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Maya ballgame, which is a branch of the Mesoamerican ballgame, is a sporting event that was played throughout the Mesoamerican era by the Maya civilization, which was distributed throughout much of Central America.
The Mayan ball game goes back 3,500 years, making it the first organized game in the history of sports. Mayans loved the game and everyone played at various times, but it also held deep religious, ritual meaning as well.
The sport known simply as the Ball Game was played by all the major Mesoamerican civilizations and the impressive stone courts became a feature of many cities. More than just a game, it could have a religious significance and featured in episodes of mythology.
The Mesoamerican ballgame (Nahuatl languages: ōllamalīztli, Nahuatl pronunciation: [oːlːamaˈlistɬi], Mayan languages: pitz) was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BC [1] by the pre-Columbian people of Ancient Mesoamerica.
The game the Spanish witnessed in the Aztec region was just one manifestation of a long-lived and wide-ranging ballgame tradition in Mesoamerica. Cultures throughout Mesoamerica played games using rubber balls, and the tradition extended to the Caribbean and the southwestern United States.
The visual representations of this sacred ball game can be seen across various Mayan ruins, where murals, sculptures, and etchings depict players in elaborate regalia, alongside their iconic rubber balls and hallowed hoops.
The Mesoamerican Ball Game is the oldest known sport in the Americas and originated in southern Mexico approximately 3,700 years ago. For many pre-Columbian cultures, such as the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, and Aztec, it was a ritual, political and social activity that involved the whole community.