Basque_pelota

Basque pelota

A game of pelote as played in Ustaritz
Highest governing body	International Federation of Basque Pelota
Nickname(s)	Pelota
First played	13th century
Characteristics
Contact	No
Team members	Single or doubles
Categorization	Hand Sport, Racquet sport, Basket Sport
Equipment	Basque pelota ball
Olympic	1900, 1924 (demonstration), 1968 (demonstration), 1992 (demonstration)

Basque pelota (euskal pilota in Basque, pelota vasca in Spanish, pilota basca in Catalan, and pelote basque in French) is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (frontón in Spanish, pilotaleku or pilota plaza in Basque, frontó in Catalan) or, more traditionally, with two teams face to face separated by a line on the ground or a net. Their roots can be traced to the Greek and other ancient cultures, but in Europe they all derive from real tennis (see Jeu de Paume)^{[citation needed]}.

Today, Basque Pelota is widely played in several countries: in Spain and France, especially in the Basque Country and its neighbour areas. Also the sport is played in Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Perú and Uruguay. Operated as a gaming enterprise called Jai Alai, it is seen in parts of the U.S. such as Florida

In Valencia, Valencian pilota is considered the national sport; it is also played in rural areas of Ireland (Gaelic handball), Belgium, North of Italy, Mexico, and Argentina.

Since its creation, the International Federation of Basque Pelota has standardised the different varieties into four modalities and fourteen disciplines, with fixed ball weights, rules and court sizes. The four modalities (30m wall, 36m wall, 56m wall and trinquete) admit fourteen disciplines, depending the use of bare hand, leather ball, rubber ball, paleta (pelota paleta), racket (frontennis) and share. Two of the fourteen disciplines are played by both men and women (frontenis and rubber pelota in trinquete); the other twelve are played only by men.

There are, however, criticisms on this, since some might argue that the original traits of each particular modality would be lost.

Basque pelota

Frontoi in Ainhoa (Labourd)

The antiquity of this Basque ball-game is uncertain but it was consolidated in the 19th century. The first official competitions were organized in the 1920s.

International projection

Basque pelota was an official Olympic sport once, in the 1900 Paris Games, and a demonstration sport in 1924 (men), 1968 (men) and 1992 (men and women). See also Basque pelota at the 1900 Summer Olympics.

Although this sport is mostly played in Spain and France, there are also federations of Basque ball in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Philippines, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, United States, Venezuela, Netherlands, Sweden, India and Greece. Due to the origin of the game, there are many good players who are Basques, either natives or from the Basque diaspora.^[1]

Playing area

Playing paleta at the trinquet of Elizondo (Navarre)

Basque pelota is usually played in a two walled court (Basque: frontoi or pilotaleku, French: fronton, Spanish: frontón). As seen in the picture, there are also courts with one wall, a modality prevailing on the French side of the Basque Country, some spots of Navarre or at the highly exceptional court of Zubieta in province Gipuzkoa. Yet they are not recognized by the International Federation of Basque Pelota.

Rules

Basque pelota fronton diagram 1: Side Wall; 2: Front Wall; 3:Ground; 4: Perspective View

The basic principle in hand-pelota is that there are two teams of two players each. The team to serve bounces the ball, then propels it towards the playing area of the narrow, front wall where it has to rebound between the low line demarcating the low off-area and the high line demarcating the high off-area.

The ball may either be played so it rebounds directly off the front wall onto the playing floor or onto the long side wall first. The opposing team may either play the ball immediately after rebounding from the front wall or side wall without rebounding from the playing floor or after having rebounded from the playing floor once.

A team scores by:

• playing the ball in such a way that the opposing team is unable to play the ball before it has rebounded off the playing floor once.
• playing the ball in such a way that it rebounds off the front wall and rebounds off the floor outside the playing area.

A team may also score by the opposing team:

• hitting the front wall but either below the low line or above the high line.
• hitting the ball in time but failing to reach the front wall.

Modalities

Hand-pelota

(Basque: esku-pilota, Spanish: pelota a mano): played barehanded (or with minimal protections) and with a traditional ball made of wool around a hard core and covered with leather. The standard ball should weigh 92-95 grams. It is played in the short court either individually (one vs. one) or by pairs (two vs. two). Traditionally and professionally it is reserved for men. Players can be distinguished by the swelling of their hitting hand. It was originally played in the 13th century in the Basque reigon of Spain, and has been played for a long time in Mexico, South America, Cuba, Italy and many US states, including Florida.[citation needed] The sport is similar to squash, players hit the ball against the end wall of a three-sided court, trying to get the ball out of the opponent's reach

Paleta.

Paleta (rubber)

Played with a short and wide wooden bat, called paleta in both Spanish and Basque, and a rubber ball. It can be played by both men and women. This variety was invented in Argentina and is widely played there, where their male pelotaris used to dominate international competitions.

Argentine Multi-layered Wooden Paleta.

Paleta (leather)

This variant played with a bat similar to the previous one but with a traditional leather ball. This game is mainly played by men.

Short bat

Is played with somewhat shorter but thicker and much less wide bat (pala in both Basque and Spanish). Uses a rubber ball. In principle, reserved for men.

Long bat

Is played with a longer bat (pala), again thick and not much wide. Uses also a rubber ball but it is played in the long court. In principle, this game is reserved for men.

Long xistera.

Basket-pelota

This is the version known outside Europe as Jai-Alai. In Basque it's called saski-pilota (literally: basket-ball) and cesta-punta (literally: basket-edge) in Spanish. It uses a special glove that extends into a long pointed curved basket (hence the name), no more than 60 cm long in straight line nor 110 cm by curved line. The basket (xistera in Basque) was introduced by Gantchiqui Dithurbide from Saint-Pée, France in 1860,^[2] and its long version by Melchior Curuchage, from Buenos Aires in 1888.^[2] The players use it to catch the rubber ball and propel it back against the main court. The Basque Government promotes it as "the fastest game on Earth", the record being 302 km/h (José Ramón Areitio at the Newport Jai Alai, Rhode Island, USA on 3 August 1979^[2]). Again, this game is only for men.

Xare

Remonte

A variant of the above. The basket-glove is shorter and it is allowed to retain the ball momentaneously. This game is for men only.

Short xistera.

Net-pelota

Uses a simple soft racket (sare or xare meaning "net" in Basque). It is played only in the trinquet court. This game is traditionally reserved for women only.

• Frontenis: a modern Mexican fusion between tennis and Basque ball. It uses tennis rackets in a short court, although the ball has a different surface to the tennis one. Men and women both play this game.

Professional games

Professional games on Basque Country are mainly controlled by Asegarce and ASPE that hold the contract of the tournament players.

Main Tournaments

• 1st Hand-pelota, singles category
• 1st Hand-pelota, doubles category
• Cuatro y Medio
• 2nd Hand-pelota, singles category

In 1994, the production company Asegarce started painting the courts green so that the ball would be more visible on TV.^[3]

Renowned players

Active

• Barriola
• Titín III
• Beloki
• Martínez de Irujo
• Olaizola II
• Xala
• Patxi Ruiz

Retired

• Artamendi
• Atano III
• Retegi II
• Azkarate
• Ogueta
• Mondragonés
• Retegi I
• Txikito de Iraeta
• Txikito de Eibar

Professional games are open to betting on the results, as usual in most traditional Basque competitions. In the USA and Macau it is mainly this aspect of the competition that has given it some popularity. Besides the federations, there are professional competitions such as the League of Companies of Basque Pilota. The International Jai-Alai Players Association is a union defending the players of Jai Alai.

World Championships of Basque Pelota

Since 1952, The International Federation of Basque Pelota has organized the World Championships of Basque Pelota.

Medal Count

The current historical medal count since 1952 is as follows:^[4][5][6]

	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	France	58	47	35	140
2	Spain	56	61	29	146
3	Argentina	42	23	11	76
4	Mexico	37	34	24	95
5	Uruguay	4	29	13	46
6	Cuba	2	4	9	15
7	United States	0	1	2	3
8	Chile	0	0	6	6

Note 1: Medal count is sorted by total gold medals, then total silver medals, then total bronze medals, then alphabetically.

Note 2: From 1952 to 1970 there wasn't dispute for the bronze medal.

Note 3: The table includes all modalities, including the Plaza Libre event from the 1952 and from the 1958 Basque Pelota World Championships.

Trivia

• The game skills have also been used occasionally in combat.^[3]
• Philip Leacock's 1956 film, The Spanish Gardener, has a scene of pelota
• The Russel Rouse's film Thunder in the Sun, famous for its anachronisms and anthropologic mistakes, shows Basque pioneers in the New World casting stones with their xisteras against Far West Indians.
• The Italian movie Pari e dispari from 1978 features a pelota match with Bud Spencer.
• Lenny, Homer Simpson's friend, is shown in an episode to live in a pelota playground.
• The Basque Ball is a Spanish documentary film about Basque politics that uses pelota as a metaphor.
• Jørgen Leth made a documentary film about the game, entitled "Pelota".

See also

• Frontenis
• Trinquete
• Xare
• Jai alai
• Basque rural sports

Other modalities

• Gaelic handball
• Valencian pilota
• Valencian frontó

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Basque pilota

• International Federation of Basque Pelota
• Social network in english for pelota players and fans world wide
• http://www.manista.com/
• "The History of Basque Pelota in the Americas" by Carmelo Urza
• Pelota vasca in the Spanish-language Auñamendi Encyclopedia, with sections on the game and history.
• 1959's film Thunder in the Sun in IMDb

v • d • e Basque pelota Federations Spanish Federation of Basque Pelota · International Federation of Basque Pelota Companies Asegarce · ASPE Frontons Atano III fronton · Ogueta fronton · Astelena fronton · Gros fronton · Deportivo fronton · Beotibar fronton · Bergara municipal fronton · Vitoriano fronton Tournaments 1st Hand-Pelota singles championship · 2nd Hand-Pelota singles championship · 1st Hand-Pelota doubles championship · Cuatro y Medio Euskadi Championship Notable Pelotaris Atano III · Txiquito de Iraeta · Txiquito de Éibar · Retegi II · Ogueta · Beloki · Eugi · Titín III Pelota at the Olympics 1900 • 1924 (demonstration) • 1968 (demonstration) • 1992 (demonstration) Related Articles Fronton · Basque pelota ball · Valencian frontó · International fronton · Paleta Frontón · Frontenis · Jai Alai

v • d • e Basque pelota at the Summer Olympics 1900 • 1924 (demonstration) • 1968 (demonstration) • 1992 (demonstration)