Cancha
by Shimi Cohen
While meandering through the streets of Havana, I have come upon shirtless young men or boys banging the daylights out a ball against a cement wall in what looks like an outdoor version of a squash court.
Being an avid squash player myself, I decided to investigate and finally find out more about this popular Cuban sport.
As I watched from the sidelines, I could see that what they were playing, appeared to be a mix between squash, tennis and racquetball.
I inquired as to the name of the game and I was informed it was called “cancha” or “front wall tennis”.
Unlike a squash or racquetball court, both of which have four walls, a cancha court has only
three walls.
Cancha seems to be played with a racquetball (slightly smaller than a tennis ball but bouncier and not as hard as a doubles’ squash ball) and gets moving very quickly as the game gets going.
Tennis rackets appeared to be the weapons of choice.
Scoring seems to be like that of doubles squash but don’t ask me to teach you.
Even after I was told four times, it was still Spanish to me.
At the match I watched, the players were fast, fit and extremely competitive. They also played endlessly.
One day I will be brave enough to step on the court!
