Moroccan nomads keep alive ancient sport of sand hockey


By AGENCY
  • People
  • Monday, 12 Jun 2023

Locals playing sand hockey during the 15th International Nomad Festival in Mhamid el-Ghizlane in Morocco's southern Sahara desert. Photos: Fadel Senna/AFP

In a Moroccan oasis town on the edge of the Sahara, nomads in turbans and tunics are thwacking a camel-wool ball across the desert in a traditional pastime: sand hockey.

Similar in many ways to field and ice hockey, but played barefoot and with palm wood sticks, the ancient game is called "mokhacha" in the local Hassani Arabic dialect.

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