Jai Alai
Jai alai owes its unique development to the Basques, inhabitants of a small territory of southwestern France and northwestern Spain that borders the Bay of Biscay. Jai alai-cesta punta in Spanish-is the most exciting offspring of Basque pelota, the large family of games utilizing a hand or instrument to propel a ball. Jai alai is almost exclusively played professionally.
History
Jai alai means “merry festival” in Basque and was the original name of one of the greatest courts ever constructed for the game, Fronton Jai Alai, built in 1887 in San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa, Spain.
The novel element of jai alai, and what makes it uniquely Basque, is the basket, or chistera, used to toss the ball. This apparently replaced a long leather glove with a deep curve created in the 19th century that pelota players used. The size of the new gloves allowed players to hold the ball for an instant before hurling it back against the wall or to the opposing side. This stroke, known in Basque as atchiki (to hold) was a stronger and more accurate stroke. This made for faster,more spectacular games, but nevertheless led to a decline in playing; the games were more demanding and the new glove costly.
Numerous references point to a youngster named Juan Dithurbide, from the French Basque village of Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle, as the first person to use a basket with which to play pelota. The chistera (French) or cesta (Spanish) was an oblong, shallow wicker fruit basket used by peasant farmers for gathering beans and fruit. According to the references, the boy, on impulse, picked up the fruit basket and struck a few balls against the wall of a barn. Realizing the importance of his invention, Dithurbide began constructing chisteras in 1857 in order to sell them.His design was shorter and straighter than current chisteras and very similar in size and shape to the leather gloves. At first, the chistera was used mainly by the local children, but it soon caught on among adults. It was extremely similar in size and shape to the old leather glove, except that it was constructed from wicker.The use of the basket was enhanced by the simultaneous appearance of a rubber-cored ball.
The new games spread to Cuba, North and South America, and the Philippines. A Basque player in Argentina created a more advanced chistera in 1888 to compensate for residual weakness after he broke his wrist. This very long and curved chistera allowed players to propel the ball forward two-handed with a rhythmic upward and forward heave from the backhand side. This new way of swinging the chistera revolutionized the game.
Rules and Play
This new game, almost exclusively professional, came into being as cesta punta. The courts that jai alai is played on are known as “frontons.” They may be open or enclosed,but all have a front wall,back wall, and leftside wall. The right side usually has a tiered terrace for spectators. The object of jai alai is to hurl the ball against the front wall with so much speed and spin that the opposing player can’t return it. The ball can touch any wall, and it remains in play until it bounces on the floor twice. Traditional games in the Basque country are still played to 35 or 40 points.
The vogue of jai alai as a spectator sport and pretext for gambling affected the game adversely at the beginning of the 20th century. Popularity declined with increased professionalism and the rapid spread of soccer (association football). In 1921, the Fédéracion Française de Pelote Basque was formed, codified the various pelota games, wrote rules, classified players, and generally gave the game a responsible and coherent authority. Organizations in Spain and various South American countries followed suit. An international organization, the Fédéracion Internacionale de Pelota Vasca, in 1945 standardized an international code of rules for playing and umpiring. In 1952 the federation organized its first world championship in San Sebastian, Spain,with eight nations competing.
Professional jai alai entered the United States in 1904 as pelota. A fronton was built during the World’s Fair held in St. Louis, Missouri. Although the fronton closed just two months later, professional pelota then moved on to Chicago and New Orleans, where it permanently assumed its new name of jai alai, mainly through the efforts of promoters who wanted to give it a more exotic sound.
The game declined in popularity due to the prohibition of alcohol, the illegality of gambling, and the economic hardship of the Depression. Miami, Florida, where pari-mutuel betting was legal,was an exception; in 1924, the organization World Jai Alai built a fronton and the game was an immediate success as a tourist attraction. Nevada followed Florida in legalizing betting, and a fronton opened at a hotel there in 1974. Other frontons opened later in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Jai alai is now played everywhere in the world with a Basque population.While the method of scoring has been radically transformed to a round-robin type of play, the games still call for a great deal of strength and stamina, highly esteemed values in Basque society.
