All about the ancient tribes
It is likely that the Olmec were the ones who came up with the game some time during the Preclassical Period (2500-100 BCE), and by the time the Classical Period rolled around, it was a widespread part of the urban scene across Mesoamerica (300-900 CE). At some point in the future, the game even made its way to other communities across North America and the Caribbean.
Figurines made of pottery depicting ballplayers that were discovered in El Opeo, Michoacan state, in western Mexico about 1700 B.C. are responsible for providing the oldest proof that the sport of baseball was ever played. At the El Manat temple in Veracruz, fourteen rubber balls were discovered, which had been buried there over a lengthy period of time beginning about 1600 BC.
Mesoamerica is credited as being the birthplace of the first team sport ever played with a rubber ball, which is believed to have been developed by the Olmec civilization. The game, which was popular among many different cultures in this area, developed throughout the course of time.
The Mesoamerican ball game is said to have been played by all of the tribes that inhabited the region, starting with the Olmecs, who may have been the ones who originated the game. The history of the game of ball dates back 3,500 years, making it the earliest organized game in the annals of sporting competition.
Mesoamerican Ballgames When the Olmec, also known as the rubber people, created Mesoamerica’s first civilization, they also left behind a rich cultural heritage that was inherited by subsequent groups, such as the Maya and the Aztec. This heritage included the invention of balls and ballgames, which can be traced back more than 3,000 years.
The consequence for losing a game may be as severe as one’s own life in extreme cases. It was common practice to take the life of the team captain of the losing side. This was consistent with the Mayan worldview, which held that the continuous prosperity of the people’s agriculture, commerce, and health depended on the performance of ritualized human sacrifices.
The game lasted for a total of two weeks. It was usually a rubber ball that was utilized. Over the course of the ages, both its size and weight changed.
Maya people in Central America played a fast-paced ball game called Pok-A-Tok. Pok-A-Tok was named after the Mayan word for ″poke.″ It is their most well-known game, and experts believe it was first played some time around the year 2000 BCE. In every major Mayan city, Pok-A-Tok was competed for in teams consisting of either one or two players.
Pok-A-Tok was an ancient Maya ball game that was played in the region that is now the Cancun and Riviera Maya area well over a thousand years ago. In addition, there is evidence that both the Toltecs and the Aztecs played variants of the game, as there are stadiums (for want of a better description) located all across Mexico.
The Mesoamerican Ballgame Tournament 2017 was conducted at Teotihuacan, Mexico, and the winning team was from Belize. The tournament was held in contemporary times as well. In Mesoamerica, archaeologists have found evidence of more than 1,500 ballcourts.