The pre-Columbian ball game that has come back to life after centuries of silence

BarcelonaFor centuries, the playing fields of this sport were hidden under the jungle. Now, they come back to life. The Mesoamerican ball game is one of the oldest sports in the world, with evidence of its practice dating back 3,000 years. In fact, there were different versions depending on the people who practiced it, whether they were Mayans, Aztecs or Mixtecs. The common idea, however, was to pass a rubber ball that could weigh up to four kilos from side to side of a field of play using mainly the hip to hit it, but also the elbows or knees. A very tough game, even if the ball is smaller now. “A bad hit and you can break a bone or suffer an internal injury, because of the weight of the ball”, explains Reina M. Puc Dzib, the president of the Mesoamerican Ball Association. After centuries of silence, this game has been revived.

In the old cultures of Mesoamerica, in fact, it was not a game, but a way to be in contact with the gods and the Universe. When the conquerors arrived, they did not know how to understand that those peoples had a very rich culture. Cultures that when they looked up at the sky understood the stars. Some of the towns played the ball to symbolize that higher universe, since flying the ball was a tribute to the movement of the stars. The ball game was part of those cultures that almost disappeared under the cross and the sword, until archaeologists, removing the trees that had covered the old cities, discovered the playing fields. The Mayans added stone holes stuck to the side of the pitch and if the ball went through that hole, it was a sign of good luck. In archaeological sites such as those of Chichen Itzá, Copán or Uxmal you can see these enclosures, where the ball could be bounced off the walls. Imposing spaces where exhibitions have been held.

In some regions, especially in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Sinaloa, a version of the game survived, the mixtec ball. A variant of the original sport, since it had taken influences from the ball games practiced by the conquerors, such as Basque ball. In other Mesoamerican regions it disappeared completely, but in recent years it has been revived within the indigenous pride movement that leads to the vindication of a culture that has been trampled too many times, with the creation of its own league created by proud young people of his roots, like Armando Osorio. He has upheld the legacy of his grandfather, who played Mixtec ball, and has taken it further to bring back a version more similar to what his ancestors played, albeit without walls to bounce the ball around. . Many of today’s club creators who have sprung up all over Mexico discovered that this game existed when they saw performances at an amusement park in Playa del Carmen designed for tourists in which actors imitated a game by blowing the ball. Thus, a religious ritual has come back to life turned into a sport, with competitions and rules, schools for young people and teams in different countries such as Guatemala and the United States. “Before the ball was rubber, but now it’s usually plastic. It costs a lot to fly it and it usually weighs less than a kilo for safety”, explains Puc Dzib. The players, in fact, wear their hips protected with a girdle.

The teams consist of five players and the matches are of two periods of 15 minutes. The rules are based on passing the ball into the opposite field with a hip swing, rolling on the ground if necessary. If the ball crosses a bottom line of the field defended by the rivals, you score. If you pass the ball without respecting the technique, the opponents score. It’s about following the rules, since playing this game is an act of reaffirming the identity of people who are proud to be who they are.

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