MIAMI (WSVN) – A sport born in the 305 is keeping tradition alive with a new face-lift.
Jai-Alai is back in Miami, where it all started back in the 1920s.
The Miami Jai-Alai Fronton is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
The now fully refurbished arena, with the capacity to seat 2,000 people, will be the new home for the World Jai-Alai League that’s now in its ninth season. Its matches were previously played at Miami’s Magic City Casino.
League founder Scott Savin explained to 7Sports why the facility is so important in keeping the sport alive in the U.S.
“This is it, like, we’re the last professional Jai-Alai league in the United States,” he said. “This has to work for Jai-Alai to stay alive internationally; otherwise, it’s gonna shrink up, but we’re the ones who are gonna forge ahead and hopefully make it an international sport.”
There’s a total of 36 professional players — six players on each of the six teams.
Chris Bueno is a second generation Jai-Alai player who grew up playing on the original court.
“The first time I ever threw the ball here I was 5 years old. My father played his whole professional career here. I was a ball boy here when I was 15 years old, so, for me, there’s a lot of, like, sentimental value,” said Bueno.
Among the players throwing the ball off a wall at speeds of 150 miles per hour is former University of Miami football player Chad Barnes, who said it wasn’t difficult to catch on.
“There’s a lot of running, a lot of lateral movement and anticipating the ball,” said Barnes. “That’s really what it is; reacting is big in this sport.”
The opening scene of the Miami Vice episode “Kill Shot” was filmed in the building back in the 1980s.
Now, thanks to the World Jai-Alai League, the building and sport will continue in the Magic City.
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