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Vilcabamba Glimpse #17

Joe's Volleyball Stadium

In Glimpse #16, I mentioned that I would write more about the volleyball stadium.

Volleyball is wildly popular in Ecuador. Almost all men play this sport and play it well. Some women play volleyball but mostly you see men playing. Probably the reason volleyball is so popular is, like soccer, it does not require much of an investment. Unless you build a volleyball stadium! J Even so, the cost for this stadium is a fraction of what it would cost in the U.S.

The game is different from U.S.-style volleyball. There are only three players per side (not six), the net is higher that U.S. volleyball (even though the Ecuadorians are shorter generally), and the ball is more like a soccer ball in weight than the lightweight American volleyball. One can and does get an enomous amount of exercise playing this game called Ecuavolley.

After much thought, I decided to build two volleyball courts on my personal home site (in lieu of a tennis court...which I still may build). The project began with a simple sketch of two adjacent volleyball courts (each 9 by 18 meters) and a seating area. The seating area needed to be shielded from the sun, hence the roof. There's a fountain area at ground level in the middle of the seating area. A Vilcabamba carpenter built the umpire chairs, which I designed. The special netting on top of the low wall at the one end of the courts was made by inmates in the Loja prison (they make the best nets). J

The stadium seats about 150 or so. I expect we will have some tournaments here. This stadium is likely very unique in all of Ecuador. As people in Vilcabamba hear about it, they come to look at and play on it. For now, mostly its the workers and I who play on it. It's a great scene after work. Both volleyball courts being played upon, umpires in both chairs, and more workers watching, The entire setting is astonishing as the area is surrounded by treens and greenery and the Andes Mountains as the Vilcabamba River flows by just beyond the volleyball courts.

You can see that some of the horses like hanging around the volleyball courts as well. J

I'm going to send you a follow-up to this with some close-up shots of the stadium.

The photos:

Best, Joe

Joe Simonetta
Owner/Architect
Hacienda San Joaquin
Vilcabamba, Ecuador


P.S. International Living named Ecuador "The Best Place in the World to Retire" http://www.haciendasanjoaquin.com/best_in_the_world.html