What is Jai Alai?

What is Jai-Alai?

As a child, I would visit my grandfather in Florida on a yearly basis (to this day, he continues to live every Canadian’s retirement dream at the age of 97). One year, when I was about 15, my dad decided to turn on the TV and briefly explained to me what Jai Alai is. My dad had no particular expertise in the sport, but was able to spit out some of the basics; such as it was played in some Latin American countries. I thought the sport was pretty cool, but never really pursued it much further. For some reason, I particle of interest remained engrained in the back of my mind.

Fast-forward over 10 years later and I was asked by my Spanish teacher to do a 10-minute presentation on a Latin-American cultural topic as the summative project for my intermediate Spanish class. I didn’t want to present just any lame topic so I took my time to choose a cool topic. After a few days, the particle of jai alai that remained lodged in the back of my mind percolated towards the front. The choice was made: I would present Jai Alai.

Here is what my research taught me:

• The sport may also be called “Cesta Punta” or “Frontón”
• It was invented in the Basque region several hundred years ago. It was originally played against church walls. It gained popularity at the World Fair of 1904 in St. Louis.
• Frontónes currently exist in USA, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Venezuela, France and Spain (likely other nations as well).
• It is played on a court called a “Frontón.” Each fronton has three walls (front, back and left). There is no right wall, meaning left handed players can’t play.
• The objective: To use the “cesta” (basket) to throw the pelota (ball) against the front wall with a velocity and accuracy that makes it difficult for your opponent to catch the pelota.
• If team 1 throws the ball against the front wall and team 2 does not cleanly capture the ball after one bounce and quickly throw it against the front wall, team 1 receives a point.
• A game consists of many players (up to 8) who play 1 v. 1 games. After every point, the loser leaves the frontón. First to 7 points wins. It’s essentially King’s Court. It can also be played with teams, 2 vs. 2.

While recently visiting my girlfriend in Mexico City, we were fortunate enough to see the sport live in el Palacio de la Pelota. Here are my thoughts on the experience:

• It is fast. The ball travels over 200km/h on a large court.
• The players are skilled. Although the amount of players worldwide is small, those who play competitively have clearly spent decades mastering their skills.
• It is exciting. The fans get involved and cheer for great plays. There are men in suits who run around like crazy to take bets. It’s a great place to chill and have some cold beers and peanuts.
• It was played mostly with 2 teams of 2 players on the court. The first team to 30 points wins. There were a few rotation (King’s Court) games.

Below is a video of a rally that I recorded from an exciting game. Notice the nice grab by the player in blue at 34 seconds who jumps up the wall. The rally ends when the player in red can’t catch the ball against the fence. There were many occasions where he made the tough play and was applauded by the fans for doing so.