Picigin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Picigin (pronounced "pih-tsih-gheen") is a popular game played on beaches in Croatia. It involves several players passing around a small ball and keeping it in the air and out of the water for as long as possible.
As such, the game somewhat resembles volleyball but it is played with a much smaller ball, usually a peeled off tennis ball. There are usually around five players and there's generally lots of running and diving in the shallow water.
Picigin is a non-competitive game: there are no opposing sides, no points, no winners and losers.
The most fanatical players believe it is impossible to play picigin anywhere else but on the sandy beach called Bačvice (pronounced "batch-vih-tseh") in the historic city centre of Split, Croatia. There is also a widely distributed belief that the only proper garment to wear while playing Picigin are tight speedos ("mudantine" in Croatian). Many players also exclude women from the professional play.
There is a tradition of playing picigin on the New Year's Day, regardless of the weather conditions, when sea temperature rarely exceeds 10°C.
Some of the best known players from Split are writer Đermano Senjanović[citation needed], music professor Josip Veršić[citation needed],one and only Vili Jakovčević,[citation needed] theatre critic Anatolij Kudrjavcev[citation needed] and retired shipyard worker Roko Vrandečić[citation needed].
