Quidditch is Now ‘Quadball’ to Distance from Rowling

The game quidditch, which originally came to be in the Harry Potter book series, has taken on the name of “quadball,” separating the sport from author J.K. Rowling as she continues to elevate harmful anti-trans rhetoric on her public platforms.

U.S. Quidditch and Major League Quidditch, who have been planning on changing the name since December of 2021, announced the official name change on Tuesday, July 19, along with their rebranding as U.S. Quadball and Major League Quadball.

The game itself first gained its popularity on cue with the book series, evolving into a globally practiced sport in recent years.

Author J.K. Rowling was at the forefront of her career at the time, going on to sponsor the publication of the Harry Potter film series as well, which allowed the sport to gain even more popularity.

In recent years, however, Rowling has been under fire for a slew of anti-trans positions she has publicly taken to posting publicly, beginning with her support of researcher Maya Forstater. Forstater took the position in a think tank that basically denied the existence of trans people—that girls grow up to be women and boys grow up to be men. This eventually led to costing her the job entirely.

After turning heads worldwide for such a controversial position to support, Rowling doubled down in defending her support of the researcher through a self-written and published essay about gender, alienating herself from her fanbase and creating a divide within it as well. In recent years following the shocking support of these statements, members of the Harry Potter universe have made continuous efforts to distance themselves from Rowling altogether.

In addition to distancing itself from its author, the two organizations hope that since quidditch is now quadball, the sport will be able to grow as its own entity rather than a trademarked Warner Bros. organization.