Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
On a dirt field on Mexico’s Pacific coast, five cousins aged eight to 13 kick off their shoes.
Adults help them fasten the pre-Hispanic-style fajado, securing loincloths and leather belts around their hips.
The children grab the 3.2kg rubber ball and begin playing. Only the hips may touch it, so players leap in the air or dive low when it skims the ground.
As Mexico prepares to co-host the 2026 Fifa World Cup, the nation is looking back 3,400 years to one of the oldest team sports: the ancient ballgame known as ulama.
This game was nearly erased during Spanish colonisation and survived only in the remote pockets of northwestern Mexico.
Today, authorities and modern players are leveraging the momentum of international football to shine a spotlight on the ancient sport once again.
