College is the time in many students’ lives when they are given the freedom to branch out and express themselves in new ways.

This might mean joining clubs, taking interesting classes, or jumping onto a broomstick and throwing balls at your friends. Check out this list of strange college sports, perhaps happening at a campus near you!

Quidditch

If you notice a bunch of college students running around with brooms, it’s probably safe to assume that they’re playing Quidditch. The magical competitive sport that originated within the pages of the Harry Potter books made its way onto real world campuses in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont. It has since spread to over 300 colleges and universities in the U.S.

US Quidditch (USQ) is a national organization that hosts events and championships. The USQ has published an official rulebook for the game, which includes league rankings. The Quidditch team at Texas A&M currently leads the nation.

LARP

Made famous by the 2008 movie “Role Models," live action role playing — LARPing — has become a common extracurricular activity on many college campuses across the nation. LARPers suit up and physically act out fantasy characters of various genres in a set space.

Segway Polo

The 2013 Segway Polo Championships were held at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. The “Woz" Challenge Cup is named after Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Wozniak plays for the Silicon Valley Aftershocks, one of 15 international Segway Polo clubs that have sprouted up over the past ten years.

Underwater Hockey

When spring hits and the ice melts, many hockey players turn to lacrosse to keep their skills sharp. However, some schools are giving players the option to keep their hockey sticks, slap on snorkeling masks, and prolong the season by going underwater. The University of Minnesota hosted the National Underwater Hockey Tournament in July 2014.

Extreme Ironing

Household chores don’t have a reputation for adrenaline-inducing, heart pumping fun. Phil Shaw sought to change that when he created Extreme Ironing in the U.K. during the late '90s. Extreme Ironing gained popularity in the early 2000s when a documentary about the sport aired on the BBC. Shaw has since created the Extreme Ironing Bureau and published a book about the peculiar pastime.

Extreme ironers are a surprisingly well-traveled breed, having smoothed out their garments as far as the North Pole and on the legendary summit of Mt. Everest. Ironing on this level hasn’t caught on in the U.S. with the same magnitude as in the U.K. — where Queen's College at Oxford hosts an all-female team — but this could get some students to finally get into doing their laundry on a regular (and extreme) basis.

_Did you know you could use Noodle to find colleges with certain types of sports? Check out our college search to discover the right school for you._

Sources:

About US Quidditch. (2014, January 1). Retrieved September 30, 2014, from usquidditch.org

Extreme Ironing. (2003, January 1). Retrieved September 30, 2014. thescreamonline.com