Sri KL Host's Malaysia's Biggest Tournament

By Andrew Kasimir

On Aug. 22, close to 120 participants took part in the Leo Quidditch Tournament (LQT) in UEP Subang Jaya, Malaysia (USJ). LQT organizers can now proudly boast having hosted the biggest fantasy tournament that Malaysia has ever seen, superseding last year’s Malaysia Day Fantasy Tournament, which was organized by the Damansara Dementors and had about 60 participants.

Photo Courtesy of Wayne Cheah

Promoting gender equality through quidditch

Photo Courtesy of Wayne Cheah

It is worth mentioning that the organisers from Sri Kuala Lumpur Private School’s Leo Club are between the ages of 14 and 16. Led by Ang Li-Lian, Wang Yue Qi, and other members of the club, the event was organised to promote gender equality as well as to raise funds for the Women’s Aid Organisation of Malaysia (WAO).

The organisers had never played quidditch before, nor were they familiar with the rules, but they took the initiative to learn and understand the sport from the ground up.

Ang Li-Lian, one of the leaders of Sri Kuala Lumpur Private School’s Leo Club| Photo Courtesy of Wayne Cheah

“I found out about quidditch through Snapchat’s featured story on USQ World Cup 8 in April,” said Ang. “My interest was piqued, so I did a bit of research and was happy to see that gender equality played a big part in the sport. Prior to that, I was coincidentally watching Emma Watson’s #HeforShe campaign speech, which further inspired me to organize the tournament.”

“It was great seeing these kids battling it out on the field with one another,” said Hazel Wong, a Damansara Dementors player. “Everybody appeared to be pulling their own weight regardless of shape, size, or gender.”

“So many rules!”

Photo Courtesy of Wayne Cheah

Aside from the Damansara Dementors, it was virtually everybody else’s first time playing quidditch. It was a bit disorganised early on, but the players picked up the sport in no time. The players started communicating more on the field, which led to some fantastic passing and beating.

Charmaine Goh, Ahmad Iyas Abidin, and Christina Claire Chan all play for the Damansara Dementors and volunteered as head referees for the tournament. Other volunteers, such as the assistant referees, seeker referees, and scorekeepers, were members of the school’s Leo Club.

“The rules ran a lot deeper than what they initially thought, so they weren’t prepared for the more complicated things,” said Ang. “However, everything still ran smoothly with the help of Charmaine, Iyas, and Christina. I believe next year’s tournament should be a lot smoother because this was only small hurdle.”

The head referees were a bit more relaxed with the players, so there were not many stoppages other than when a core rule wasn’t being adhered to.

“The rules were a bit casual, but I’m just happy that so many people were exposed to the sport,” said Goh. “The organisers really deserve all the thumbs ups for organising this tournament. Really impressive.”