We were sitting in traffic for about ten minutes at a toll booth at the Aosta valley in Italy before heading to the Mont Blanc tunnel, and there was a very large group of folks (probably about a hundred or so) watching an interesting sport that appeared to have between nine and a dozen (but could have been more) players on the field. They had uniforms but no caps, and not cricket wear.
What caught our attention was that a small ball was hit, very quickly, with a rather long stick, maybe about a foot or more (30+cm) longer than a baseball bat. It appeared to be a cylindrical bat, not a cricket bat, but more pole like than a baseball bat.
I’ve tried searching for it on the internet but am drawing a blank. Anyone here have any idea what our neighbors to the south were up to? Cheers.
No. Much longer bat. This was really organized as well. I play whiffle ball (if anyone is up for it, let me know) and I’ve played stick ball. This was quite different and the players were really skilled looking. Whiffle ball and stick ball tend to be fairly casual. Plus, it looked nothing like baseball where the fielders were set up to catch the hit ball - which moved really fast.
This looks like it! Thanks!!!
Getting the name helped, and this description shows it was almost certainly the sport we saw. That ball was moving and it looked like it moved much faster than a baseball.
https://www.lovevda.it/en/culture/tr...-sport-of-tsan
Wow...Matty, you were really lucky to have seen that! It's an insane game and involves a variety of implements. Looks much more fun than the lacrosse I used to play!
I wish we could have seen more, but we were afraid of tunnel traffic. If I’d known how quick it would be, I’d have stopped and really watched it.
If you like lacrosse with a bit more insanity, I really recommend watching an Irish sport called hurling. It’s faster, brutal, and beautiful at the same time!
I saw kids playing hurling when I first went to Ireland in summer '66. I'd probably get killed playing that. As it was, one girl on our team almost lost an eye in a lacrosse game...
I'm originally from Aosta.
That must have been tsan!
We also have rebatta that's slightly different.
Here's some italian descriptions of tsan:
https://www.tsanvda.it/tsan/regole-di-gioco/
rebatta is slightly different, I think you have to hit the projectile to raise it, and then hit it again to throw it.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebatta
Next experience in Aosta is to assist at a cow fight! Sometimes they do fights with Swiss cows from Valais too, where they have the same tradition.
It looks very similar to Hornussen.
Hornussen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Yu2x6pnu4
Tzan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3BcBjMRFr4
Tzan looks like old school and Hornussen more modern.
It looks like fun either way.