My Favorite Sport

So fútbol (soccer) is basically the king of sports in South America.  My querido Paraguay is no exception; however, there's another popular sport played there called piki volley.  If soccer and volleyball had a kid, it would be piki volley.  It's played like volleyball except you can't use your hands - you must pass the ball back and forth using your head, shoulders, chest, knees, and feet.  There are only two players per team; there must be a minimum of two but no more than three hits by a team before it's passed over the net, with no consecutive hits by any player.  It's pretty much awesome!


(I think there's a similar (but more mainstream) sport called footvolley - as far as I can tell the only difference is that it's played barefoot in the sand.  It's most popular in Brazil.)


Here's a clip of some VERY skilled piki volley players on a typical Paraguayan cancha (court or field used for sports).  It's kind of long but you get the idea pretty quick.  Enjoy!

Fun fact:  the word for ball (the kind used in sports) in Guaraní (one of Paraguay's official languages) is vakapipopo.  It means cow (vaka) skin (pi) that bounces (popo).