marketing and community outreach for the organization. “The Cleveland Riff quidditch team stood out to us as it represents a little-known sport and has a strong focus on inclusivity. We are excited to learn from the team’s leadership, teach the community and fellow athletes about this growing sport, and share how they can get involved too.”
The Riff is one of 16 teams in MLQ, a league started in 2015 that is the highest level of competitive quidditch in North America. Quidditch is a real-life sport adapted from the Harry Potter book series that incorporates elements of basketball, rugby and dodgeball.
Quidditch is also a mixed-gender game. Matches are contested under a gender maximum rule, which stipulates that a team may not have more than four players of the same gender on the field at a time. The rule is popularly known as Title 9 ¾, a reference to the US law that bars gender discrimination in sports and to the fictional train platform in Harry Potter.
Lacey Hutchman, the manager of the Riff, said that the quidditch community has been engaged in a larger conversation about how to improve recruiting and retention, especially among women.
“I’m hoping that the partnership with NOWSA will help to get the word out and raise awareness of quidditch as a viable community sport option for women in Northeast Ohio who are looking to stay active,” Hutchman said.
Cleveland will host its only home match of the season on Saturday, July 31, at Impett Park on the West Side. The Riff will face off against its North Division rival, the Minneapolis Monarchs, at 2 pm EDT. The event is pay what you want and open to the public. Tickets are available here.
Cleveland is one of the league’s original eight teams. The Riff is looking to bounce back from a winless season in 2019, the last before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of play in 2020. No team can compete in 2021 unless all its players are fully vaccinated.
The teams are competing for a chance to take home the Benepe Cup at the 2021 MLQ Championship in Howard County, Md. on Aug. 21-22. The top four teams in each of the three divisions qualify for the event, meaning that the Riff have already qualified by virtue of playing in the four-team North Division.
The 2021 MLQ Championship will also include a showcase on Aug. 23 open to anyone who is not a cis man. The showcase, branded as Take Back the Pitch, aims to challenge current understandings of gender in quidditch and create additional opportunities for cis and trans women, non-binary folk and trans men.
About Major League Quidditch
Quidditch is a competitive, full-contact, co-ed sport played by athletes around the world. Major League Quidditch has set out to create a high-intensity environment for the best athletes in North America to hone their skills and compete for one of our sport’s highest honors: the Benepe Cup. Want to know more about Major League Quidditch? Visit mlquidditch.com or contact us at [email protected].
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