Oină
- For the brachiopod genus, see Oina (brachiopod).
Oina (IPA: ['oj.na]) is a Romanian ball sport, similar in some ways to baseball.
History
It was first time mentioned during the rule of Vlaicu Vodă in 1364, when it was spread all across Wallachia and it used to be a game of the shepherds.
At the first edition of the Olympics (1896), Romania offered to send two oina teams, but it was turned down by the International Olympic Committee, because oina was not played in other countries.
In 1899, Spiru Haret, the minister of education decided that oina to be played in schools in Physical education classes and organized the first annual oina competitions.
Romanian Oina Federation was founded in 1932, and reactivated at the beginning of the 1950s.
Today, there are two Oina Federations: one in Bucharest, Romania and another one in Chişinău, Moldova.
Rules
There are two teams, one that is "at bat" ("la bătaie") and one that is "at catching" ("la prindere").
The game begins with the team "at bat", with one of the players throwing the ball while another player of the same team has to hit it with a wooden bat ("bâtă") and send it as far as he can towards the adversary field. After that, the player has to run the "back-and-forth lanes" (culoarele de ducere şi întoarcere) that are to be found in the adversary field before the adversary receives the ball from his co-players.
Comparison with baseball
- Same weight of the ball: around 140 grams for both
- Longer and slimmer bat for oina
- A game takes only 30 minutes for oina
- Oina teams have 11 players; Baseball teams have 9 players