00:02Players run with sticks held between their legs in this remote village in
00:05Uganda. The game is quad ball adapted from the fictional sport of Quidditch
00:10from the Harry Potter fantasy films and novels. In the world of Wizards, players
00:15move around the pitch on flying broomstick. But here the real magic lies
00:19in how coach and founder John Santamu built the team from the ground up. After
00:24discovering there was a real-life version of the game he had read about in
00:28J.K. Rowling's books. I was like, I have to go back and read more about the
00:33Quidditch and the broomstick. Never did I know that there is a real game. Our
00:38first hoops were holes dug on the ground. Then from there we graduated to
00:45getting the Bicycle of Whale.
00:55Quad ball was adapted into a real game in the early 2000s by students in the U.S.
01:00The team consists of seven players in four positions. Three chasers, two beaters, a
01:06keeper and a seeker. Each team tries to throw quad balls through the opposition's
01:10hoops to score points. Beaters can take chasers out by hitting them with dodgeballs. Beyond the thrill of
01:16competition, the game is extra special for its gender mix.
01:19I found the game interesting because we are given an opportunity to play boys and
01:26girls in the same pitch and it can be an alternative of any other game. For
01:33example me I couldn't pick interest maybe in playing football for girls so I feel
01:40better and much good as I mean the quad ball pitch. With its booming popularity, teams
01:46around the world have competed in the quad ball World Cup, held every two years since 2012,
01:52mostly in Europe. These young Ugandans, some of whom have been on the team since its beginning,
01:59say they hope to get there one day. My dream is to be one of the greatest African
02:06players of quad ball in the world and to be moving, showing my talent in quad ball as a player
02:15and as a
02:16chaser and to tour, to play in other World Cup. But coming from a rural community, many do not have
02:23to
02:23luxury to travel overseas or even the documents to do so. If you ask them how many do have passports,
02:30you may be surprised if you get here, that is too big a number. And then you ask a banker
02:35statement.
02:36These ones, even their parents will have bank accounts. But when you are applying for a visa, they need
02:42banker statements. I would die a happy man when I say team of Uganda going to the World Cup. Even
02:48if I don't go, but the team goes.
02:51Although the team members are no wizards, they hope to create their own magic and someday soar on the world
02:56stage.
02:57Clang Wang and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.
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