 Jai alai play in progress | |
| First played | 14th century |
|---|---|
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No |
| Team members | Various |
| Type | Indoor–outdoor |
| Equipment | pelota, xistera/cesta |
Jai alai (/ˈhaɪ.əlaɪ/ HYE-ə-lye: [ˈxai aˈlai]) is a Basque sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker, commonly referred to as a cesta. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term jai alai, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where matches take place. The game, whose name means "merry festival" in Basque, is called zesta-punta ("basket tip") in the Basque Country. The sport is played worldwide, but especially in Spain, France, the U.S. state of Florida, and in various Latin American countries.