• History

• General aspects

• “Escala i Corda”

VALENCIAN PILOTA

Jorge CunhaSara GinerAzael PastorAlexandra Doldán

 It’s a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community.

 The general rule involves two teams made from two up to five players each.  Exceptionally, individual matches are also played between the most renowned players. The second characteristic is that it’s not played against a wall. Instead, similar to modern tennis, two individuals or teams are placed face to face separated either by a line on the ground or a net. A distinctive trait of Valencian Pilota is that the spectators are often seated or standing very close to the court which means that they may be hit by the ball.

VALENCIAN PILOTA

Valencian Community

The origins of Valencian pilota aren’t known with certainty, but it is commonly supposed to have been derived from the medieval European handball sports like “Jeu de Paume”.

Jeu de paume was first played with the hands, and the scoring system was very similar to the current Valencian one.

Being played by low-class people and high-class nobles, Valencian pilota was very popular: On June 14, 1391 the Valencia City Council fruitlessly forbade it to be played on the streets, but this caused the expansion of trinquet (court). Later on, nobles abandoned the handball game in favour of '"'cleaner" sports and so pilota became the property of the middle and lower classes, which led to the appearance of the first professional players and the rise of gambling and challenge matches.

HISTORY

The break between indoor and outdoor forms caused many variants to diverge from the original ”Llargues” version.

Nowadays, Valencian pilota is played in the whole Valencian Community, but every area has its preferred variety.

The popularity of this sport is rising again with the building of new courts at schools, weekly broadcasts on Valencian public TV, the management of a professional company (ValNet) and the Handball International Championships with countries where these sports with a common origin are played.

Playing pilota valenciana in the streets

Jeu de Paume

Trinquet (court)

Playing area

Variations of the game played in the street area are Galotxa, Llargues and Raspall. The streets must be long and wide

Variations of the game played in the indoor area are Frare, Galotxetes and Frontó.

Indoor variations are normally played in an area called Trinquet.

Trinquet - There is a 60x10m four walled court with stairs (escala) on one side for the spectators to sit. In order to play Escala i corda rules a 2m high net (corda) in the middle of the court.

Balls

Every version of the game uses its own kind of ball. Each ball is different in weight, size, the way it bounces and other aspects. They are all handmade by specialized crafters.

. Badana Ball . Tec Ball

. Galotxetes Ball . Vaqueta Ball

GENERAL ASPECTS

Players

Valencian pilota players are called pilotaris or pilotaires. Usually amateur players are only proficient in one variant, but professional players tend to be hired for social events and exhibitions in other variants. There are now only two variants with professional players: ”Escala i corda” and ”Raspall”.

Variations

Direct games

Escala i corda: A more prestigious game and (alongside with Raspall) the only one played professionally. It is played in a trinquet. The ball must be thrown between players over the net, but can be aimed anywhere.

Galotxa: This can be played in both regular streets or fake streets built solely for playing. The game resembles Escala i corda but with two nets and many more tricks.

Galotxetes: Similar to Escala i corda but shorter and with a different ball.

Llargues game at Sant Joan d'Alacant

Llargues: This version can only be played in regular streets. It's said to be the oldest game. There is no net or field separating the teams.

Raspall: Similar to Escala i corda as it's played in a trinquet, but without any net and the ball may bounce as many times as needed.

Indirect games

Frare

Frontó

It’s the most prestigious variant of Valencian pilota, and the only one, with Raspall, that have professional players.

Rules

The objective of an Escala i corda game is sending the ball over a net by hitting it with the hand. When the opponent doesn't get it the sending team wins the point.

Matches are played to 12 games, counting 5 to 5: every game scoring is valid for 5 points. Every game is divided in 4 "quinzes" (15, 30,val and game). The team who first gets 60 points for 12 games is the winner.

Every quinze begins when the "feridor" player throws the ball to the opponent "dauer", who must turn it back to the team in the "rest" midfield. This way, both teams will be sending each other the ball over the net with an only hit of the hand by team, they may hit the ball on the air or when it's bounced once on the ground, until one of the teams is not able to throw it back or a "fault " is committed.

"Faults":

When the ball bounces twice, or the same team (or player) touches

it twice.

When the ball touches the net or passes under it.

When, in the "ferida", the ball doesn't enter into the "dau"

ESCALA I CORDA