The Pelota Press has confirmed – with 100% accuracy (barring Visa and COVID-19 issues)- that several of the top players in the world are playing at Miami Jai-alai this December and January.
Star players Goiko, Lopez and Erkiaga are confirmed to play at America’s oldest fronton in Miami. This is huge news for jai-alai fans. New ownership is said to not have any interest in jai-alai, but this incredible news clearly overrides that motion – at least for now.
We will have additional news on who is on the roster soon.
It appears the highly anticipated father-son team of Benny and Chris Bueno are out of the USNJAC tournament which is now set for December 5-6th at Magic City. The event, expected to garner a huge national “jai-alai” audience – not only in attendance but on YouTube’s Jai-alai Channel has been rescheduled with its 4th date now set in stone unless county officials stop it due to increased COVID-19 cases. Dania player manager and former Miami star player Benny was originally scheduled to appear with his son Chris, whose been making amazing progress in his second season at Magic City. Chris is now scheduled to play with Magic City’s top player “Douglas” in the tournament. Douglas was originally scheduled to play with another sophomore player – Kubala – who will now in turn play with his father Paul Kubala. Paul was the main force in getting the first public jai-alai court ever built in the United States back in 2007. His son Kyle practically grew up with a jai-alai basket in his hand at the public jai-alai court two blocks from their home. But he pursued golf since his high school days and was on the golf team in college, before Magic City caught his interest with a very respectable salary and bonus structure.
We will keep you posted with details on this event which is rapidly approaching us.
Miami Jai-alai will likely be reopening this season – December 1st as the target date. The season is expected to run for two months, during the months of December and January.
The plans are for about a 20-man roster with all the games being played at singles. The roster is expected to be rather strong, with Mendi as the players manager. We do not have an idea whose on the roster as no contracts as being handed out as of now.
The historic fronton, once known as the “Yankee Stadium of jai-alai”, now resembles more as the “Tropicana Field of Jai-alai”. However, we understand improvements have been ongoing. There were plans to turn the auditorium into a Cirque Du Soleil but with Corona still peaking in Miami, it is unknown what the long term plans are.
The highly anticipated Magic City tournament is still trying to pull off their national event which would feature 60 players – both amateurs and professionals – with a walloping $20,000 in prize money up for grabs.
With COVID-19 causing problems more than Donald Trump could imagine, the event, originally scheduled for April 25-26 was been postponed three times already. The event was then rescheduled to June 27-28, then pushed back to July 25-26 when it was postponed again. Now organizers are trying to hold it during the weekend of December 5-6th. This new date is also during the time when Dania will be in the last couple weeks of their season, and during the first week of the Miami Jai-alai season (see related story on Pelotapress.com). A few of their players were registered to play in this event, but promoters will try to work around the conflict of this event and their regular jobs as players.
Who could have registered?
The USNJAC was open to any amateur and professional jai-alai that is a US Citizen, 18 years of age or older. The players have until Wednesday, October 7, 2020 to inform MC if they are still interested in participating. If they get enough positive responses, the event will go on – with some restrictions.
The original scoring format
This is a double elimination, head-to-head format. First to 6 points in First Round First to 5 points in Double Elimination Round First to 7 points in Second Round through Semi-Finals First to 9 points in Finals
Singles Play
Limited to 60 entries in Singles. The 30 players eliminated in the First Round will have a second chance Double Elimination Round with 2 players advancing back into the competition.
Doubles Play
Limited to 28 teams in Doubles. 14 teams eliminated in the First Round will have a second chance Double Elimination Round with 2 players advancing back into the competition.
Prize Money
$20,000 in prize money will be awarded throughout the Championship.
Singles 1st Place $7,500 Singles 2nd Place $2,500 Doubles 1st Place $7,500 Doubles 2nd Place $2,500
Rules and Requirements
You must be a USA citizen and a photocopy of passport or birth certificate is required with Entry Form. Players must be at least 18 years old. Video required of you playing if not known to the Selection Committee. Selection Committee has final determination of entrants should the entry field exceed the available playing slots. You must wear an approved helmet.
The Venue
Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida. Glass walls at the front and back walls. The court is 120 foot long by 40 foot width. The ceiling is low and makes this a difficult court to play on compared to others.
Other original worthy notes
There will be a 1-minute warm-up before each match. Practice time will be available on the Friday before the event which is held on a Saturday and Sunday.
The latest restrictions
At this time, it is unknown if spectators will be allowed in the fronton. If they aren’t, they will have to watch the event on a large screen TV in the Sports Club at Magic City. If there is a limited number of spectators allowed, guests of the players will have priority over the general public. A large capacity crowd was likely to have happened when it was first scheduled. No news on the Friday night party which would have featured the players and their guests.
Dania jai-alai will reopen on Thursday, October 1st with reduced seating capacity and a 10-game performance. The fronton, which has been open for over 60 years, was forced to shut down in mid-March because of the Corona virus. As we posted in a an earlier photo, you can see two rows of seats completely covered, with additional seats removed from the back row. The seating capacity will now be 75 people in the 400 seat fronton. Additional self-betting terminals have been set up to further maintain the 6 foot social distancing rules.
There will be 10-game performances – with 4 singles and 6 doubles.
As of now, about 10 players with visa’s are all waiting for their passports and flights. A few of the players will likely make it for opening day, while others will be arriving the following week.
All practicing players are ready to go. Those include stars like Erik, Zulaica, Arrieta, Ibon, Amigorena and others.
Magic City Jai-alai appeared on the Fox Miami/Ft. Lauderdale affiliate Channel 7 on Sunday afternoon, giving the sport much-needed publicity. The one hour event featured a doubles dual that featured four teams –
Anderluck/Kubala
Carballo/Ben
Douglas/Jeden
RonRon/Tennessee
Carballo/Ben beat Anderluck/Kubala
Douglas/Jeden beat RonRon/Tennessee
Douglas/Jeden beat Carballo/Ben 10-8 in the Final.
Enjoy the video and photos with special thanks to George Quinn for supplying the information.
Dania Jai-alai is getting ready to reopen for the first time since the pandemic became a global issue in March.
As you can see from the photo, social separation is underway, with two rows of seating getting covered in the 500 seat fronton. Dania intends on having live audiences when the reopen in the next couple of weeks or so. It also appears to be undergoing some “major” floor repairs on the out of bounds area on the cancha.
Magic City Jai-alai will be on WSVN-TV Channel 7 this Sunday afternoon at 2pm. The program will show their Doubles II Duel Event. The FOX channel serves the Ft. Lauderdale-Miami area but is also available online through TV Access by OneLaunch.
Be sure to check out this exciting event, a landmark for the jai-alai industry to say the least. The show will run up against NFL Football and the Miami Dolphin vs. Buffalo Bills game which starts at 1pm and even Magic City’s live performance starting at 12 noon that day.
America’s first and only public jai-alai court is about to get some massive renovations. The St. Petersburg, Florida jai-alai court opened to the public in 2008 as the first accomplishment done by the NJAA. However, the cancha was criticized by some as not being large enough. A real pro court is usually at least 175 feet long, with 40-45 foot high walls and a width about the same. But nobody will build a court that big, as courts need to be sized to the ball being used. The pro courts, like the one at Dania, has a front wall made out of granite of about 18” which is required to withstand the pelota being used. The real jai-alai ball has a core that consists of Brazilian virgin de pola rubber, then layered with nylon and finally is hand-stitched with two goat skin covers. It is the hardest ball of any sport. A court today would likely cost upwards of $1.5 million alone.
Most amateur courts are in the 30-meter range, with the N. Miami, Berlin Connecticut and under construction J Laca Court all around that size. Two balls are basically used by all amateurs – the hard white plastic ball, and the “Matt” ball.
Currently, the Puryear Park court in St. Pete is only 83.5 foot long, with a front wall 16 feet high, a side wall of 14-foot, and a back wall of just 10-foot. About 18 months ago, the NJAA, lead by Paul Kubala, Eric Lanctot and Scott King, submitted plans drawn by fellow player Anthony Sutton of Point West Engineering for improvements to the St. Pete cancha. On Monday, word got out that a Purchase Order has been issued with someone from the City of St. Petersburg on the court checking it out.
The massive improvements include knocking down the front wall along with all the fencing and netting that separates the main court from the 3 mini-courts. Beyond the front wall are three additional walls which were originally used as racquetball/tennis practice courts but have been officially part of the jai-alai complex since 2007. By knocking down the front wall, the goal is to extend the court an additional 20 feet or so by using the next wall. About 20 feet separate the each of the three mini-courts. Of course, with the longer court, the walls will need to go higher. The plans now call for extending the height of the front wall from 16-feet to 20-feet. The side wall would be extended another 6-feet to 20-foot tall while keeping the “Scott King” 4-foot extension wall at the top. The back wall would gain 6 feet to go from 10-foot to a 16-foot high wall. The court length will increase to about 103 feet long. The walls width will be enlarged also. Currently they are only 20 feet wide, while the court is actually 24 feet wide. The walls will get an extra 4 feet in width, matching them with the 24 foot wide court.
This new court will be close in size to the J Laca Court, now under construction on the other side of Pinellas county in Seminole Florida, and slightly smaller than the Matt court in Connecticut. The improvements are dramatic and will make the playing experience an entirely new experience.
Funds for the project will be paid from the jai-alai court’s existing Weekie Wachie account which was set up in late 2007 to cover maintenance and improvements to the cancha. A courthouse video of this approval can be viewed in the NJAA section of this website. The Weekie Wachie Fund is earmarked for projects similar to the this. Over the years, the NJAA has supplied almost all of the labor keeping the court safe to players and spectators. The original court was paid with private funds donated by the NJAA.
We will keep you posted as more details are available.
Click Picture Below to see Plans submitted to city by Anthony (Point West Engineering).
