Quidditch World Cup: Summer's quirkiest sport event?

Don't reckon Quidditch should be considered a "real sport"? Well, if you check out what's happening in Frankfurt this weekend *maybe* you'll change your mind...

Because, yes, there's an actual Quidditch World Cup taking place there from July 23 – 24 and you know what? A tournament of the broomstick-borne sport from the Harry Potter novels looks pretty fun (and, yes, kinda random) IRL.

Teams including the USA, UK, South Korea and France will be competing against one another.

If you're not entirely sure on how the sport works – *shocked face* – then here's a quick low down. Both real life and wizard versions feature seven players on each side. There's one keeper, three chasers, two beaters and one seeker.

You may still be feeling more than a little confused as to how Muggles can play Quidditch – here's some pictures to give an idea of what to expect from the World Cup (clue: there's no actual brooms involved. Sorry to disappoint).

This is someone from Team UK trying to catch a "snitch".

It's actually a sock with a tennis ball in it, attached to the snitch runner's shorts.

This kinda scary-looking tactic is a beater throwing a "bludger" at another beater.

Outside of Hogwarts these are just fully-inflated dodgeballs, don't worry...

And this is the UK's Tom Heynes successfully scoring against Belgium's national Quidditch side at the European Games.

FYI, the "quaffle" that chasers attempt to throw through hoops in the real world version of the game is a semi-deflated volleyball.

Here's a fun fact to tell anyone who still doesn't think Quidditch is an actual thing – Quidditch UK has been recently accepted as a member of the Sports and Recreation Alliance, who work alongside sporting organisations such as the Football Association, Rugby Football Union, and UK Athletics.

So, there.

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