Sacred 3,000-Year-Old Aztec Sport More Popular Than Ever in Mexico : Games: Human sacrifices and religious rites are no longer part of <i> hulama, </i> which resembles volleyball and is rough but graceful.

Human sacrifices and religious rites are no longer the essence of the game, but in Mexico a 3,000-year-old sport remains an addictive national pastime.

For pre-Hispanic Indians, hulama , which is somewhat like volleyball, had sacred significance. But most of today’s aficionados play it as a sport in its own right rather than for its historical meaning.

“Historically, hulama was a game for kings and warriors and was the maximum honor, but there’s nothing of that to it anymore,” said Roberto Rochin, who spent six years making a film documentary about the game.

Today’s players range from teen-agers to senior citizens with one thing in common--they can’t get enough of the game. Packed courts back up players’ claims that hulama is more popular than ever.

Luckily for them, the stakes are no longer as high as they were in Aztec times. The winners then were rewarded with a prime spot on the sacrificial altar, on their way to an afterlife with the gods; the losers were banished.

Aside from ending the sacrifices, hulama has changed little in its 3,000 years, said Lilian Scheffler and Regina Reynoso, authors of a book on the sport.

Two teams face off as in volleyball and attempt to pass a nine-pound rubber ball past the other using only their buttocks, hips and knees. As in volleyball, if players fail to return the ball, the other team scores.

No game for the faint-hearted, balls often reach speeds of 35 mph with an impact of up to 90 pounds. Players wear protective pads, but one must be quick and agile to avoid injuries, they said.

Since players use their bodies instead of their arms to pass the ball, their movements are often swift and graceful, which draws spectators as well as competitors to the courts.

“This is a beautiful sport that resembles a ballet, but a rough ballet,” said a 71-year-old player in Mazatlan, where the game is particularly popular.

Aztec rulers may not have appreciated such a comparison, since for them the game was one of blood to be played by the fiercest.

Folklore says the game was so beloved by the last Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, that his subjects sent him 16,000 rubber balls a year.

Remains of about 700 ancient hulama courts can still be found in central and southern Mexico, testimony that the game was not exclusively Montezuma’s but was shared by peasants in the countryside.

The popularity of hulama took a nose-dive when newly arriving Spanish conquistadors and missionaries discouraged it, seeing it as a threat to their causes.

Many courts were destroyed by conquistadors offended by the human sacrifices, which ran counter to their Catholic beliefs.

Mexicans eventually reclaimed hulama , however, and it continues to thrive in varying forms across the country.

Players take pride in the game, which they say is truly Mexican, unlike baseball and other sports borrowed from the United States.

“This is our sport,” one player said. “It is the last that remains.”