The TCU Quidditch team may have lost all their games at the 2011 Quidditch World Cup in New York City Sunday but team member Hannah Anderson said the team’s spirit remains unshaken.

The junior studio art major said the TCU Quidditch team was already looking forward to the Quidditch World Cup next year and planned to return “with a vengeance.”

The Horned Frog Muggles did not qualify for the playoffs after losing games against LSU, Harvard, Carleton and Jetpack Ninja Dinosaurs.

But winning the World Cup was not the team’s only goal when they flew into New York City this past Friday. First-year film, television and digital media major Nick Hamilton said the chance to meet other teams and build friendships with players from all over the world made for an unforgettable weekend.

Lindsey Carnes, president of the TCU Quidditch Team,  said despite the losses she could not be prouder of the performance of her team.

“(The team) played with heart and passion,” she said. “People came and talked to us and said what a clean game we played and what a classy team we are. I’m really proud of my team and everything we accomplished this weekend. And I know if we keep practicing really hard and play a lot of tournaments in the spring we will probably go very far next year.”

Carnes, a junior psychology major, said the TCU Quidditch team did not lack passion, heart or even skill. The only difference between the Frogs and the teams that made it to the playoffs was experience, which the team planned to make up for by playing tournaments with other teams from the South this spring, she said.

Anderson said the highlight of her weekend was teaching the Horned Frog sign to Alex Benepe, president, commissioner and CEO of the International Quidditch Association.

“I got to meet him and taught him how to do the Horned Frog sign,” she said. “After the opening ceremony when we passed by he was holding it up and shouting ‘Go Frogs! Go Frogs!’ We heard that he was saying that he thought that we were one of the most passionate and spirited teams and we seemed to be having the most fun here. That was great to hear.”

The World Cup losses only fueled the team’s dreams of going back to next year’s finals. Hamilton said he already made plans to reunite with friends he made in New York over the weekend.

The TCU Quidditch team did not let defeat ruin a weekend in the Big Apple, Anderson said. She said the team focused on making the best of its experience.

“We met a lot of people,” she said. “We were always dancing and singing and always having a really good time. It was so much fun.”

Carnes said she believed in the potential of her team and said with practice the TCU Quidditch team would be “unstoppable.”

Back in the Lone Star State, Carnes said the team was proud to have represented the university at the 2011 Quidditch World Cup.

“We had an amazing experience and we were able to show the world what the Horned Frog spirit is about,” she said.

Middlebury College beat the University of Florida 100 – 80, winning the Quidditch World Cup for the fifth time in a row, a winning streak they have maintained since the first Quidditch World Cup in 2007.