A pelotari serving during a jai alai tournament

This was my assignment in the Advance News Photography course in ACFJ dealing with sports. Fortunately, when we had this one, the Manila Amateur Jai Alai Association had their yearend tournament. As posted before, I am documenting this unique sport as part of my course project. With permission from Alex Singca, association president and the one I interviewed here, I was able to cover the tournament for two days just before I flew to Cebu. This is a work in progress and if you might notice, I still have a lot to learn in assembling a multimedia slideshow. This is just a start.

Ben Gingone serves the pelota during practice sessions at a local cancha

It was a fun afternoon as I spent time with pelotaris at the local cancha in Quezon City. Jai alai, the Basque game, have fascinated me ever since I saw an amateur player motoring with his cesta behind his back in Cebu. Gotten curious, I followed him to the run down cancha or fronton where he and the rest of amateur players were practicing.

I’m not new to this sport but, like most Cebuanos, I grew up associating it with the illegal game of masiao. The first time I saw this being played in March this year I was instantly hooked. The pelota or rubber ball zooming at speeds of more than 200 miles an hour while a pelotari tries to catch it and spring it back to the frontis is really spectacular! No wonder, they call this the game of a thousand thrills.

The sport, once a very popular game and now relegated in the background because of it’s checkered history in the country, is being kept alive by former professionals and amateurs who have been playing for the love of it. This, and my fascination prompted me to propose this as one of my final projects in ACFJ.