Because the airport runway is the only notable open space on Funafuti, it doubles as a playground. On any given evening, there will be at least three games, usually soccer and rugby, scattered across the runway. The games may pull in as many as 50 people, so the fields, which they mark off with small orange cones, span both the runway and the small grassy areas on either side. The other night, while these raucous games were going on, there was also a session of ano, Tuvalu’s traditional ball game. It’s like a variation on volleyball played with two balls, each about six inches in diameter and made of braided and woven leaves.
To play, two teams face each other, about 20 feet apart, in six or seven rows of three or four people each. At the front of each team is a server (called an alovaka) and a catcher (called a tino pukepuke) with his back to the other team. The server tosses the ball up and smacks it over at the other side. The receiving team then knocks the ball in the air forward, trying to get it all the way back to their own catcher without letting it touch the ground. If they drop it before it gets to the catcher, the other team scores a point.
There are two basic strategies employed by the server—he either knocks the ball high in the air, toward the back of the other team, forcing them to hit it several times to get it back to the catcher, or he hits it low and hard at the other team’s front line, who then must react quickly to knock the ball up for the catcher. Each team serves at the same time, so two balls are usually in play and the game can get quite hectic.
It doesn’t exactly have the rigid rules of volleyball—in ano you can actually catch the ball and toss it back up, as long as you do it quickly. Most people in the back lines do this. But there seems to be some pride, especially in the front line players, on knocking the thing back up with a little style—off an elbow or with a fluid spin.
While I only saw male alovaka and tino pukepuke, both men and women play the game, and it seems as though teenagers and younger children have little interest in it. I think the teams playing here were semi-organized, perhaps by the outer island they come from. But the whole match was quite friendly, with a lot of laughing on both sides.
Of course the game has to stop when a plane needs to take off.
To play, two teams face each other, about 20 feet apart, in six or seven rows of three or four people each. At the front of each team is a server (called an alovaka) and a catcher (called a tino pukepuke) with his back to the other team. The server tosses the ball up and smacks it over at the other side. The receiving team then knocks the ball in the air forward, trying to get it all the way back to their own catcher without letting it touch the ground. If they drop it before it gets to the catcher, the other team scores a point. 
There are two basic strategies employed by the server—he either knocks the ball high in the air, toward the back of the other team, forcing them to hit it several times to get it back to the catcher, or he hits it low and hard at the other team’s front line, who then must react quickly to knock the ball up for the catcher. Each team serves at the same time, so two balls are usually in play and the game can get quite hectic. 
It doesn’t exactly have the rigid rules of volleyball—in ano you can actually catch the ball and toss it back up, as long as you do it quickly. Most people in the back lines do this. But there seems to be some pride, especially in the front line players, on knocking the thing back up with a little style—off an elbow or with a fluid spin. 
While I only saw male alovaka and tino pukepuke, both men and women play the game, and it seems as though teenagers and younger children have little interest in it. I think the teams playing here were semi-organized, perhaps by the outer island they come from. But the whole match was quite friendly, with a lot of laughing on both sides.
Of course the game has to stop when a plane needs to take off.
posted by Samir S. Patel at 5:46 PM
1 Comments:
People, dogs, even pigs wander all over the airstrip. The civil aviation authority doesn't much care. So if the airline that flies here allows it, then it doesn't really matter. Plus there are only two or three flights a week, and people know when to clear out.
As I said, other days, there are soccer and rugby games all over the runway.
Post a Comment
<< Home