---
title: "In the Game of Tag, This Terp’s ‘It’"
date: 2024-04-26T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/in-the-game-of-tag-this-terps-it"
section: Articles
---
# In the Game of Tag, This Terp’s ‘It’

*April 26, 2024* — by [Annie Krakower](/author/annie-krakower)


> Alum to Compete in World Championship of Parkour-Style Sport

*Apk title 1920x1080 — Matthew Wachtman ’18 (far right and below) and his team, APK Blue, are competing this weekend in the World Chase Tag World Championship in France. The sport is a combination of the classic childhood game of tag and the obstacle-traversing athletic discipline of parkour.*

Even for the slipperiest student on the playground or the most inescapable “it,” the prospect of going pro in tag probably seems like little more than a gym class hero’s daydream. But a University of Maryland alum has taken his talents from the schoolyard to the world stage, with a twist—or maybe a backflip.

Matthew Wachtman ’18 and his team, [APK Blue](https://www.worldchasetag.com/team/apk-blue), are chasing glory in this weekend’s world championships of [World Chase Tag](https://www.worldchasetag.com/), which bills itself as “the first and only global league for competitive tag.” The international competition of the growing sport—a combination of the classic childhood game and the obstacle-traversing athletic discipline of parkour—will pit 16 teams against each other over three days at an arena in the Paris suburbs.

“I always have my mind open to looking for different ideas, different movement opportunities,” Wachtman said. “It’s a really new sport, so I’m like, ‘Let’s experiment.’”


*Matthew Wachtman dives to tag opponent*




**Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni), [Kinesiology](https://today.umd.edu/topic/kinesiology)


**Units:** [School of Public Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-health)