The capacity crowd at Boise’s historic Anduiza Fronton was treated to a tight, back-and-forth struggle between squads from San Francisco and Boise during the final match of the 35th-annual pilota championships sponsored by the North American Basque Organizations, or NABO.
The lead changed hands several times in the exciting paleta goma contest, which was held Friday evening July 30 during the Jaialdi 2010 Basque festival.
It was a California sweep in the 35th-annual NABO men’s pelota championships with Bakersfield and San Francisco coming out on top during the Jaialdi 2010 tournament at Boise’s historic Anduiza Fronton.
The Bakersfield duo of Dennis Petrissans and Jose Goñi beat a tough San Francisco squad to capture the Class B Division paleta goma finals before a packed house on Friday evening July 30.
Bakersfield (in blue) won the NABO Division B paleta goma final against San Francisco. Photo: Euskal Kazeta.
The games were simulcasted live to hundreds of people at the Basque Center as Jaialdi crowds saturated the Basque Block during the huge festival. Xabi Berrueta of San Francisco did the play-by-play announcing.
Venezuela took 3rd place in a tight battle against Australia Wednesday July 28 during the World Pilota Council tournament at the Boise fronton. Earlier in the evening, NABO 2 from Bakersfield defeated NABO 1 from Boise for 5th place.
Brooke Davies, Patrea Bojack (L) of Austrailia; Aenhoa Bacaicoa and Estibaletz Barreda of Venezuela. Photo: Euskal Kazeta.
The final score in the Venezuela-Australia contest was 30-20. The game was played before a full house at the historic fronton on the Basque Block during the huge Jaialdi 2010 international festival. Venezuela was represented by Aenhoa Bacaicoa and Estibaletz Barreda, whose powerful plays were too much for Brooke Davies and Patrea Bojack of Australia.
It was a battle of South America Wednesday July 28 as FEVA Argentina squared off against Venezuela in the semifinal game of the World Pilota Council championships at the Boise fronton.
The two teams fought a classic paleta goma match on the historic court to determine who would face a tough and unbeaten Euskadi squad in the final on Friday July 30. In the end, FEVA players Maria Les Garcia Calderon and Trina Podversich came out on top 30-14. Continue Reading
Euskadi and FEVA battle it out in paleta goma at the Boise fronton. Photo by Jon C. Hodgson - BasquePhotos.com
In one of the tournament highlights, the two women’s pilota teams from NABO battled it out Tuesday July 27 in a back-and-forth contest during the World Pilota Council championship in Boise.
The lead changed hands several times as NABO 1 from Boise and NABO 2 from Bakersfield faced off before a standing-room-only crowd in one of the evening games at the historic fronton on the Basque Block. The game was played as Jaialdi 2010 launched its opening night.
NABO 2 — Teresa Iparraguirre and Michelle Saldubehere-Friebel — won the match 30-28. The Boise women were Esther Ciganda and Anne-Marie Mansisidor. In other Tuesday evening games, Venezuela beat Australia 30-9 and Euskadi beat the FEVA squad from Argentina 30-9.
Four Basque handball players battled it out in exhibition matches at the Kern County Basque Festival and are now headed to the Bay Area, where they will square off on the indoor court at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco on Friday June 4.
The Bay Area event will be dedicated to a history of handball in the region and will kickoff the San Francisco Basque Club’s weekend festival celebrating the club’s 50 years.
Championship Basque pelota players will be returning to California later this month to play exhibition games in Bakersfield and South San Francisco.
The four athletes — Fernando Goñi, AKA Goñi III; Pedro Eulate; Alberto Ongay and Jon Apezetxea — will battle it out on the handball courts during festival events at the Kern County Basque Club and the Basque Cultural Center. (Updated information:Ongay and Apezetxea will not be coming to the U.S. They will be replaced by two other Basque players.)
Pelota, or handball, is akin to a national sport in the Basque Country, where players square off on different-sized courts in tournaments across Europe. Basque immigrants brought the game with them when they came to the United States.
Long-time members of the Bay Area’s Basque community sometimes say that it seems just like yesterday when the San Francisco Basque Club was formed, back in 1960. The club has been celebrating its 50th anniversary in a big way this year, with several significant events.
In March, the club celebrated with a Bertzolaritza — bringing together expert bertsolaris, including two champions from the Basque Country. Next month the club will be celebrating its 50th anniversary with a weekend of sports, music with a group from the Basque Country and great food.
The festivities, sponsored by the club and the Basque Cultural Center, kick off Friday June 4 with an evening dedicated to the history of pilota, or Basque handball, in San Francisco. The program begins with a 6 p.m. handball game at the cultural center’s handball court, followed by a dinner and dance with entertainment by Luhartz, a five-piece band from the Basque Country. The group formed in 1983 and specializes in traditional Basque music.
Basque handball supporters gathered Thursday Dec. 10 at a chic San Francisco restaurant for a fundraising event for the United States Federation of Pelota.
Basque pilotaris in Bakersfield. Photo: Euskal Kazeta
The gathering was held at Piperade restaurant, owned by renowned Basque chef and author Gerald Hirigoyen. Guests enjoyed sumptuous cuisine such as Serrano jam, stuffed peppers and assorted cheeses, as well as several fine wines.
Xabier Berrueta, president of the federation, talked about the group’s strategy for increasing the popularity of the sport.
The NABO pelota team of Esther Ciganda and Maite Iribarren-Gorrindo has been playing hard at the 2009 World Pilota Council Tournament being held in Argentina.
Ciganda and Iribarren-Gorrindo, who hail from Boise, played a tough match Thursday morning Oct. 29 against the team from Euskadi. The two NABO women gave it their best, but they ended up losing 30-5.
The NABO players began the Baleen tournament, played in a trinquet, with a morning match on Oct. 28 in Bahia Blanca, a city southwest of Buenos Aires. Ciganda and Iribarren-Gorrnido gave a solid performance against Australia, but ended up losing 30-18. Team Euskadi, meanwhile, beat Venezuela 30-19.
