The Australian Institute of Sport played host to the Australian Quidditch Championships, or the QUAFL Cup.

While the sport is played on flying broomsticks in the books and movies, the sport has been adapted so Muggles – non-magical people – can compete.

Players run around the field with brooms between their legs, while the flying golden snitch is replaced by a person dressed all in yellow, with the game ending when the snitch is caught.

A mix of rugby, basketball, dodgeball and OzTag, 23 teams from six states and territories took to the field to be crowned Australia's best, with the top 12 to battle it out in the knock-out stages on Sunday.

QUAFL Cup organiser and chaser for the ANU Owls Merryn Christian said the sport has expanded beyond devoted Harry Potter fans in the past few years.

"When it first started out there were fewer than 10 teams, now there's hundreds of people playing it across the country," she said.

"It's getting to more communities and to the wider public so that people know about it rather than it being just that thing from Harry Potter."

While Ms Christian, a Potter aficionado, took up the sport in 2013 to experience a real-life version of the fantasy sport, she said it was also an opportunity to compete in a new event.

"It's a brand new sport but it's also intense and physical but still a lot of fun," she said.

While ANU's chaser is confident of her team's chances, she said it will be difficult to beat the Melbourne Manticores, who have won the QUAFL Cup for the past two years.

This year's QUAFL Cup is the sixth time the tournament has been held and the first time in the ACT.

Each team has seven players on the field at a time, with all teams required to be of mixed gender.

It's this, Ms Christian said, that sets Quidditch apart from other sports.

"One of the main things is how progressive Quidditch is, there are no single sex teams or leagues," she said.

"It isn't just big burly men running through everyone, all sorts of strengths are recognised."

Quidditch received a boost in Australia after the national team, named the Dropbears, won the World Cup earlier this year.

It was the first time a country other than the United States had won the championship.

Ms Christian said the Dropbears recent success has inspired more people to pick up the sport, as well as a broomstick.

"The main thing is that it's given us community support and it's entering the zeitgeist a bit more in terms of recruiting people," she said.