CHOCTAW, Miss. (AP) — As the drummers walk onto the field, the players behind them smack their hickory sticks to the beat. The rhythm envelops the stands and a palpable sense of anticipation flows through the crowd.
Indigenous peoples have been playing stickball for hundreds of years, and every summer since 1975, teams have competed in Mississippi to become champion of perhaps the oldest game in North America.
A game of physicality and endurance, stickball is often referred to as the grandfather of field sports and the annual tournament in Mississippi is the game’s premier event. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has been producing some of the country’s best players for generations. A team from Mississippi will almost certainly be the one to beat in any tournament or exhibition game in the country.
No pads, no timeouts, no mercy
As the July sun set on another sweltering day, hundreds of people gathered at the Choctaw Central High School football field and sat down on the Indian blankets they had draped across the metal seating. Others lined their folding chairs along the chain-link fence to get a glimpse of the action.
Stickball, known as ishtaboli in the Choctaw language, is played with 30 players on the field, each carrying two netted sticks called kabotcha, and a small woven leather ball painted bright orange, called a towa.
Stickball fans say it remains pure. There are no pads, no timeouts and no mercy. Players typically don’t even wear shoes. It is not uncommon for people to leave the stickball field with broken bones from full contact, or gashes from taking a stick to the face. Any player possessing the ball can expect to be tackled or torn down by their jersey or breechcloth.
