Report

Reintroduced to Belize in 2015 by the Native Maya there, Yo Creek Village from the the Orange Walk District of Belize, won the Juego de Pelota Mesoamericano Ulamaztli Championship in Teotihuacan, the ancient capital of the Aztec Empire in April 2017. The tournament was a precursor to the Mesamerican Ball Game Competition in Guatemala in October 2017 – the Ulama World Cup basically.

About Ulama

Ulama is the ancient Ball Game of Central America – the Native Aztecs (Mexica) and Maya in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras have played it since 1400 BC. It is played by two teams using their hips to try to propel the ball past the opposing team.

References

websites

[1] Con Murphy / Live and Invest Overseas (2018) A Definitive Guide to the World’s Oldest Sport – Ulama [Internet] Available from: http://www.liveandinvestoverseas.com/infocus-belize/a-definitive-guide-to-the-worlds-oldest-sport-ulama/ [Accessed 28 June 2019]

Images

[2] Live and Invest Overseas (2018) People-playing-Ulama [Internet] Available from: https://www.liveandinvestoverseas.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/People-playing-Ulama.jpg [Accessed 30 October 2020]

[3] Live and Invest Overseas (2018) Teotihucan-Ballcourt [Internet] Available from: https://www.liveandinvestoverseas.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Teotihucan-Ballcourt.jpg [Accessed 30 October 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Kimmage Development Studies Centre @ The Holy Ghost College, Dublin 6W.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 30 October 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.