Photos Courtesy of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are one of five new teams participating in the Copa de la Diversión and have made a statement with their new identity: the Pensacola Pok-Ta-Tok.
Pok-Ta-Pok is an ancient ballgame that was first played in the Americas as early as 1650 B.C.E. It was played with a heavy rubber ball that required players to propel the ball through an elevated hoop using only their hips and torsos - similar to basketball today without the use of players' hands.
Many variations of the game existed across Mesoamerica, with courts being preserved today at numerous cultural sites, including Chichen Itza in Mexico. The Aztecs and the Toltecs played the game with ruins of playing courts discovered in Mexico. The game has even enjoyed a resurgence with the annual Pok-Ta-Pok World Cup held in Belize for the past 5-years.
The identity was developed by Brandiose artist Jacobo Vidal and the Brandiose team. Vidal, a citizen of Mexico City, incorporated many aspects of his Mexican heritage into the Pok-Ta-Pok brand, including a fierce athlete in authentic, traditional garb playing the sport on the historic Pok-Ta-Pok court overlooked by the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza. It will be written in Mayan script by a Mayan linguist.
The team's uniform portrays the athlete striking a ball through a hoop on the jersey's sleeve. On the chest, "Pok-Ta-Pok" is written in Mayan glyphs scripted by a Mayan linguist. Vidal chose the colors to represent traditional Latin American artwork.
The name looks to expand the Copa de la Diversión universe by sharing more about the many vibrant cultures and languages that make up Latin America today. Today, approximately 50 million people (10 percent of the population) across Latin America are of indigenous heritage; millions speak languages other than Spanish such as Mayan, Quechua, and Nahuatl, as their first language.
“For me, to create these identities and to create these logos that represent my culture, my city, and my people is something that I’m proud of and thankful for,” Designer Jacobo Vidal said in a press release. “I tried to represent the most traditional form of the game. The most epic form of the game, a form that makes people feel proud and identified.”
The team will debut the new look on May 5 against the Mississippi Braves and play two more games on June 17 and September 16 this season.
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