Thursday, October 1, 2026
In the heat of a summer’s day, July 17, campers from the Recreation Center’s Summer Playground played a game of Quidditch. Created by author J. K. Rowling in her Harry Potter series, Quidditch might best be explained as a sort of magical soccer, where players on broomsticks chase a snitch — a golden ball with wings, and a mind of its own. The rules, of course, have been adapted to allow the game to take place in reality, on the ground, with a human snitch, not on either team, who tries to elude capture.
The local game was explained and led by Lawrence Lazewski, 23, a Rockville Centre resident who attends Michigan State University and plays for the United States Quidditch national team. Lazewski is just back from the fifth annual Quidditch World Cup in London, where Team USA won gold, beating teams from France, Britain, Canada and Australia.
The Rec Center’s Quidditch players, ranging in age from 6 to 11, took to the game with excitement. Camp counselors kept the players going with quick substitutions and insistence that everyone drink a lot of water. The campers seemed to have had an excellent time.
