Physicality and toughness win the World Series in perhaps the oldest game in North America

CHOCTAW, Miss. As the drummers enter the field, the musicians behind them tap their sticks in time to the beat. The rhythm envelops the stands and a palpable sense of anticipation flows through the crowd.

Indigenous people have been playing stickball for hundreds of years, and every summer since 1975, teams have competed in Mississippi to become champions of perhaps the oldest game in North America.

A game of physicality and endurance, stickball is often referred to as the granddaddy of field sports and the annual tournament in Mississippi is the game’s flagship event. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has been producing some of the best players in the country for generations. A Mississippi team is almost certain to be the winner in any tournament or exhibition game in the country.

As the July sun set on another sweltering day, hundreds of people gathered on the Choctaw Central High School football field and sat on the Indian blankets they had spread out on the metal seats. Others lined up their folding chairs along the chain link fence to get a glimpse of the action.

Stickball, known as ishtaboli in the Choctaw language, is played with 30 players on the field, each carrying two net sticks called kabotcha and a small braided leather ball painted bright orange, called a towa.

Stickball fans say it remains pure. There are no pads, no timeouts and no mercy. Players typically don’t even wear shoes. It’s not uncommon for people to leave the stickball field with broken bones from full contact or cuts from taking a stick to the face. Any player in possession of the ball can expect to be tackled or tackled by the shirt or butt.

“It makes your heart beat like a drum. Just the intensity of the sport,” said Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Chief Cyrus Ben. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what color the jersey or the team, it’s Choctaw.”

Although the game is high-contact, it is so respected by the Choctaw and so central to their cultural identity that no blow is taken personally, no matter how intense. Players often hit each other so hard that their sticks fly through the air, and they simply get up, wave to each other, and run across the field after the ball.

Variations of stickball have traditionally been played by various tribal nations using rules created by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Players are not allowed to hit each other with their sticks, although this routinely happens when players huddle around a loose ball. Late and early tackles are prohibited and anything above the shoulders is off limits.

Chief Ben, like many here, was given a pair of canes as soon as he started walking. Some remember sleeping with them above their pillows and a ball underneath. Boys and girls play together in youth tournaments the night before the boys’ and girls’ championship games each year at the Choctaw Indian Fair. All over the city you will see children with sticks sticking out of their backpacks.

The field is never empty. Children play stickball before each game – living out the fantasy of one day claiming victory on the same field. Between that, the position of the snow cone and the almost fanatical way the assistant coaches yell from the sidelines, it’s as familiar as any Friday night football game.

This year, Koni Hata, the 2023 men’s champion and one of the most dominant teams in the modern stickball era, defended its dynasty in the men’s and women’s title games against neighboring Choctaw communities such as Pearl River and stickball powerhouse Bok Cito.

The final began with the women’s championship, with Bok Cito Ohoyo taking on Koni Hata Ohoyo, who was seeking her second treble in the last seven years. Scoreless at the end of regulation play, the game was decided in sudden death when Bok Cito Ohoyo center shooter Leia Phillips scored with a shot from midfield.

“I said, ‘yeah, this is my time to shine, this is my chance here, you’ve worked all year for this,’” Phillips, the women’s tournament MVP, said after the game.

The men’s game between Koni Hata and Pearl River was highly physical, and several skirmishes over the ball ended with clubs shooting into the air “like my 9-iron,” an announcer said. Several players were treated by doctors for a variety of injuries, including a bleeding eye and a cut on the forehead. At the start of the tournament, a player broke his nose.

Pearl River has had no trouble scoring throughout the tournament, racking up an impressive 41 points in its first three games. They scored in the first half, but the point was canceled due to there being 31 players on the field. Koni Hata scored in the second half, but that point was also taken away due to there being too many players on the field. But Pearl River scored late in the fourth quarter and took home the ceremonial drum presented by Chief Ben.

At the end of the Choctaw Indian Fair, Jackie Morris, coach of the Bok Cito community team, waited in line for a hot dog. He ensured that every Bok Cito player who passed by had the chance to sign the drum hanging on his shoulder.

“This is what we play for,” he said, patting the trophy. In the nearby field, drums and drumsticks beat together.