Jai-alai Trivia
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.
