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Games and traditions
Games are
situations where different players have to comunícate and interact. They are
rich in situations and resources and when played by children become their real
raison d’être.
Games pass from
generation to generation orally or by playing the game itself, they were never
written, and that’s why many of them were lost, despite the fact that many new
games replace the old ones and become into fashion. An attempt to write them has
been made in order to preserve them, but it will be in vain if they are not
played.
Our games are the expression of our way of living, of our relationship with our
environment, and the way to communicate with other people. When a player takes
paart in game he plays for himself and the rest of the group. When children play
in groups they learn how to communicate , how to cope with different situations
and show their feelings, which are the real expression of their personality.
Some of the
games from a Greek, Roman or Middle aged tradition, and nly the most popular
survived.
some of the game can be found not only in Aragón but in Spain and Europe. The
MARRO,LA TULA, and the TEJO are played in many European countries, but others
like the BOLOS DE MONREAL DEL CAMPO , PELISTROC DE LA LITERA and the EBO DE
PERACENSE are only played in our regin.
MARRO
Two teams play
with the same number of players, the main objective of the game is to take
prisoners from the rival teams. Every player can seize enemies and the team that
seizes the number of prisoners stated at the beginning of the game wins.
The players of the two teams have their own playground , the game starts when a
player of one of the team goes to the border line of his rival, all the players
are waiting for him with one hand on their back and the other on the front. The
player choses his rival by hitting his oponent’s hand three times and says
:"Marro, marrón, marrete" then he is chased .
-The chain of prisoners :
Every player who makes a prisoner must follow him to the chain of prisoners.
These form a chain by holding their hands. The chain of prisoners can be
released by touching the hand of the first prisoner in the chain, ( if the chain
is broken they can’t be released.) . The game has to stop and the players come
back to their playground. The player who releases his companions must start the
game again choosing someone from the other enemy.
-"Hacer campo"
If a player reaches his opponent’s playground without being made a prisoner he
can stay there as long as he wants but as soon as he leaves, he will be chased
by someone from the opponent team and won’t be able to come back. He is
sometimes allowed to release the chain of prisoners, but this is not the common
thing to happen.
This games comes from the Middle Ages and was very popular in all Europe and it
is still play by children at school playgrounds and parks. There are some
differences from place to another but there are some common rules like the right
to seize.
The game described is not a local version but the most popular.
TULA
Many gamea are called
"tula" the short form of "tu la llevas" (your turn now) but
they are all based on a chasing game. A player has to chase another player and
once he is caught is his turn now and has to chase someone else. The sentence
they say is "Tu la pagas". This game has no losers or winners and it
finishes when children want to stop playing.
BOLOS OF MONREAL
A number of players who play in pairs have to score points by knocking down some
skittles placed in a circle. Every skittle is one point and the pair of players
play in turns. Every player has two throws, the first one to get close and the
second to knock down the skittles.
It is played in a flat surface and the kittles are placed in a circle round the
king, being its radium the same length as the king’s height : 80 cm. The
starting line is 50 or 60 metres away the skittles.
The skittles are made of hard wood, there is one king and pawns. The king is 80
cm tall and 6 cm wide and it has three crowns on the top. The pawns are 75 cm
tall and 6 cm wide and only have a crown on their top. The ball is made of wood
and it has 15 cm of diameter.
When the game starts every player has to walk three steps and throw the ball ,
when the ball stops he will walk three more steps from the point the ball
stopped and throws again to knock as many skittles as he can.
The game finishes when a pair of players score 31 points, if they score more
than 31 the score board goes back to 25 until they get the exact score.
This is a very popular among women from Monreal del Campo a small town in the
province of Teruel, it is usully played during siesta time and while played
nobody can sleep because of the shouting.
EL EBO
Two teams with three players each have to defend their goals and score. Players
must play with sticks and balls made of cloth
Everytime the ball reaches the opponent’s goal the team scores
It is an outdoor sport and the goals are painted on the playground. They have to
be 2 metres long and can be placed anywhere inside the playground, but free of
obstacles.
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