The new Quidditch premier league is holding tryouts across the UK

The brand-new Quidditch Premier League, which launched late last year, has announced plans to organise high-level Quidditch games throughout the UK. Eight teams will compete throughout the country to win the title of League Champions, and spots on those teams are up for grabs.

There is already a Team UK in the Quidditch World Cup, and there's a 2016 British Quidditch Cup - but the League should expand the sport originally dreamed up by JK Rowling to a whole new level.

The eight teams will represent eight regions of England and be named in reference to an element of the local culture, so you'll have The London Monarchs, Southwest Broadside, Southeast Knights, Eastern Mermaids, Northern Watch, Yorkshire Roses, East Midland Archers, and the West Midland Shredders.

Tryouts will start in February, so there's plenty of time to train. And you might want to get fit - after all, Quidditch is a serious sport with a reported 20,000 competing international players across 25 countries. Rules are taken very seriously, even though players can look mildly silly as they compete with brooms between their legs.

Interestingly, it's also mixed gender: only four players of the same gender can be on the pitch at any one time, out of a total of seven (that's one Keeper, three Chasers and two Beaters).