Basque pelota

Basque pelota called Pelota in Spanish, pilota in Basque and Catalan, or pelote in French is the name for several sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall or with two teams face to face separated by a line on the ground or a net. Their roots can be traced to the Greek and other ancient cultures, but in Europe they all come from real tennis (see Jeu de paume). Today, Basque Pelota is played in several countries: in Spain and France, specially in the Basque Country and its neighbour areas and in Latin American countries like Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Cuba and some parts of the United States.

A game of pelote as played in Ustaritz

The International Federation of Basque Pelota has made rules for the 14 different sorts of pelota. Two are for both women and men, and 12 just for men.

People bet on the results of the games.

The players are called pelotari.

Similar games

• Gaelic handball
• Valencian pilota
• Valencian frontó

Other websites

• International Federation of Basque Pelota
• http://www.manista.com/
• "The History of Basque Pelota in the Americas" Archived 2008-04-10 at the Wayback Machine by Carmelo Urza
• Pelota vasca in the Spanish-language Auñamendi Encyclopedia, with sections on the game and history.
• 1959's film Thunder in the Sun in IMDb