The Ancient Ball Game Surviving in a Modern World

In Sinaloa, Mexico, five cousins aged 8–13 practice ulama, a pre-Hispanic ball game where players hit a 3.2 kg rubber ball using only their hips. The sport dates back 3,400 years.

A Legacy of Hip and Heart

The Osuna family is keeping history alive. María Herrera (53), a widow, continues the legacy of her late husband, player Aurelio Osuna, teaching the ancient game of ulama to her grandchildren in Los Llanitos, Sinaloa.

According to the Popol Vuh, the Mayan sacred book, the world itself was created from a ball game—a celestial clash between light and darkness.

Ancient Roots, Near Erasure

Ulama was played by the Olmecs, Maya, and other pre-Hispanic cultures. Rubber balls and nearly 2,000 ball courts have been found across a vast region stretching from Nicaragua to Arizona.

The game carried deep meanings: fertility rites, war ceremonies, political acts, and sacrifices. While some players were beheaded, anthropologist Carlos Navarrete notes this practice occurred only in specific periods and regions.

Spanish conquistadors banned ulama and destroyed courts, viewing it as resistance to Christianity. The Catholic Church considered the ball "the living devil," according to researcher Emilie Carreón.

The game survived primarily on Mexico's northern Pacific coast, where Jesuit priests were less aggressive and ulama was eventually accepted into Catholic festivities, explains Manuel Aguilar-Moreno of California State University.

Revival Through the World Cup

As Mexico co-hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup, authorities and players are using the global event to promote ulama. An exhibition at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics first sparked studies and preservation efforts.

Today, Luis Aurelio Osuna (30) and his mother teach children the rules, including a scoring system with points both won and lost.

From Tourist Spectacle to Authentic Practice

In the 1980s, filmmaker Roberto Rochín documented the last rubber ball-maker in Sinaloa, who used the ancient Olmec technique of mixing hot rubber sap with a plant.

In the 1990s, a resort in the Mexican Caribbean hired Sinaloan families to represent ulama as a tourist attraction in the Riviera Maya. Herrera acknowledges this sparked revival but calls it "pure spectacle"—complete with painted faces and feathered costumes.

"That's where the revival began," Herrera says.

The Osuna family has since played hip ulama in a Roman amphitheater in Italy and were hired for a deodorant commercial. Now, as the World Cup nears, authorities and corporations launch exhibitions in Mexico City and Guadalajara and feature ulama players in ad campaigns.

Voices of Caution and Hope

Player Ángel Ortega (21) expressed concern: "We're not circus monkeys."

Player Ilse Sil says institutional support helps preservation, but officials need to promote the game in communities and schools. Today, approximately 1,000 players exist, mainly in Mexico and Guatemala.

Researcher Carreón offers a clear directive: "We must rid the game of the notion that it is a living fossil."

A Family's Mission

Decades ago, matches were major events tied to religious feasts, sometimes lasting a week. But interest waned, and rubber balls became hard to obtain. The Olmecs, it should be noted, made some of the oldest balls in the world.

Luis Aurelio Osuna on keeping children entertained in Sinaloa, where organized crime is pervasive: "We need to find a way to keep them entertained with good things."

María Herrera holds faith in the future: "This seed will bear fruit some day."

And eight-year-old Kiki Osuna is determined to keep practicing until he leads his own team.

Hip ulama teams have up to six players.