ANCIENT SPORTS IN THE AMERICAS

This game of basketball meets football was played Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilisations. The ancient courts were found as far apart Paraguay and what is now Arizona. It’s believed that players would use their hips to pass a rubber ball and the game would be finished by passing the ball through a vertical hoop. As the pitch would was bordered by stone buildings, the players would be covered with bumps and bruises. And they were the lucky ones. For they didn’t always use a ball. The Spanish banned the game when they found that decapitated heads had also been used. People can now watch re-enactments of the game in Mexico.

Believed to be the world’s first surfboard, the Caballito (little horse) is still created by craftsmen in the historic surf town of Huanchaco, Peru. Surfers cut down the Totora plant’s reeds, which grow by the water, dry them in the sun then bind them together. The Caballito was created by the fishermen of the Mochica Chimu people so that they could break through the surf and go fishing. After laying their nets, the fishermen would stand, kneel or sit on the Caballito de Totora as they rode it back to shore.

More than 2,000 years ago Hawaiians would surf down the slopes of a volcano upon wooden boards in tribute to the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes. Christian missionaries put a stop to the sport in the 19th century, calling it dangerous. However, it has since been revived by Hawaiians and daring tourists and makes for an unforgettable Hawaiian adventure.