500 years after being banned by Spanish conquerers, the ancient pan-Mesoamerican ball game of ulama is making a comeback in Mexico City, where a new community center focused on reinvigorating indigenous cultural traditions is taking root. 

Los equipos Texcoxo y Cemayan Nepanolli dan una demostración de Juego de Pelota precuauhtémico, durante las actividades de inauguración de la Escuela Comunitaria de Artes y Oficios Xochikalli. Este es el primer espacio para la práctica de este deporte. pic.twitter.com/7MbvaPxkdG
— Azcapotzalco (@AzcapotzalcoMx) March 12, 2018

A new ulama ball court measuring 30-feet by 120-feet was completed in 2018 at the new Xochikalli community center in the Azcapotzalco neighborhood of Mexico City, according to NPR. The community center is designed specifically to host and propagate a collection of pre-Hispanic traditional practices that include xilam—an Aztec martial art—Nahuatl language emersion, and ancient farming techniques. The game is also known as tlachitl in Nahuatl or pok-ta-pok in Mayan.

Traditionally, ulama is played in a bar- or I-shaped ball court marked by a pair of elevated stone circular rings that function somewhat like basketball hoops rotated 90-degrees counter-clockwise. The objective of the game is for players to use their bodies to hit nine-pound, cantaloupe-sized rubber balls into specific areas of the opposing team's side of court, including through the vertical hoops. Following a complicated set of rules for scoring—there are no ties and points are tallied in a "nonlinear" fashion—teams vie to be the first to score eight points.

The bruising game was played both as a sport and for spiritual and religious purposes; Its existence dates back to as early as 1400 BCE, according to some estimates. The game was played by the Olmecs—a civilization that dates back to 1500 BCE—and its remnants can be found at many ancient sites, including Monte Albán, Chichen Itza, and Tikal. 

According to Remezcla, the new court at Azcapotzalco cost roughly 40 million Mexican pesos to build, or roughly $2 million.