Peteca
Encyclopedia
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, played with a "hand shuttlecock
Shuttlecock
A shuttlecock, sometimes called a bird or birdie, is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape: the cone is formed from sixteen or so overlapping feathers, usually goose or duck and from the left wing only, embedded into a rounded cork base...
" from indigenous
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
The Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
origins and reputed to be as old as the country itself. The same name is given to the shuttlecock-object itself.
Objectives
The objective of the game is to hit the shuttlecock-like object (the peteca) with your hand over a high netNet (textile)
Net or netting is any textile in which the warp and weft yarns are looped or knotted at their intersections, resulting in a fabric with large open spaces between the yarns....
, similar to a volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
net, causing the object to land inbounded on the opposite court. The peteca can only be hit once while on each side of the net. Doubles and singles, male and/or female matches are played, both for competitive or leisure purposes.
History
The word peteca is derived from a TupianTupian languages
The Tupi or Tupian language family comprises some 70 languages spoken in South America, of which the best known are Tupi proper and Guarani.-History, members and classification:...
word meaning hit. Over time, the word found its way into the Brazilian Portuguese language
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
.
Originally, peteca was played at times of celebration with dances and songs. Gradually, this play became more of a sporting activity. The game has been passed down through several generations by the Brazilian ancestors and has developed considerably along the way.
Early petecas were very primitive home-made affairs consisting of stones wrapped in leaves tied inside an ear of corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
. A more sophisticated version was described in a Brazilian-English dictionary as "a leather pad with feathers stuck into it."
Pictures of the first petecas are few and far between, but on 30 May 1979, Brazil issued a set of four postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s depicting children's toys, to commemorate the International Year of the Child
International Year of the Child
* Maureen Millicent Bomford founded International Year of The Child and it was endorsed by the United Nations. Maureen was born in Canterbury Punchbowl in 1930 and had four brothers. Her father was a Mayor and she always learned to appreciate the value of leadership. As the wife of a prominent...
. The 2,50 cruzeiros
Brazilian cruzeiro
The cruzeiro was the currency of Brazil from 1942 to 1986 and again between 1990 and 1993. The name refers to the constellation of the Southern Cross, known in Brazil as Cruzeiro do Sul, or simply Cruzeiro ....
value stamp depicted an unusual looking shuttlecock which catalogues describe as a peteca, a title which can only have been extracted from Brazilian Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
literature at the time of issue.
When Brazil was present at the 1920 Summer Olympics
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
in Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
the Brazilian athletes took with them some shuttlecocks for amusement on the ship and during the intervals between games. The game of peteca fascinated athletes from many other countries who wanted learn the rules of the game. The problem was that there were no rules - it was just for pleasure.
Peteca is now one of Brazil's fastest growing sports closely behind football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and volleyball. Another version of the game, called Indiaca
Indiaca
Indiaca is a form of the Brazilian game peteca popular in Europe. It is played on court across a net with similar rules to volleyball but instead of a ball, a large shuttlecock, sometimes also called an indiaca, or featherball is used; this consists of four goose feathers attached to a heavier...
, and closely based on peteca has developed in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, first appearing in 1936.
Rules of the game
A peteca match is played to the best of the three games, singles or doubles. The first player (or the first pair) who scores twelve points wins the set. One game can last only a maximum of twenty minutes. If neither of the two sides have reached the required score, then the win is given to the team with the most points.The peteca must be struck with one hand only and must pass above the net to the oppositions side in order for them to return it. The server remains the same one until the service changes side. A point can only be won by the serving team. The player with the service has thirty seconds to score the point. If this is not achieved then the service is given to the opposing player/team.
Faults
There are a number of recognised faults which can occur.- Service fault: service passes to the opposing team if the peteca passes below the net, outside the limits of the court, if the peteca touches the net or if the peteca touches a player of the same team (double) before passing over to the opposing side.
- The 'in play' faults: if a player puts his hands or feet on the opposing teams side (similar to what occurs in a volleyball game); if a player touches the peteca with two hands; if there are marked accompaniment and not striking; if any other part of his/her body touches it and if the peteca is not hit (head, feet).
- The 30-second rule: the server or the team which is serving has 30 seconds to score the point. If the point is not scored in this period, then the service goes to the opposition. At the end of 20 seconds, the refereeRefereeA referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...
announces "10" as a warning of the time remaining. With the sounding of the referee's whistle, the rally is finished. This is a more strict rule, when there's a referee to open count.
Equipment and court
- Shuttlecocks: There are two types of shuttlecocks used in two different kinds of games of peteca. In a regular peteca tournamentTournamentA tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
, the shuttlecock has a flat base and a standard weight of 42 grams. The feathers are crimped and straight. In a mini-peteca game, the shuttlecock has a rounded rubberRubberNatural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
base attached to five or more rubber discs. The base is softer on the hand. Although designs vary, the most common petecas (especially the competition type) consist of a base in the shape of a filled leather bag or a layered rubber pad, and a flight, which is usually made out of feathers stuck to the base. - Court: singles' games are played on courts 15 m x 5.5m. Doubles' games are played at 15 m x 7.5m. By comparison, a standard volleyball court is 18 m x 9m. Peteca is played on woodWoodWood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, cementCementIn the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
or clayClayClay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
courts. Mini-peteca is played on a standard sized badmintonBadmintonBadminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
court. - Net: men's games are played using a rectangular net topping 2.43 m high, similar to a volleyball net. Women's games lower it to 2.24 m. Children (8-12yrs) play over a 2 m high net.
- Footwear: SneakersAthletic shoeAthletic shoe is a generic name for the footwear primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise but in recent years has come to be used for casual everyday activities....
with a firm grip to the floor are desirable. - Lightweight gloves: beginners often find that the rubber base of the peteca is hard on the hands, usually leaving red spots and a stinging sensation on them. It is suggested that they wear a lightweight fingerless gloveGloveA glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each...
, similar to those used in rugbyRugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
.
Competition
Competitive court games have been played in Brazil since the early 1930s. It was only in 1973 that the first rules were written.In 1985, the National Sports Council of Brazil drew up the first official set of rules so that competitions could be held between cities and states, and only into 1987 that the first Brazilian championship of peteca was organized. In 1995, under the direction of the President of the Brazilian Confederation of Terrestrial Sports, new rules were introduced into the game play to make it still more competitive and attractive.
Currently, in Brazil, there's a Confederação Brasileira de Peteca, still incipient, being formed around the preexistent Federação Mineira de Peteca, from the state of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
.
A version of peteca, indiaca
Indiaca
Indiaca is a form of the Brazilian game peteca popular in Europe. It is played on court across a net with similar rules to volleyball but instead of a ball, a large shuttlecock, sometimes also called an indiaca, or featherball is used; this consists of four goose feathers attached to a heavier...
, was developed by Karl Hans Krohn in Germany in 1936 and is very popular. However, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
was one of the first European countries
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to embrace peteca proper. The Federation Française de Peteca (FFP) is the national organ for France and was created in February 1997 by Jean-François Impinna, a French former international rugby player, and counts thousands of French peteca players.
The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
has recently followed suit and taken up the game with the United Kingdom Peteca Association - UKPA leading its development.
May 2006 sees the first International Peteca Tournament being hosted by the FFP in Sannois
Sannois
Sannois is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France.-Public transport:Sannois is served by Sannois station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.-Roads:...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Teams from Brazil, France and the United Kingdom will be competing.
Famous players
- In Brazil, Tiago Velasco.
- In France, Jeff Impinna (Sannois), Vincent Vannostal (Sannois), Yannis Kokotakis (Sannois), Stéphane Manka (Sannois), Benoît Pertuc (Sannois), Thomas Derrien (Sannois), Caroline Martin (Laxou), Marie-France Thyrard (Laxou), Laura Bureau (Sannois), Clémence Laperche (Sannois), Elodie Laudren (Sannois), Alix Leblanc (Sannois), Kathleen Ventura (Sannois).
- In The United Kingdom, Peter Cheek (GreenwichGreenwichGreenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
), Nick Trumble (Greenwich), Ross Vanstone (Greenwich), Daniel Ousdine (Greenwich), Joseph Ludkin (Greenwich), Chris Wall (Greenwich), Matt Harfield (Greenwich), Luis Olmos (Greenwich), Isaac Loftus-Cheek (Greenwich Juniors), Tom Chapman (Greenwich Juniors), Henry Chapman (Greenwich Juniors).