Juego de Pelota was an ancient Mesoamerican game often called the first team sport. The sport has had many different versions and some cultures still play the sport today. Pre-Columbian ball courts have been found throughout Mesoamerica as far south as Nicaragua and as far north as Arizona. They are varied in size and all feature long narrow alleys, with side-walls so the balls could bounce. The rules of the game are unknown but it is believed that two teams with varied numbers of players would line up in the alley-way courts and strike the ball back and forth with their hips. The balls were made of solid rubber weighing in at up to ten pounds. Late versions of the game included stone goals that you see in the video to the right.

The game was very brutal, many players were injured and some bruises from the heavy ball required lancing to drain the blood. While the game was played casually for simple recreation, including by children and women, the game also had important ritual aspects, and major formal ballgames would be held as ritual events, often featuring human sacrifice.