Picigin (pronounced "pitsighin") is a popular game played on beaches in Croatia. It involves several players passing around a small ball and keeping it in the air and out of the water for as long as possible.
As such, the game somewhat resembles volleyball but it is played with a much smaller ball, usually a peeled off tennis ball. There are usually around five players and there's generally lots of running and diving in the shallow water.
The most fanatical players believe it is impossible to play picigin anywhere else but on the sandy beach called Bačvice (pronounced "batchwitse") near the historic city centre of Split, Croatia.
There is a tradition of playing picigin on the New Year's Day, regardless of the weather conditions, when sea temperature rarely exceeds 10 degrees Celsius.
Some of the best known players from Split are writer Đermano Senjanović, music professor Josip Veršić, theatre critic Anatolij Kudrjavcev and retired shipyard worker Roko Vrandečić.
