It is a sports trophy obtained at an inter-school oina (a bat-and-ball game) competition in interwar Bessarabia. We don't know which schools participated in this competition, nor the venue, we only know that one of the winners received the second prize and that the event was held on May 13, 1934. In this way we learn about the existence of different sports competitions organized by schools, including the oina game. Oina is a beautiful and complex sports game that promotes the development of body and spirit, courage and the desire for self-improvement. Oina is a treasure of the Romanian people, which must be sacredly kept and passed on to future generations.
The oină or hoina game is considered a Romanian national sports game having a history of at least six centuries. The oina game is practiced continuously, according to the chronicles and deeds of the time at least from the 14th century, being mentioned for the first time in 1364, during the reign of Vlaicu Vodă. The game requires complex sports qualities (good running speed, fast reflexes in self-defense movements against the balls, accuracy in throwing and hitting the ball with a bat or stick). Oina is a sport that identifies us to the same extent as trânta, our national wrestling. The game becomes attractive among young people in the villages, enters the school curriculum through physical education lessons. Through the Education Reform of 1898, as well as through other ministerial decisions, Education Minister Spiru Haret introduces the compulsory oina lessons in all schools, as well as the annual oina competitions.
On May 9, 1899, in Bucharest, the first national oina championship was organized, the teams being made up of high school students. The winner was the team of Nicolae Bălcescu High School from Brăila.
In 1912, the Federation of the Romanian Sports Society (Bucharest) was created, which consisted of 13 sports commissions including the oina commission.
After the Union of 1918, the Federation of the Romanian Sports Society was reorganized in 1923, including the other oina sports commissions of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia.
In 1932, the Romanian Oina Federation was founded.
About horse rider pendants from the early Medieval period in the Prut-Dniester area
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
A special interest among the pieces from the early medieval period with particular significance is presented by the so-called bronze pendants depicting horses and horse riders executed more or less schematically, found during archaeological excavations and surveys or found accidentally. Their area of circulation includes regions stretching from the Volga and Northern Caucasus to the east and the Balkan Peninsula and Central Europe to the west. Most of them were discovered in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary.
In the space between Prut and Dniester several such objects are known, belonging to different typological models. These were discovered at Hansca (Ialoveni), Pohorniceni-Petruha (Orhei), Briceni, Cantemir, Bolgrad (reg. Odesa) and in two unknown localities from the Republic of Moldova.
The amulets hold a particular place among the pendants classified by us as type I or Hansca type. In the area which is being investigated four objects representing horses and horse riders are known without close analogies. They show generally a rider in profile heading towards the left. The saddled horse is small, with a long neck, graciously arched. The riders flexed legs makes us assume that he is supporting them on stirrups. The rider wears long boots, bent upward. The riders’ boots are connected with the front and rear legs of the equid. The distinctive element of this object category is that the individual holds the horse crest (holds the reins?) with his right arm, while the left arm adheres flexed to the chest.
The discovery of certain closed archaeological complexes (Hansca) allows dating the Hansca type amulets to the 10th-11th centuries. As hypothesis, we can assume that these objects penetrated to the Prut-Dniester space together with the groups of Iranian Allans from the Northern Caucasus. The presence of Allans to the north of Danube mouth is confirmed by written documentary sources also.
The second type is represented by amulets in which the rider is heading towards the left and holds a long curved sword with both hands. These pieces seem to be earlier and can be dated to the 9th – first half of the 10th century
List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Medieval bronze pendants representing horses and horse riders from Prut-Dniester space: 1 - Pohorniceni- Petruha; 2 - Briceni; 3 - Cantemir; 4 - Hansca; 5-6 - unknown localities from Moldova.
It is a sports trophy obtained at an inter-school oina (a bat-and-ball game) competition in interwar Bessarabia. We don't know which schools participated in this competition, nor the venue, we only know that one of the winners received the second prize and that the event was held on May 13, 1934. In this way we learn about the existence of different sports competitions organized by schools, including the oina game. Oina is a beautiful and complex sports game that promotes the development of body and spirit, courage and the desire for self-improvement. Oina is a treasure of the Romanian people, which must be sacredly kept and passed on to future generations...
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