Teenager set to represent Britain at ‘Quidditch on horseback’ world cup hopes to give dangerous sport larger platform

A teenager set to be one of the youngest women representing Great Britain at the world championships of “Quidditch on horseback” has said she hopes to give the dangerous game a larger platform.

Likened to basketball, rugby and even Quidditch from the fictional world of Harry Potter, horseball sees two teams of four horse riders pass a ball between them and aim to score through a small one-metre hoop.

The adrenaline-fuelled game, which involves riders stooping from their saddle to collect the ball from the floor, has claimed the life of one UK competitor over the years.

But avid horse rider D’arcy Wright, 17, who lives with her parents, Tammy, 43, and Seb, 51, in north London, “fell in love” with horseball at the age of 14 – first playing at a local level before qualifying for the UK’s national under-16 team in 2023.

However, as D’arcy says Horseball has “no funding” because of its status as a “minority sport”, she has launched a GoFundMe page to help her get to the international two-week tournament in March as all costs must be paid from her own pocket.

“I don’t think people realise how incredible a sport it is because people genuinely don’t know it exists,” D’arcy told PA Real Life.

“You have to ride delicately but also like a polo player who is willing to commit to throwing yourself off the side of a horse, pick up a ball at gallop and get over that fear.

D’arcy “fell in love” with horseball at the age of 14 after setting aside her showjumping dreams.

“At the time, I didn’t really want to do horses any more as I realised it was so difficult to get somewhere without a lot of money behind you,” D’arcy said.

Following this, one of her friends and a horseball player “finally” convinced her to try the sport – and she quickly became hooked.

“The adrenaline rush of trying to pick up the ball and get it in the goal, it’s amazing.”

D’arcy joined the horseball team for north London before entering larger championship tournaments in the UK.

A horseball is shaped like a football and features leather hoops along the side to help riders pick it up from the ground – although players must be quick as they cannot hold the ball for more than 10 seconds.

D’arcy said the technique for horseball is “very different” from normal horse riding in that the player must ride the horse completely using their legs as they do not have time to hold the reins.

“At the start, everyone knew me as the person who always used to fall off, I used to fall off every time I played,” she said.

Over the years, D’arcy said she has sustained a few injuries but she has been “lucky” as they have included only a broken finger and a bloody nose.

The sport carries great risks however, and in 2022 a competitor from the UK died while playing the sport.

D’arcy trained her former polo-playing horse Dolly to play horseball.

“Dolly is amazing, she really enjoyed the sport quite quickly and grasped the concepts of quick-stopping and faster paces,” D’arcy said.

Looking ahead to the near future, D’arcy will be heading to Argentina for two and a half weeks on March 19 for the Horseball World Cup.

“It’s nerve-racking and I definitely feel a lot of weight on my shoulders just to do really well,” she said.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well but the pressure is what I thrive under.

She has launched a GoFundMe page to help her with the costs of attending the tournament as these fees must come from her own pocket, estimating she will need around £3,000 in total for the flights and accommodation.

“We don’t get any grants because it’s a minority sport,” she said.

D’arcy added she hopes the sport will gain “more recognition” in the future to support young players, like her, to have a career in the sport.

“The thing with horseball is once you start, you can’t stop,” she said.

“I will have to do it alongside a job but I definitely want to keep playing for as long as I can before my body gives way.”

To find out more, visit D’arcy’s fundraising page here: gofundme.com/f/help-to-get-to-the-horseball-world-cup-in-argentina-2025