Sport in Mexico

Sport in Mexico are the recreation activities of Mexico. The game of football is regarded to be the most popular sport activity in the country; however, boxing, baseball, golf, wrestling, bullfighting, and charrería are also appreciated.

Pre-Columbian

Mesoamerican ball game

The Mesoamerican ball game is a sport that has been played for over 3,000 years by the Pre-Columbian people of Mesoamerica. Archaeologists have found the oldest ballcourt yet discovered at Paso de la Amada in Mexico, which is dated to approximately 1400 BC.^[1]

The rules of the ballgame are unknown, however, it is believed that the sport was probably similar to racquetball or volleyball, where the object is to keep the ball in play.^[2] In the Post-Classical Era, the Maya began placing vertical stone rings on each side of the court, the object being to pass the ball through one. Several of these were placed quite high, as at Chichen Itza, where they were set 6 meters from the ground. Players would strike the ball with their hips, forearms or employed rackets, bats, or hand-stones. The ball was made of solid rubber, and weighed up to 4 kg or more, with sizes that differed greatly over time or according to the version played. Games were played between two individuals and between two teams of players. The ballgame was played within a large masonry structure which contained a long narrow playing alley flanked by walls with both horizontal and sloping (or, more rarely, vertical) surfaces. The walls were often plastered and brightly painted.^[3] A version of the game called Ulama is still played in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

Traditional sports

Charrería

Charrería is one of the national sports of Mexico, it consists of a series of Mexican equestrian events. The most notable event is the charreada; a style of rodeo developed by the people of Mexico who were interested in keeping the traditions of the charro alive. A charro is a term referring to a traditional horseman or a cowboy of Mexico, originating in the State of Jalisco.

The Federación Mexicana de Charrería (Mexican Federation of Charreria) organizes charrería events.

Bullfighting

The Spanish colonization of Mexico introduced bullfighting in to the country. The sport has been one of the most popular in the country for the last 400 years.

Typically, a Mexican bullfighting show includes a Mexican rodeo events, known as charreadas, and traditional folklorico dances. Thousands of bullfighting events occur in Mexico. In certain areas of the country, bullfighting generates a large amount of revenue from tourists, and the local population. As evidence of the popularity of the sport, the largest bullring in the world can be found in Mexico. It is called Plaza Mexico, and it is located in Mexico City. The anniversary of the opening of Plaza Mexico is celebrated annually with a special bullfight called the "Corrida de Aniversario".^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Modern Sports

Association Football

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Estadio Jalisco

Football has been played professionally in Mexico since the early 1900s. The first Mexican club, Pachuca C.F., is still well in existence. Since 1996, the country has played two split seasons instead of a traditional long season. There are two separate playoff and league divisions. This system is common throughout Latin America. After many years of calling the regular seasons as "Verano" (Summer) and "Invierno" (Winter); the Primera División de México (Mexican First League Division) have changed the names of the competition, and has opted for a traditional name of "Apertura" (opening) and "Clausura" (closing) events.

The Apertura division begins in the middle of Mexico's summer and ends before the official start of winter. The Clausura division begins during the New Year, and concludes in the spring season.

Mexican football is comprised of four divisions, beginning with the Primera División de México, Primera División A, Segunda División de México, and Tercera División de México. The teams are promoted and relegated by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación. Relegation is a common practice in Mexican football. This includes with one club from the top league division moving down, and one side from the bottom league division moving up.

The relegation system does not punish clubs for producing a bad season. Mexican clubs are assessed on their previous five campaigns. Points are accumulated for five seasons, and are divided by the number of matches played. The club with the lowest percentage in the Verano division is regulated to a lower division. Each teams must earn their promotions.

Mexico’s most successful clubs have been Club Deportivo Guadalajara with 11 championships, Club América with 10 and Toluca and Cruz Azul with 8 each.^[8] Chivas are famous for using only Mexican players in their squad. Consequently, Chivas have long fed players to the national team.

Mexico has hosted two FIFA World Cups, in 1970 and 1986. Many of the stadiums in use around the league have a World Cup history. Sites such as Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, Estadio Tecnologico in Monterrey and Estadio Azteca in Mexico City are renowned for their national and international history. The legendary Estadio Azteca, for example, is the only stadium in the world to have hosted two World Cup finals and is one of the largest stadiums in the world.

The Mexican national football team finished twice as runner-ups at the Copa America, became world champions at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru, and have reached the quarter finals twice at the World Cup. Recently, some players from Mexico have gone on to play in Europe, including Rafael Márquez, Nery Castillo, Carlos Salcido, Ricardo Osorio, Pavel Pardo, Andrés Guardado, Carlos Vela, Giovanni Dos Santos, Omar Bravo and Francisco Javier Rodríguez.

Baseball

Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres.

Although there is some dispute about exactly when and where baseball started in Mexico, baseball has a long and colorful history in Mexico with historians placing its origin there as early as the 1840s. Today, baseball flourishes in Mexico, where it is played professionally with a 16-team Summer League, and an 8-team Winter League. Over 100 Mexicans have played in the major leagues in the United States, including Cy Young Award winner Fernando Valenzuela, top 500 home run hitter Vinny Castilla, Gold Glove Award winner Aurelio Rodríguez, and AL batting champion Bobby Ávila. The first Mexican to play in Major League Baseball in the United States was Mel Almada, who participated with the Boston Red Sox in 1933.

The Liga Mexicana de Béisbol was founded in 1925, establishing six teams, and playing all their matches in Mexico City. In the 1930s and 1940s, African-Americans from the United States-who were still barred from Major League Baseball until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947-played alongside Mexicans and Cubans in the Mexican League. In 1937, legendary Negro Leagues’ stars Satchel Paige and "Cool Papa Bell" left the Pittsburgh Crawfords to play in Latin America. After playing a year in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Paige and Bell joined the Mexican League.

In the 1940s, multi-millionaire Jorge Pasquel attempted to turn the Mexican League into a first-rate rival to the Major Leagues in the United States. In 1946, Pasquel traveled north of the border to pursue the top players in the Negro and Major leagues. Pasquel signed up close to twenty major leaguers, including such well known names as Mickey Owen and Sal Maglie, and a number of Negro League players. Ultimately, Pasquel’s dream faded, as financial realities led to decreased salaries and his high-priced foreign stars returned home.

Currently, 16 teams divided into North and South Divisions play in the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol in a summer season, which ends in a 7-game championship series between the winners of the two divisions. Since 1967, the league has been sanctioned as an AAA minor league.

In the winter, eight teams play in the Mexican Pacific League ("Liga Mexicana del Pacífico" or "LMP"), whose winner advances to the Caribbean Series against other Latin American champions. Although Liga Mexicana de Beisbol has a long history, the Mexican Pacific League is the premier baseball league in Mexico today. It is played during the Major League Baseball (MLB) off-season, so many MLB players also compete in the LMP.

El Sálon de la Fama (the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame), has inducted 167 players, consisting of 138 Mexicans, 16 Cubans, 12 from the United States, and one Puerto Rican.^[9]^[10] Distinguished players include Major League Baseball stars Roy Campanella and Monte Irvin, who played in the Mexican League in the 1940s. Nicknamed “El Bambino Mexicano,” or the Mexican Babe Ruth, Hector Espino was inducted in the Mexican Hall of Fame in 1988, after playing with San Luis Potosi, and Tampico from 1962 to 1984. His 453 home runs remained the record until Nelson Barrera surpassed him in 2001. Espino still holds the all-time records in many offensive categories.

The Mexico national baseball team represents Mexico in international tournaments, most notably the World Baseball Classic.

Boxing

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Israel Vazquez

Mexican sport is also known for its competitive boxing tradition. In recent years, the country has produced several boxing champions, including Salvador Sánchez, Julio César Chávez, Ricardo Lopez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Érik Morales, Juan Manuel Márquez, Rafael Márquez, and Israel Vazquez.

The current reigning world champions (as of June 8 2008) include Antonio Margarito, Israel Vázquez, Cristian Mijares, Fernando Montiel, Edgar Sosa, and Ulises Solís.

International Boxing Hall of Fame members include, Salvador Sánchez, Ricardo Lopez, Rubén Olivares, Baby Arizmendi, José Cuevas, Humberto González, Chalky Wright, Daniel Zaragoza, Miguel Canto, Vicente Saldivar, Carlos Palomino, and Carlos Zarate. Other prominent Mexican boxers include World Boxing Hall of Fame members, Kid Azteca, Jesús Pimentel, Lupe Pintor, and José Luis Ramírez.

American Football

American football has been played in Mexico since the early 1920s, and is a strong minority sport at Mexican colleges and universities, mainly in Mexico City and Monterrey. Over successive decades, more universities and colleges joined the championship, and four categories, called "Fuerzas", were created. The First fuerza became the National League in 1970. In 1978, this was reorganized under the name "Organización Nacional Estudiantil de Fútbol Americano" (ONEFA).^[11]

The Aztec Bowl is a NCAA sanctioned college division post-season bowl in which American Division III college All-stars face off against a team of Mexican all-stars.

Auto Racing

The most notable Mexican professional auto racers have been Pedro Rodríguez, who was the winner of the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, and his brother Ricardo Rodríguez, who at age 18 finished second at the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans, becoming the youngest ever to stand on the podium, he was also the youngest F1 driver at that time. They were both considered among the top drivers before their untimely deaths. The Mexico City racetrack Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez ("Rodríguez Brothers Racetrack") was named in their honor. Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez hosts several racing events including the Panam GP Series, A1 Grand Prix, NASCAR Nationwide Series, Champ Car World Series, Champ Car Atlantic Series, NASCAR Mexico Corona Series, Copa Turismo México and Moto Pro México. The A1 Team Mexico is the Mexican team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.

Adrián Fernández also became a popular driver in Mexico when he finished in second place during the 2000 CART Season. Fernández co-founded the Fernández Racing team which competes in the American Le Mans Series and previously Champ Car, the IRL IndyCar Series, and Grand-Am.

Other auto racing events currently held in Mexico include the Baja 1000, an off-road race that takes place on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and Rally Mexico, a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Racing events formerly held in Mexico include the Mexican Grand Prix and the Carrera Panamericana.

Basketball

Mexico has a few professional Basketball leagues, the most important league is the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional.

Basque Pelota

Basque Pelota is a name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat, or a basket propulsor, against a wall. Since 1952, "The International Federation of Basque Pelota" has organized the World Championships of Basque Pelota every four years. Mexico hosted the world championships in 1982, 1998 and 2006. Mexico gave its best performance at the 2006 games when they lead all nations with 6 gold medals.

Frontenis is a variation of the Basque pelota game, itself a derivation of real tennis. It was created in the year of 1916 in Mexico, when the idea of merging tennis and the traditional Basque pilota emerged. It is played in one of the largest courts in racquet sports with a tennis racquet that contains an optional custom double string called "doble encordado" and a tiny frontenis ball.

Golf

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A photograph of Lorena Ochoa.

Golf is a popular sport in Mexico. There are now over 150 golf courses in Mexico designed by the world's top architects Jack Nicklaus, Dye, Von Hagge, Weiskopf, and Jones 1 Lorena Ochoa, who is currently the number one ranked female golf player in the world has helped increase the popularity of golf in the country.

Professional golf tournaments held in Mexico includes, Corona Championship, MasterCard Classic, Mayakoba Classic at Riviera Maya, and the Mexican Open.

Ice Hockey

Although not a mainstream sport in Mexico, ice hockey is played in larger cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara, Villahermosa, Culiacan, and Mexico City.

The "Federación Deportiva de Mexico de Hockey Sobre Hielo" (Mexican National Ice Hockey Federation) regulates all tournaments in Mexico. The Mexican hockey league includes 7 federation clubs and 8 independent clubs.^[12] Mexico is also the only Latin American full member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and competes in international tournaments.^[13]

Polo

Polo was first popularized by the Escandon-Barron family in the late nineteenth century. Three members of the Escandon-Barron family would win a bronze medal at the 1900 Olympics. The Mexican polo team also won an Olympic bronze medal in 1936, the last Olympic games which featured polo.

Mexico hosted the World Polo Championship in 2008. The World Polo Championship has been held every three years by the Federation of International Polo since 1987. Mexico's best finishes have been second place in 1987, and third place in 1995 and 2008.

The best Mexican polo player is Carlos Gracida, who is also considered to be one of the best polo players in the sport. He has accumulated more tournament wins than any other athlete in the history of the sport, winning the Abierto Argentino de Palermo tournament five times, the British Open Gold Cup ten times, and the US Open nine times.

Racquetball

Racquetball is a sport that is played in Mexico. The Racquetball World Championships have been held every two years since 1981. Mexico hosted the championships in 1994 and 2000. Although Canada and the United States have dominated the championships, Mexico's men's racquetball team has finished among the top three in the world since 1986 and the women's team regularly finishes among the top four.^[14]

Taekwondo

Mexico has been competitive on the international level in the sport of Taekwondo. Over forty Mexican martial artist have medaled at the World Taekwondo Championships.^[15]

Tennis

The Abierto Mexicano Telcel is a tennis tournament held in Acapulco, Mexico. It is an event on both the ATP Tour (International Series Gold event) and the WTA Tour (Tier III).

Rafael Osuna is the best tennis player to come out of Mexico. He was ranked number one in 1963 when he won the U.S. Open Championship. Osuna lead Mexico to the 1962 Davis Cup, becoming the first team from Latin America to compete for the trophy. Osuna would go on to win a Grandslam singles championship in 1963. He also won the U.S. Open Doubles Championship in 1962, the Wimbledon double's championship in 1960 and 1963, and a doubles tennis Olympic gold medal in 1968. Osuna was killed in a plane crash in 1969 at the age of 30. In 1969, the Intercollegiate Tennis College Association NCAA instituted “The Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award” in his honor. Later that year, the Chapultepec Club, renamed its stadium “Rafael Osuna Stadium”. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979.

Variants of association football

Beach soccer is a variant of the sport of association football which was invented in Brazil. It is played on beaches, and emphasizes skill, agility and goal scoring. The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup has been held annually since 2005. Mexico finished as runners up to Brazil in its first appearance at the 2007 Beach Football World Cup.

Recently indoor soccer has become a popular sport in Mexico, being included as part of the Universiada (University National Games) and the "CONADEIP" (Private School Tournament), which match University school teams from all over Mexico. In Mexico, "indoor" soccer fields are commonly built outdoors, and the sport is known as "fútbol rápido" (fast football/soccer).

The Mexican team Monterrey La Raza joined the Major Indoor Soccer League in 2007 and finished the season in second place during its inaugural year. A previous version of Monterrey La Raza (1992-2001) won three championships in the now defunct organizations Continental Indoor Soccer League and World Indoor Soccer League.

Wrestling

Mexican professional wrestling, which is known as lucha libre, has been a popular sport in Mexico since 1933, when promoter Salvador Lutteroth Gonzales founded Empresa Mejicana de Lucha Libre. Lucha libre is characterized by rapid sequences of holds and moves, as well as spectacular high-flying moves, many of which have been adopted in the United States.^[16] The two most popular lucha libre promotions are Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). Wrestling stars include El Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Mascaras. Lucha libre is currently experiencing a boom in popularity due to the emergence of a new generation of stars, most notably a young wrestler named Mistico, whose high flying style is attracting record crowds.

400 meter track and field

The 400 meter event became popular when Ana Guevara became world champion in 2003.

Olympic Games

Mexico City hosted the 1968 Summer Olympics. It is the only Games ever held in Latin America, and it was the second ever outside of Western Europe, Australia, or the United States.