Championship History Introduction

BRIEF HISTORY OF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Introduction

The historian Iztueta tells of the time when he was called to judge a bertsolari contest. Gorosabel says that, "the desire of the verse-singers to prevail at this skill is such that, on many occasions, there were challenges and competitions with rules agreed to in public squares, given the immense number of betting spectators, and with the winner receiving considerable sums for their efforts." That is to say, there have always been "championships", some with rules of some kind or other. Given that betting has existed in athletics and sport, the bertso is no more than a continuation of rivalry, at times to mock the loser and, at others, to extract revenge from the victor. Many compositions about pelota, Basque handball, are witness to this.

The pre-war championships (1935-1936)