The game was played with a rubber ball ranged in size from being as small as a softball to as big as a soccer ball. The game was played by two teams that would attempt to score by bouncing the rubber ball through stone hoops attached to the sides of the ball court. The players could only use their bodies and had to bounce the ball without using their hands
The ball court itself was a focal point of Maya cities and symbolized the city’s wealth and power based upon its size and grandeur. The prestige of a city 's ball court became as important to the Maya as were their pyramids and temples. They built grand ball courts to hold the games in great public ritual with all the splendor the city had to offer.
Illustration of the Ball Court at Copán,
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The ball game was considered a sport, but it was mainly a ritual that was conducted to please the gods. The Maya ball game pok-ta-pok was also played by the Aztec in Mexico where it was called …show more content…
The ball court was very elaborated decorated. There are relief carvings on the lower walls of the ball court depicting ball game activities and ritual sacrifice. A small decorated temple was at each end of the ball court and in front is the north temple which is the Temple of the Bearded Man. Another great mystery of the Maya, as Mesoamericans did not have facial hair.
The acoustics of this structure allow a person standing at one end of the court to be speaking in a natural voice to be heard by another person standing about 150 yards away at the other end of the ball court.
The game was played by two opposing teams, one team was shadow and the other was light. At the end of the game, the losing team captain would be sacrificed. It is believed that the sacrificed captain had a place of honor within the neighboring structure in the Temple of Warriors.
It is not specifically known how the Maya ball game was played, but according to the most widespread version of it, the goal of the game was to pass the ball through one of the rings without touching it. The rules were that the players needed to strike the ball with their