If I asked you what you thought America’s sports pastime was, I’d be willing to bet you would say baseball.

If you asked me what I thought America’s sports pastime was, I’d have a different answer. Invented almost six centuries before baseball, the Native American sport of stickball is a truly American sport still played to this day.

Similar to modern day lacrosse, stickball is played by both men and women. The object of the game to hit a fish-shaped piece of wood mounted on top of a large pole in the middle of a field with a ball, similar to a hackey sack.

Men use two small sticks, very similar to the sticks used by lacrosse players, while women use their bare hands to attack opponents and throw the ball.

I, along with Editor-in-chief, Emily Steele, were given the opportunity to play the great game of stickball on our recent spring break volunteer trip to Tahlequah, Okla. We got the chance to experience the culture of the Cherokee Indians, while also working with children and adults at the Cherokee Nation Head Start program. After a week of many memorable events, I think my time playing stickball sticks out the most.

After getting the hang of the game’s basics, we were invited to a ceremony later that evening where our skills were put to the test against individuals who had been playing the game for their entire lives. Some people grow up with a basketball hoop in their backyard, but these people had stickball. There were players as young as 2 or 3 years-old and people old enough to be their grandparents all, playing and enjoying the great tradition of stickball.

I played a conservative style early on, not wanting to make a whole lot of noise. I’d go after a loose ball that came my way, maybe even attempt a shot, but I wasn’t quite ready to get physical yet.

My co-worker on the other hand, was. After our game was finished, Emily looked like she had been through a war zone, bloody, sweaty and bruised, but all in fun.

The Cherokee people welcomed us and allowed us to take part in their traditions, which they had been doing for hundreds of years. As a sports writer and fan, I loved getting the opportunity to play one of the country’s oldest games.

I was amazed that over the course of so many years, the game has still stayed constant. Stickball isn’t on TV. You can’t buy stickball gear at your local sporting goods store, as all the gear is handcrafted, but it is still played to this day.

With the way the Cherokee people teach the younger generations the rules and ways of stickball, it looks like stickball may be around for a few more hundred years.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7944 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu