🕌 Muslim scholars 🏐 A ball game

ulama

9.9

An ancient ball game from Mexico and Central America played with a rubber ball

noun
/ˈuːləmə/

: ulama

PHOTO (COLOR): Children in the Mexican village of Los Llanitos still play ulama, a game whose roots reach back 3,000 years.

Examples

Alida Zurita, president of the Mexican Federation of Indigenous and Traditional Games and Sports, is working to have ulama taught in schools.

Academic text (2003)
In the village, the children gathered around to watch the exciting game of ulama being played on the court.
Of the villages with ulama teams, Los Llanitos is one of the few with its own court.

Academic text (2003)
While modern ulama do not involve such rituals, researchers are looking to it for subtle clues to past practices.

Academic text (2003)
The balls used in ulama may be the clearest link with the Pre-Columbian past.

Academic text (2003)
The fascination of ulama hasn't gone unnoticed by tourism developers and theme parks.

Academic text (2003)
Modern ulama's deep roots attract scholars eager to understand how Precolumbian ballgames were played and the rituals associated with them.

Academic text (2003)
Ulama has survived in western Mexico for millennia; excavations here have turned up ceramic figurines and ballcourts as old as the fourth century A.D., and rubber balls have been found near the Gulf Coast that date to 1500 B.C.

Academic text (2003)
At the festival, teams competed in ulama, showcasing their skills while honoring ancient traditions.
The fascination of ulama hasn't gone unnoticed by tourism developers and theme parks.

Synonyms

ball game

vsulama

80 1.0

A game played with a ball, like baseball or football

is a culturally specific ceremonial version rather than a general sport

ballgame

vsulama

26 2.0

A game played with a ball, like baseball or soccer

is a specific traditional ceremonial version, not just any ball sport

jai alai

vsulama

3 9.9

A fast ball game from the Basque region played with a curved basket on the arm

is ceremonial and uses a solid rubber ball, not a basket for play

pelota

vsulama

1 9.9

A fast Basque court game in which players hit a small ball with their hand or a wicker racket

is a ceremonial Mesoamerican game played with a rubber ball

Surface Forms

ulama singular

ulamas plural

Etymology

Ulama for the Mesoamerican ball game comes from the Aztec Nahuatl word ōllamaliztli, which meant 'ball game'. Because it named the ancient sport played with a heavy rubber ball, ulama still refers to that traditional game today.