Product Code Database
Jai alai ( : ) is a Basque sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker basket-like glove, commonly referred to as a cesta. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term jai alai, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where matches take place. The game, whose name means "merry festival" in Basque, is called zesta-punta ("basket tip") in the Basque Country. The sport is played worldwide, but especially in Spain, France, the American state of Florida, and the Mexican state of Baja California.
The most common American version of the game of jai alai game is played in round robin format, usually between eight teams of two players each or eight single players, although in rare instances the teams may consist of three players each or triples. The first team to score 7 or 9 points wins the game. Two of the eight teams are in the court for each point. The server on one team must bounce the ball behind the serving line, then with the cesta "basket" hurl it towards the front wall so it strikes the front wall first and if it is not caught by the other team before it bounces, must bounce between lines 4 and 7 on the floor. The ball is then in play. The ball used in jai alai is hand crafted and consists of wound virgin rubber strands tightly wound together and then wrapped in 2 layers of goat skin. Once the ball is in play, the other team must catch and return it before it bounces twice. The process of catching and throwing must be completed in one fluid motion with no "juggling" or "holding" of the ball. The ball may be caught either on the fly or after bouncing once on the floor but cannot bounce twice. A team scores a point if an opposing player:
The players frequently attempt a "chula" shot, where the ball is played off the front wall then reaches the bottom of the back wall by the end of its arc. The "chula" is when the ball rebounds low off the back wall with very little to no bounce, almost rolling along the floor.
Since there is no wall on the right side, all jai alai players must play right-handed (wear the cesta on their right hand), as the spin of a left-handed throw would give a tremendous advantage to the left handed player due to the incredible amount of spin.
The Basque government promotes jai alai as "the fastest sport in the world" because of the speed of the ball. The sport once held the world record for ball speed with a 125–140 g ball covered with goatskin that traveled at , performed by José Ramón Areitio at the Newport, Rhode Island Jai Alai, until it was broken by Canadian five-time long drive champion Jason Zuback on a 2007 episode of Sport Science with a golf ball speed of .
The sport can be dangerous, due to the ball's high velocities. It has led to injuries that caused players to retire and fatalities have been recorded in some cases.
The first jai alai fronton in the United States was located in St. Louis, Missouri, operating around the time of the 1904 World's Fair.
From 1988–1991, the International Jai-Alai Players Association held the longest strike action in American professional sport. After the 1988 season, the players, 90% of them Basque, returned home and threatened not to come back unless the owners improved their work conditions. Spain was no longer a poor conservative country and the new generation of players were influenced by leftist Basque nationalism. The owners, however, offered the same terms and Strikebreaker with inexperienced locals, while the world-class stars picketed the courts for years. The public did not notice the change. The strike ended with an agreement, and later strikes were placated with salary rises. Meanwhile, Native American casinos and state lotteries had appeared as an alternative to jai-alai betting. A Basque-American Deep Game: The Political Economy of Ethnicity and Jai-Alai in the USA, Olatz González Abrisketa, pp. 179–198, Studia Iberica et Americana 4, December 2017
Besides the fronton in Miami, there were at one time at least 10 other jai alai frontons in the state.
The Tampa Jai Alai fronton opened in 1952 and operated until 1998. It was located on South Dale Mabry Highway on land that now hosts a Home Depot. The seating capacity of the fronton was around 4,000.
Dania Jai Alai phased out professional jai alai in November 2021. It has a "Hall of Fame" that documents the best front- and back-court players.
Jai-alai was also played at Palm Beach Jai-Alai in West Palm Beach, Orlando Jai-Alai in Casselberry, Daytona Jai-Alai at the Daytona Intl. Speedway, and Big Bend Jai-Alai in Quincy.
It was played seasonally at Fort Pierce Jai-Alai in Fort Pierce, Ocala Jai-Alai in Reddick, and Jasper Jai-Alai in Hamilton.
One Florida fronton, in Melbourne, was converted from jai alai to greyhound racing, although it later closed.
In an effort to prevent the closure of frontons in Florida, the Florida State Legislature passed HB 1059, a bill that changed the rules regarding the operation and wagering of poker in a Pari-Mutuel facility such as a jai alai fronton and a greyhound and horseracing track. The bill became law on August 6, 2003.
Today, only two frontons remain open in the state. One is operated by Jai Alai World at the Magic City Casino northwest of downtown Miami. The fronton offers two kinds of games: the traditional parimutuel game, in which eight contestants compete for win, place and show finishes; and "battle court," in which players participate in singles and doubles matches, akin to tennis, and accumulate points as in a dual meet. Matches are played with rubber balls and streamed online from the Jai Alai World website. Jai Alai World also host special jai alai events include the U.S. Jai Alai Championship and World Super Court.
In 2022, BetRivers became a sponsor and began taking wagers from users outside Florida.
The second operational fronton is located at The Casino @ Dania Beach will commence its next session of jai alai on November 29, 2024, with the Third Annual Dania Beach Invitational Tournament.
In Connecticut, there were frontons in Hartford, Milford, and Bridgeport all of which have permanently closed. The Milford fronton opened in May 1977 and closed in 2001. The fronton at Hartford opened in the summer of 1976 and closed in 1995 The Bridgeport fronton opened in 1976 and ended jai alai in 1995. It was converted to a greyhound race track, which struggled financially, and closed in 2005. Jai alai returned to Connecticut with the 2010 construction of the Connecticut Amateur Jai Alai fronton in Berlin. The fronton was a personal passion project of Matt DiDomizio and does not offer gambling or organized leagues.
The fronton at Newport Jai Alai in Newport, Rhode Island was built on the site of the city dump, opening in May 1976. Jai-alai playing ended in 2003 at which point the facility was converted into Newport Grand, a slot machine and video lottery terminal parlor, which closed permanently in August 2018.
The first public amateur jai alai facility was in Milford CT and owned by Charlie Hernandez. Future frontons were built in the United States, including one in 2008 in St. Petersburg, Florida, with the assistance of the city of St. Petersburg and private funding from Jeff Conway (Laca).
In addition to the amateur court in St. Petersburg, The American Jai-Alai Foundation offers lessons. Its president, Victor Valcarce, was a pelotari at Dania Jai-Alai (MAGO) and was considered the best "rubber ball" player in the world. Sponsored in North Miami Beach, Florida which was once owned by World Jai-Alai as a school that, in 1972, produced the greatest American pelotari, Joey Cornblit.
Retired players visited and played as well as highly skilled amateurs, pros from Miami Jai-Alai and various other professional frontons operating at the time. The additions of the South Miami, North Miami, Orbea, and, later, the Milford amateur courts are generally considered to be the golden age of the amateur jai-alai player and the sport in the United States. In the late 1980s, at least one other amateur court was constructed in Connecticut.
|
|
