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Who said that a field or an ice rink are essential to play a hockey game? or that the waves of the sea are necessary to surf on a board?
The desert and the sand dunes offer interesting scenarios where to practice some sporting activities which are usually played in sports fields or by the sea.
The “disciplines of the desert” are many: some of them are more recent, others very ancient, but all share the same common denominator, that is the presence of sand. So, what are these sports? And where is it possible to practice them in the Mediterranean?
Sand and sport
Desert expanses and dunes are the protagonists of an increasingly growing sports tourism. The disciplines practiced there today range from sand boarding, a cousin of the better-known surfboard, to sand skiing, sand hockey and marathons in the desert.
Indeed, with the right equipment, it is possible to enjoy sports, even extreme ones, without fearing the consequences of particularly “hot” temperatures.
It could be believed that these sports have only been adapted to the desert in recent times, and for some of them this is really the case: just think of sand skiing born in the 1920s; nevertheless, much older evidence exists for other disciplines.
Sand boarding, for example, may even date back to ancient Egyptian times! In fact, there are testimonies capable of proving that this sport already existed in the era of the pharaohs. Sand hockey, instead, would be linked to the ancestral traditions of the nomads who lived in the North African desert.
Mokhacha: the Moroccan sand–hockey
Sand hockey is the sport of the Bedouins of the desert and belongs to the traditions of the Sahara, so much so that it was one of the co-protagonists of the cheerful annual Nomad Festival in M’Hamid El-Ghzilane, a Moroccan town located in the province of Zagora.
In Morocco, in fact, this discipline, which takes the name of mokhacha, is still practiced by following the game and the spirit of the past: barefoot, in direct contact with the sand, and using the same equipment which consists of sticks made from palm tree branches and a ball obtained from camel wool.
The opposing teams of this sport on sand, born as a pastime, are two, and they are made up of 4 or 5 players dressed in the typical clothing of the desert peoples.
Sand…boarding on the desert dunes
Another fascinating desert sport is sand boarding. As with the surfboard, common to most people, for this discipline is required a board too, although it is sprinkled with wax on the underside. In fact, this helps reduce friction with the sand and allow for much faster descents.
Sand boarding, which is now known all over the world, can become an extreme and dangerous sport if practiced on very steep dunes. The places where to practice it in the Mediterranean are many: there are, for example, in France, Greece, Turkey, Italy and throughout the northern African belt.
Lovers of this sport can, therefore, practice it not only in the deserts, but also in the white sand dunes of Porto Pino in Sardinia, or the Pilat dune in France, the highest in Europe, to mention some.
Surfing on volcanoes too
A curious variant of sand boarding is “volcano boarding”. As the name suggests, the activity, certainly not suitable for everyone, consists of “surfing” a volcano! Using a wooden board, it is therefore possible to slide from the heights of the volcanoes.
Volcano boarding is practiced both standing up and seated on the board. But which volcanoes? In fact, not all of them are suitable and safe for carrying out this activity. In the Mediterranean there is one where it can be practiced: Mount Etna, in eastern Sicily.
Of course, volcano boarding shouldn’t be taken lightly: there are potential risks linked to the extreme nature of this sport, and it’s necessary to be properly equipped using protective masks, right clothing, emergency kit, …
A question arises spontaneously: what the next news in the sports field will be?
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