Sports in Puerto Rico can be traced from the ceremonial competitions amongst the pre-Columbian Native Americans of the Arawak (Taíno) tribes who inhabited the island to the modern era in which sports activities consist of an organized physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose for competition. One of the sports which the Taíno's played was a ball game called "Batey". The "Batey" was played in U-shaped fields two teams; however, unlike the ball games of the modern era, the winners were treated like heroes and the losers were sacrificed.
The Spanish Conquistadores who conquered the island introduced various sports such as horse racing, cockfighting, dominoes and a game similar to "Bowling" called "Boliche". The Spaniards however did not participate in team sports.
Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States as a result of their defeat in the 1898 Spanish–American War. American soldiers who organized games as part of their training introduced the sport of boxing and basketball to the people of Puerto Rico. The sport of baseball, which was invented in the United States, was introduced to the island by a group of Puerto Ricans and Cubans who learned the sport in the United States.
Puerto Rico participates in the Olympics as an independent nation even though it is a territory of the United States. Puerto Rico has participated as such since the 1948 Summer Olympics celebrated in London. On 2 March 1917, Puerto Ricans became citizens of the United States as a result of the enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act (Pub.L. 64–368, 39 Stat. 951) and as such Puerto Ricans who resided in the United States mainland were and still are permitted to participate and represent that country in international sports events. However, their achievements representing the United States are part of the intertwined history of sports in the United States and Puerto Rico.
The following is the list and history of the most common sports practiced in Puerto Rico and other countries and of the Puerto Ricans or people of Puerto Rican descent who have excelled in those sports locally and/or in international events as representatives of Puerto Rico or any other country.
Brief history of sports in Puerto Rico
Pre-Columbian era
The Taínos who inhabited Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, played a series of games which were both ceremonial and diversional, such as races, contests involving body strength and fishing. However, the two most important of these sports were the simulated warrior fights (similar to the gladiators) and ball playing. The ball game was played in a field, which they called "Batey", situated in the middle of the village. The fields were either shaped like a triangle or like a "U". The ball was made of vegetable leaves, which gave it flexibility. Two teams played against each other. The objective of the game was to keep the ball in constant motion. The players were allowed to use their heads, elbows, shoulders and knees. The team would lose a point, if for any reason the ball stopped moving. The score was kept with a mark on the ground and the game would end after the losing team received a certain number of points. The winners were treated like heroes and the losers were sacrificed. The game had changed by the time the first Spanish settlers arrived. According to Fray Bartolomé de las Casas the game was played in the following manner: "One team served the ball and the other team returned it, using anything but the hands. If the ball arrived at shoulder height, it was returned like lightning. When it came in near the ground, the player rapidly hit the ground, striking the ball with his buttocks. Play continued from side to side until an error was made." In 1975, archaeologists from the Guaynia Society of Archeology and History at the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, members of the Archeological Society of the Southwest announced the discovery of the ruins of a "Batey" in an area called Tibes, on the outskirts of the city of Ponce. A total of 9 ball fields were discovered under thick forest overgrowth dating back to AD 25 in the area which is now known as "Centro Ceremonial Indigena de Tibes" (The Tibes Indigenoius Ceremonial Center). The site is now a tourist attraction and is open to the public. Artifacts found on the site are on display and can be seen in a museum on the site and in the Ponce Museum of Art.
Spanish colonization The first Spaniards to inhabit the island were soldiers (Conquistadores), later they were followed by farmers, miners and their families. By the 1660s, the game of pelota was practiced at Puerto Rico, and influential enough as a sociopolitical tool to create an incident between governor Juan de Velasco and the bishop of San Juan. The most common sports were horse racing, cockfighting and dominoes. The first horse track was built in San Juan in 1887. One of the most popular sports was "Boliche". The men would gather in the town plaza and roll a small ball made of wood with the objective of knocking down pins. "Boliche" was similar to bowling. Another popular sport was bullfighting, which was limited to the larger cities of Ponce and San Juan. Jousting and horse racing became popular among the elite, who were capable to sustaining the animals. Bowling and fencing were also mostly present in this social group. Under the Spanish caste system, the lower classes practiced other games. However, cockfighting was heterogeneously practiced. During the 19th Century, a migration of Germans brought with it the practice of gymnastics. In the 1890s, baseball arrived to Puerto Rico despite being made illegal by Spain.
American (United States) colonization In the late 19th century "new" sports were introduced in Puerto Rico, after Puerto Rico became an American territory when the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish–American War. Baseball, which was invented in the United States, was introduced to the island by a group of Puerto Ricans and Cubans who learned the sport in the United States. The sport was also played by the American soldiers who organized games as part of their training. Puerto Ricans were also introduced to the sports of boxing and basketball by the occupying military forces. The development of massified sports mostly took off after 1899, since government initiatives were absent during the Spanish regime, tough baseball was starting to organize.
Under the new metropole, the YMCA and colonial education system took advantage of the popularity of sports among the general public to further an Americanization project. Baseball, basketball, swimming, volleyball and athletics, among others, were used for these purposes. The average school was well equipped by 1902, and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) had its first formal instructor the following year. This coincided with an island wide initiative by the government. By November, a collaboration between local and American politicians had led to the creation of the Athletic Club of San Juan. A number of urban schools integrated athletics, while rural ones lagged behind. Ponce in particular prospered, having sophisticated facilities and dominating the competition during the first two decades of the 20th Century.
A dichotomy soon emerged, with soccer being favored by those that identified with the Hispanic tradition (who, being generally Catholic, also resented the YMCA) and becoming a form of resistance. The administration took notice and created obstacles for this sport, all the while promoting "American" ones to children. Besides their Spanish origin, the involvement of money led to harsher regulations for horse racing and cockfighting. In 1912, Nicasio Olmo of Arecibo won the Bronx Marathon while wearing a shirt bearing the flag of Puerto Rico in defiance of orders issued by the United States Athletic Union. Back at Puerto Rico, he created the Porto Rican Athletic Club. By personally assuming the honorific presidency and bestowing the Real San Juan Foot-Ball Club with royal sanctioning in January 1921, Spanish monarch Alfonso XIII became involved in this dichotomy.
Physical education would take more emphasis after World War I broke out, as it helped create fit soldiers. Baseball grew exponentially, reaching 73 teams by 1915. In contrast, basketball had 58 and athletics 39. In 1927, the Athletic Commission was created to oversee boxing and wrestling.
Puerto Rico made its debut in the 1930 Central American and Caribbean Games, though the delegation only featured four Puerto Ricans. In 1931, team was sent to a tournament in Venezuela, from which it emerged undefeated. These results created enthusiasm for Olympic representation, beginning a process consonant with other examples of Joseph Arbena's concept of Latin American sport nationalism. For Puerto Rico, representation meant taking the same Sports that were emphasized in the Americanization process and repurposed them to create a proper identity. Occurring parallel to the growth of the autonomist movement, Olympic participation helped create a venue in which to express national identity despite politically remaining within a colonial relationship.
During the 1930s, Nationalists did not publicly weigh in on Olympic representation. Some athletes, however, openly expressed their sympathy and faced political repercussions for this. By the 1960s, the Movimiento Pro Independencia adopted the posture that it would defend Olympic representation. American politics had a direct impact on the Puerto Rican Olympic movement, including The Good Neighbor Policy and their participation in World War II and the Cold War. Beginning in 1937, Cosme Beitía created initiatives at the UPR that fueled the new program with athletes. By the 1940s, facilities for mass practice became increasingly available throughout Puerto Rico, as the emphasis of competition between schools continued and Julio Enrique Monagas led the Un parque para cada pueblo initiative.
Modern era Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans in the Olympic Games
Puerto Rico participates in the Olympics as an independent nation but because of Puerto Ricans having American citizenship, Puerto Rican athletes have the option of representing Puerto Rico or moving to the United States, living there for 3 previous years or more and then representing that country in the games. Some Puerto Ricans, such as Gigi Fernández in tennis, have won gold medals for the U.S.
In 1944, the creation of the Unión Gubernamental Deportiva Interamericana extended the amateur rules used in Puerto Rico to Cuba and the Dominican Republic. During the final stage of Piñero's administration and the early incumbency of Luis Muñoz Marín, supporting sports was seen as a wise political move. During this time having an "unthreatening" escape valve for expressing national identity had an effect of perpetuating colonialism by furthering the PPD's Commonwealth project. Sports would serve as diplomatic venue to assert the idea that a form of "association" had been enacted, while this notion was under fire from the political opposition that asserted that the status of unincorporated territory remained unchanged. At the Recreation and Parks Commission, Monagas remained in complete control of the local sports scene, leading an effort to present sports as an outlet for the increasing number of industrial workers.