Ancient Sports Article I Wrote

Ancient Team Sports Compared to Modern Team Sports

Do you ever wonder how the sports that we all play and enjoy evolved? In this paper I will discuss, compare and contrast ancient and modern team sports. Basketball, even though it was the invention of Dr. James Naismith, is similar to an ancient Mayan and Aztec game. The ancient Chinese played cuju, which has striking similarities to soccer. The eastern Native Americans from the US and Canada invented lacrosse. Baseball evolved from both the British and American forms of rounders. Sports were mainly played for military training or religious reasons in ancient times. The ancient roots of basketball, soccer, lacrosse and baseball are interesting to look into.

Basketball was the invention of one man, but the Mayans and Aztecs played a game with a hoop for hundreds of years. It was called Pok-ta-Pok by the Mayans and Tlachtli by the Aztecs (Bane). Like basketball today, the game was popular. Kvietok states that, “Most large towns had a ballcourt.” (205). Also, gambling was part of the game (Bane), and this could be compared to modern fantasy basketball. The hoop was also similar to the one in basketball. It was black and very high up in the air, attached to the end of the court (Bane). The ball used in the game was remarkably similar to the one used in the game today. Jane Bane explains that, “The ball was made of rubber, and it bounced well.” Both of these are true about the modern basketball (it may be made out of synthetic rubber, though). The Mayans made the ball like this because the rubber tree is native to North America and was readily available to make balls out of. The ancient game lives on and is still played in parts of Mexico. Kvietok states that, “Local farmers on the west coast of Mexico still play a version of the game” (206). This means that both sports are still actively played. Also, just as in modern basketball, good play could result in higher social status. Bane writes that, “Being a good player could advance your social status.” This shows that great players might become well known, like LeBron James or Paul Pierce is known today. The Mayan and Aztec ballgame is the most similar ancient sport to basketball.

Even though Pok-ta-Pok and Tlachtli were very similar to modern basketball, they had striking differences. Ritual sacrifice (for religion) was often part of the ancient game, and death could come to the captain of the losers or all of the losers, although it was played just for fun sometimes (Kvietok, 204 and Bane). It is a very sad and extremely rare event for a person to die playing basketball today, and it is not played for religious purposes. Also, because the ball in the Mayan and Aztec games was very hard, players wore lots of protective gear. Kvietok writes, “Athletic equipment included belts, chest pads, arm pads, knee pads, deerskin trousers and tunics, sandals, black shields, and hand and wrist guards” (204-205). Basketball today is a physical game with some injuries, but only players recovering from injuries wear anything more for protection than a mouth guard, and never wear as much protective gear as players of Pok-ta-Pok or Tlachtli. Also, there is a huge difference between the games in how players can touch the ball. Kvietok explains that in the ancient games, “Hands and feet couldn’t touch the ball” (205). In basketball today, there is such a thing as a kicked ball violation, but players primarily dribble, pass and shoot the ball with their hands. This rule allowing no hands in Pok-ta-Pok and Tlatchtli also made it different from basketball in another way. It was very hard to get the ball through the hoop (which was fairly small and high up in the air) without the use of hands, so any score through it would be an automatic win for the scoring team (Bane). As a result unlike basketball (where scores go into the hundreds), the ancient games were low scoring, and there were other ways to score besides getting the ball through the hoop. Bane writes that, “Most of the time, players scored by bouncing the ball in the other team’s end zone or if the opposing team couldn’t return the ball after two bounces.” This aspect of the game is more similar to volleyball than basketball. The ancient sports did have a court but it was I-shaped (Bane), not rectangular like basketball’s court. Finally, the Mayan and Aztec games had very complicated rules (according to Kvietok, 205), but basketball started out with only 13 rules created by Dr. Naismith. Pok-ta-Pok and Tlatchtli were very different from basketball, but this is because basketball was invented and didn’t evolve from any other sports. Because of this fact, it is remarkable how similar they are.

An ancient Chinese game called cuju has many similarities to soccer and has been credited to be one of its predecessors. For one thing, cuju means “kick ball with foot.” In cuju the ball was mainly kicked with the foot as in soccer. The goal of the game and the shape of the field were very similar to soccer’s. It was played on marked pitch with goals at the two ends (Goldblatt, 5). This means cuju was played in much the same way soccer is, with players trying to score on the opposing team’s goal. There was a referee to make sure the game was fair as in soccer today. “And there was a referee specially set to guarantee the fairness of the game.” (Cuju). There were also professional teams and women played the game. “Professional men and women formed cuju teams in the palace.” (Cuju). There were a fixed number of players on each team (Cuju). This means that the game was organized, fair and inclusive to both men and women as soccer is today. Cuju was a recreational activity for the general public (Cuju). Pick-up games with average villagers were common, just as street games of soccer are today. The ball for cuju, called the ju, was fairly similar to a soccer ball in outer material. “Ju was a kind of rubber ball made of leather outside and stuffed tightly with feathers inside” (Cuju). Today some soccer balls have (synthetic) leather coverings. Cuju is one of the primary forerunners of soccer.

Although cuju was very similar to soccer, it had some differences and evolved into something quite different. Unlike today’s soccer the game was played as military training. “During the Han dynasty (206B.C.-220A.D.) cuju was…an important means of military training.” Rough tackling was also allowed (Goldblatt, 5). The Chinese used cuju as a way to prepare young boys for war and soldiers for battle. Soccer today has no ties to the military that I know of. The goal used in cuju was also in a different shape from modern soccer’s goals. David Goldblatt writes that, “In some accounts the goal was moon or crescent shaped, in others it was described as a hole in a silk sheet hung between bamboo posts.” This means that shooters would aim differently at the goal than modern soccer players do. After the Han dynasty the game evolved into a goal-shooting performance (Cuju). The common people continued to play a game very similar to the original cuju, but the nobility played a game with one goal (Goldblatt, 6). Because the nobility did not need military training, they played a more formal game. This is unlike soccer today, which involves many more aspects besides shooting, and has two goals. Cuju is probably the most similar sport to modern soccer.

Native Americans from the eastern half of the US and Canada invented lacrosse (which was called different names by different tribes (Aveni, Lund)), playing a version of it that was quite similar in resemblance to the modern sport. One similarity is that Native Americans trained very hard in the offseason, as modern players do. Anthony Aveni explains that. “Like our athletes, the lacrosse players trained exhaustively and intensely to keep in shape.” This means that hundreds of years ago, there were people who trained their bodies well for the intensity of lacrosse. The modern lacrosse stick was also based off a Native American stick. Peter Lund writes that, “The northeastern tribes used a stick from which the present version of the lacrosse stick was derived,” and, “It had a triangular pocket that took up two-thirds the length of the shaft.” This makes the point that the northeastern tribes’ game was most similar to modern lacrosse, as the ball was released from the pocket and caught in the pocket in much the same manner. Just as modern lacrosse is, Native American lacrosse was a rough game. Aveni tells that, “contests frequently left injured players.” This rough play was also somewhat in the same style. Players of the game hundreds of years ago would try to dislodge the ball from the opponent’s stick by striking it (Aveni). This exact play is also common today. There was also almost the same start to both games. Aveni states that, “Once the sphere was tossed up, the player who caught it immediately ran to the opposing goal.” I can infer that this means that there was some sort of face off (although the ball was tossed in the air, not placed on the ground as it is today) and play would quickly start. Both of these points are true about today’s game. Lacrosse certainly evolved from the earlier Native American version of the game.

The Native American game was the precursor to modern lacrosse, but there are some shocking differences between the two games. The length of the games, size of the field and number of players was much greater in the older game. Lund shares that, “Lacrosse games would last for days, stopping at sunset and continuing the next day at sunrise. The fields had no boundaries, and goals were usually between 500 yards to half a mile apart, though sometimes they were several miles apart…There were no limitations on the number of players on a team, and often there would be as many as one thousand players in a lacrosse game at the same time.” In the modern game there are four 15 minute quarters, the length of the field is around 120 yards, and there are 10 players from each team in the game at once. That is quite a difference, as the Native American game must have been more spread out and informal (as sides might not have been even). Also, the game, which was played hundreds of years ago, was much more dangerous than modern lacrosse, as it was called “the little brother of war” (Aveni, Lund). Players wore no protective equipment or shoes, so injuries, including very severe ones, were common (Lund). Broken bones were common, deaths happened, and many people were crippled by playing the game (Aveni). Lacrosse today is very rough, but players do wear protective equipment. Deaths are extremely rare in lacrosse. I only know a few kids who have broken bones while playing it (of the many I know who play it), and I know of no one who has been crippled by it. Also, the goals were different in the older game. Lund writes that, “The goals were usually marked by a single tree or a large rock, and points were scored by hitting it with the ball.” Modern lacrosse uses nets in a shape of a triangular prism for scoring, instead. The ball was very different between the Native American and modern games. Aveni discusses that “Balls generally ranged in size between a tennis ball and a softball, though lighter in weight, and were usually made… of hide filled with animal hair, usually deer. Some Indians used balls made of wood.” The modern lacrosse ball is unlike this because it is very heavy and doesn’t use any of the same materials but is made of solid rubber. Despite all of this, the Native Americans formed the basis for modern lacrosse.

Baseball evolved from many stick and ball games, but a group of them played in America and Britain in the early 1800s (Crego) that can be classified under the name rounders is the most similar to it. Outs are recorded in much the same way in rounders and baseball. “He is out if the ball is caught on the fly; if the base (post) to which he is running is touched by the ball or if, while running, is touched with the ball by a fielder” (rounders). In baseball these types of outs are called pop or fly out, force out and tag out. The number of players on the field and the positions are identical in both games. Crego writes about rounders that “two teams of nine players take turns hitting and fielding.” In rounders there were a bowler (pitcher), four basemen, three outfielders and the backstop (catcher) (rounders). There were also four bases in rounders, just as there are in baseball. Crego tells that “a run is scored when a batter circles a square marked by four bases or posts.” But if you looked at only the positions and bases, you would think rounders was exactly the same as baseball. Both sports live on as rounders is popular in Britain among schoolchildren (rounders). Finally, the equipment is the same as rounders is played with a hard ball and wooden stick (rounders). Rounders and baseball have many identical rules and equipment.

Some aspects of rounders are surprisingly different from baseball, and this shows that modern baseball evolved from many different games. For example, there were only two innings in rounders and there were nine outs per inning (rounders). As a result of this, all nine players got a turn at bat in each inning (Crego). It is very rare for all nine players to get a turn at bat each inning in baseball as you need a lot of good hitting (there are three outs per inning in baseball). There are also nine instead of two innings in today’s game. Also, you could hit the ball behind you in rounders. “As in cricket, the ball may be hit in any direction, but if it goes behind the batting square, the batter may only run to the first post until the ball has been thrown back past the square.” This means there is no such thing as a foul ball in rounders, and foul balls are a huge aspect of baseball used much in strategy. Also, unlike baseball, a ball caught on one bounce is an out in rounders. Robert Creco explains that, “an out is recorded when a batted ball is caught on the fly or after one bounce.” If this rule also applied to baseball today, there would be much less diving to catch the ball in the air and more time for fielders to get the ball. It would also reduce the number of hits batters get because they would have to try to get the ball farther away from the fielders to get a hit. In rounders, players had to try to hit a good pitch, which was described as below the head and above the knee of the batsmen and above the batting square. The bowler was required to pitch a good pitch (rounders). This is similar to the ball in baseball, but, players in baseball don’t have to hit a strike and pitchers can pitch balls when they want to. Rounders is one of many predecessors to baseball.

Overall, ancient sports were much rougher and much more related to war and religion than modern sports. They tended to be played more informally by the common people without organized leagues than modern sports. Surprisingly, many of the rules and equipment were similar between the ancient and modern sports. Many of the most popular games of today have extremely old roots. It is intriguing to investigate, compare and contrast these sports of different ages.

Works Cited

Aveni, Anthony. "The Indian Origins of Lacrosse." Colonial Williamsburg: That the Future May Learn from the past. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Winter 2010. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Bane, Jane. "Pok-ta-Pok - Ballgame of the Ancient Maya." BBC. BBC, 16 Oct. 2002. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.

Crego, Robert. Sports and Games of the 18th and 19th Centuries. First ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2003. Print.

"Cuju." Cultural China. Cultural China, 2007-2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

Goldblatt, David. The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer. New York: Riverhead. Print.

Kvietok, Peter. "Let's Play Ball." A World in Transition. Ed. Bill Wahlgren. Austin. Print.

Lund, Peter B. "The American Indian Game." E-lacrosse: The Online Lacrosse Magazine and Superstore. E-lacrosse. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

"Rounders." Encyclopedia Britannica. Ed. Yamini Chahuan and Gloria Lotha. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.