NEWS RELEASE ­ US QUIDDITCH CUP 9 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: Sarah Woolsey, Interim Executive Director and Events Director US Quidditch [email protected] Cell: 704.962.5099 Mary Kimball, Events Manager US Quidditch [email protected] Cell: 858.735.9719 Snapchat Covering US Quidditch Cup 9 With a Live Story This Weekend University of Texas faces off against Lone Star Quidditch Club for the championship at the eighth annual national championship. Photo by Isabella Gong. COLUMBIA, S.C. (Friday, April 15, 2106) – Snapchat is covering US Quidditch Cup 9 with a Live Story on ​ ​ April 16 and 17, 2016. Live Stories allow Snapchatters at the same event or location to contribute their unique perspectives through video and photo Snaps to one collective Story, capturing the real story, straight from the fans and people at the event. A team at Snapchat curates the thousands of submitted Snaps and packages them into a brief video that can be broadcast globally to millions of users right on their phone. If you’re at the event, it’s easy to submit your Snaps to the Live Story ­ simply take a photo or video Snap, tap send and choose to submit to the US Quidditch Cup 9 Live Story. After you take your Snap, swipe left to find cool geofilters. If your Snap is selected by the team at Snapchat, it will be included in the Live Story and available for all Snapchatters to see globally for 24 hours. US Quidditch Cup 9 comes to South Carolina this weekend, as 60 collegiate and club teams from dozens of states meet for one of the country’s most unique sporting events. Quidditch is a full contact, competitive, gender integrated sport inspired by the Harry Potter series. It began in 2005 and has since ​ ​ spread to over 300 colleges, high schools and community teams nationwide. US Quidditch includes official club teams at traditional sports powerhouses like the University of Texas, University of California, Los Angeles and University of North Carolina. Teams compete over a year­long season and qualify for the U.S. national championship through one of eight regional championships located throughout the country. US Quidditch Cup 9 is supported by the Columbia Regional Sports Council and the Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission. The livestream by Streamsports will be available to view on Saturday from 8:00 ​ ​ ​ ​ a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m to 7:30 p.m. ### About US Quidditch: US Quidditch (USQ), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the national governing body for the sport of quidditch, organizes US Quidditch Cup 9. USQ advances the sport by organizing events and programs that build community and empower all genders to compete together. US Quidditch is not affiliated with JK Rowling, Warner Bros. or Time Warner. To learn more about quidditch, visit www.usquidditch.org. ​ ​.