Here are many interesting Jai-Alai trivia:

• There are more Jai-alai frontons in Florida today than in any other place in the world.

• The sport has changed very little since it originated about 400 years ago. It has always been known for its fast pace and exciting tournaments.

• The pelota is known to be the hardest ball of any sport. It is roughly 3/4 the size of a baseball and is harder than a rock.

  Its core consists of Brazilian virgin de pola rubber and then it is layered with nylon and hand-stitched with two goat skin covers.

  The pelota, on average, has a court life of only about 20 minutes before the cover splits due to the high velocities at which it hits the wall during play.

• The training of Jai-alai pelotaris begins between the ages of eight and ten years and continues for years before the individual can become a professional player.

• Jai-alai became an Olympic sport on several occasions.

  The first was in Paris Olympiad of 1924 while the most recent was the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.



• The first Jai-alai game in China was played in a fronton in Shanghai. Another fronton opened in Tientsin in 1934. But World War II and the communist government ended jai alai's brief success there.

• The youngest professional player in the history of Jai-alai was Piston I. He began his professional career in Madrid, Spain in 1922 at the age of nine.

• The Guinness Book of World Records reports the official record for the fastest recorded Jai-alai ball at 188 MPH.

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