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From Potter to Prague: Meet the Hoosier Coaching Quidditch in the Czech Republic

June 26, 2018

A new series approaches!

Welcome to [Indi]android, a brand-new web series from Indiana Public Media. Each month, we’ll get to know the geeks leaving their marks all across Indiana.

Naturally, our first episode doesn’t take place in Indiana at all. Today we’ll meet Isaac Gutjahr, a guy born and raised in Bloomington, IN, and now living in Jihlava, Czech Republic.

Isaac, along with fellow American Arvind Kumar, coaches the Occamy Olomouc, a Qudditch team that brings together players from across the country to compete in international tournaments, as well as the Czech National Team, which is making its debut this year at the IQA World Cup.

In this episode, you’ll learn how Isaac made his way across the world to Jihlava and what convinced him to pick up the quaffle. We also chat about how Quidditch is still finding its footing in the Czech Republic – or, whatever the word for footing is when you’re 50 feet up on a broomstick.

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If you want to see the best Quidditch in action, the IQA World Cup takes off in a couple days. The Czech National Team squares off against Slovakia Saturday morning at 5 a.m. Eastern Time, and the match will be streamed on YouTube. And to read more about Quidditch’s growing pains with Warner Brothers, you can find the full article Isaac mentioned on the Quidditch Post.

And be sure to subscribe to WTIU’s YouTube channel so you don’t miss next month’s episode of [Indi]android.