The New Haven Quidditch Team has been mistreated for too long. For several years, they have always been treated as second class citizens to other clubs, simply because they are not considered a true sports team despite clearly playing a sport. The school’s officials should be mindful of the New Haven Knightmares and their Quidditch Team, as they have been out through several undesireable situations and have been denied special opportunities at U.N.H.

Because the U.N.H. Quidditch Team is only considered a regular club, they are considered inferior to the club sports and sports teams. They are treated as second class citizens during practices. On September 17, the Quidditch Team lost almost ten of their practice time because the ultimate Frisbee team wanted to play overtime. 20 minutes into the intended two-hour practice, the lights were shut off, without warning, on the team, who were forced to play in the dark. The next day, the team was denied to opportunity to play on any official U.N.H., and had to settle for the unmowed, glass shards and alcohol covered field behind ShopRite. Playing on a hazardous field prevented the team from practicing to their full potential since no one wanted to get cut and scraped by all of the garbage that covered the field. Not considering the needs of the Quidditch has lead them to cutting night practices short and putting that at risk of serious injury and infection. The team has also suffered from lack of club funding because of their inferior treatment, unfair since U.N.H. has recently procured a large sum of money.

Since the Quidditch team is considered to be only a club, they receive less funding than other sports clubs. This has caused to the Quidditch Team to miss out on chances of team uniforms, better equipment, and the chance to play a home game. It is frustrating that the University has raised over $100-million dollars from a fundraiser for the school but they won’t give the Quidditch extra money that would barely affect the school’s budget. It has been very hard on the team dealing with the unfair treatment, and they should not have to constantly be denied practice time, a safe field to practice on, and more money for better opportunities for the team.

The New Haven Knightmares deserve to be treated better, to be treated as a true sports club.