Welsh handball

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Welsh handball (Welsh: Pêl-law) is one of the ancient native sports of Wales. It is related to coeval sports such as Irish handball, fives, and Basque pelota and is a possible antecedent of American handball. The sport has been continually attested since the Middle Ages and its popularity saw it become an important expression of Welsh culture, offering ordinary people opportunities through prize money, bookkeeping and even player professionalism.

Due to its cultural significance games of Pêl-law were simply referred to as Chwarae Pêl (playing ball) and it has since been described as "Wales’s first national sport".^[1]