Mayans struggle to reconstruct the ancient ritual of the ball game

The sound of snails and drums announces the last game to define the winner, between Mexico and Belize, of the Ancestral Mayan Ball Sports World Cup, disputed this year in the Mexican city of Mérida.

“Launch Mexico, receive Belize!”, Francisca Elías, an indigenous Mayan from Guatemala, who is in charge of narrating the final of this championship, is heard on the microphone.

With spirits alight, the game starts, the players rush to the ground to hit the 2.7 kilogram ball with their hips. It is not allowed to use the hands, feet or any other part of the body.

Mexico was looking to beat Belize, that nevertheless managed to prevail and obtain his third consecutive crown.

They land one stroke at a time, as in racquetball, and the team that manages to cross the ball on its opponent’s line scores points.

Belize managed to cross the ball six times to win 35-11 over the Mexicans, according to the intricate scoring system.

And if a player manages to get the ball into a ring placed about three meters high, his team is declared victorious and the game ends.

For the honor

In the Mayan culture it is known as Pok Ta Pok, It was practiced since 1400 BC. C. and it is believed was related to human sacrifices.

Life is not at stake in this tournament, but the honor of representing the ancestors is at stake, says France Novelo, captain of Belize, originally from the Yoopik village.

“I feel very privileged to rescue this game that was being lost in Belize”, says Novelo to AFP.

In Mexico and Guatemala there are archaeological sites that still protect the structures of the playing fields.

With the arrival of the Spanish, the ball game, which was also played by the Aztecs in the center of the country, was banned.

“It was believed that the ball had the devil inside it, which is why it bounced”, José Manrique, president of the Yucatán Association of Native Sports and Games, tells.

After more than 450 years in disuse, Manrique began in 2006 to document this game and its rules. In 2015, the first international championship was organized in the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá.

The biannual tournament was later played in Guatemala (2017) and El Salvador (2019).

In the 2021 edition, El Salvador and Honduras did not attend because the Mexican Government did not authorize their immigration permits.

With the years, the promoters have developed techniques and strategies to turn them into an approved regulation for the six countries that make up the Assembly of Ancestral Sports of Central America and the Caribbean.

One of the main difficulties at the beginning was finding someone to make the balls. After several attempts, Manrique managed to make them from the sap of the castilla elastic tree, commonly known as rubber.

“Spiritual” experience

Bruises of up to 20 centimeters in diameter and fractures are some of the consequences of this ritual sport.

“It is a physical experience, but also a spiritual one, because for us this is sacred”, says Diego Itzamal, from Guatemala.

To protect themselves, the players wear sturdy traditional clothing, such as cowhide briefs and a cloth sash at the waist.

At the buttocks they wear another leather belt, in addition to knee and ankle protectors.

Andrés Chico, coach of the Mexican team from the small San Pedro Chimay police station, in the state of Yucatán, says that he began playing ball game in his community eight years ago.

“We started six players and right now we have more than 70. I’m training the little ones right now so that they can learn and not get lost ”, he explains.

Francisca Elías, the narrator of the game, who is also an educator, says that she is already training teams of girls and boys.

“It is very important (…) that they realize that their culture has a lot to contribute to the world”, adds.

In the 2023 Cup it is expected to integrate the female branch. (I)