Hockey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the sports. For other uses, see Hockey
(disambiguation).
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other
by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using
a hockey stick. In many areas, one sport (typically field hockey or ice
hockey[1]) is generally referred to simply as hockey.
Etymology
The first recorded use of the word hockey is in the 1773 book Juvenile
Sports and Pastimes, to Which Are Prefixed, Memoirs of the Author:
Including a New Mode of Infant Education by Richard Johnson (Pseud.
Master Michel Angelo), whose chapter XI was titled "New Improvements
on the Game of Hockey".[2] The belief that hockey was mentioned in a
1363 proclamation by King Edward III of England is based on modern
translations of the proclamation, which was originally in Latin and
explicitly forbade the games "Pilam Manualem, Pedivam, & Bacularem:
& ad Canibucam & Gallorum Pugnam". The English historian and
biographer John Strype did not use the word "hockey" when he
translated the proclamation in 1720.
The word hockey itself is of unknown origin. One explanation is that it is
a derivative of hoquet, a Middle French word for a shepherd's stave.
[3]
The curved, or "hooked" ends of the sticks used for hockey would
indeed have resembled these staves. Another explanation is that the
cork bungs that replaced wooden balls in the 18th century came from
barrels containing "hock" ale, also called "hocky". [4]
History
bas relief approx. 600 BC, in theNational Archaeological Museum of
Athens
Games played with curved sticks and a ball can be found in the histories
of many cultures. In Egypt, 4000-year-old carvings feature teams with
sticks and a projectile, hurling dates to before 1272 BC in Ireland, and
there is a depiction from approximately 600 BC in Ancient Greece,
where the game may have been
called kertzein or kerhtzein () because it was played with a
horn or horn-like stick(kras, ).[5] In Inner Mongolia, the Daur
people have been playing beikou, a game similar to modern field hockey,
for about 1,000 years.[6]

Most evidence of hockey-like games during the Middle Ages is found in

legislation concerning sports and games. The Galway Statute enacted in
Ireland in 1527 banned certain types of ball games, including games
using "hooked" (written "hockie", similar to "hooky") sticks. [7]
...at no tyme to use ne occupye the horlinge of the litill balle with hockie
stickes or staves, nor use no hande ball to play withoute walles, but only
greate foote balle[8]
By the 19th century, the various forms and divisions of historic games
began to differentiate and coalesce into the individual sports defined
today. Organizations dedicated to the codification of rules and
regulations began to form, and national and international bodies sprang
up to manage domestic and international competition. Ice hockey also
evolved during this period as a derivative of field hockey adapted to the
icy conditions of Canada and the northern United States.
Subtypes
Bandy game in Sweden.
Bandy
Main article: Bandy
Bandy is played with a ball on a football field-sized ice arena (bandy
rink), typically outdoors, and with many rules similar to association
football. It is played professionally in Russia and Sweden and is
considered a national sport in Russia. The sport is recognised by
theIOC; its international governing body is the Federation of International
Bandy.
Bandy has its roots in England in the 19th century, was originally called
"hockey on the ice",[9] and spread from England to other European
countries around 1900; a similar Russian sport can also be seen as a
predecessor and in Russia, bandy is sometimes called "Russian
hockey". Bandy World Championships have been played since 1957
and Women's Bandy World Championships since 2004. There are
national club championships in many countries and the top clubs in the
world play in the Bandy World Cup every year.
Field hockey
Field hockey game at Melbourne University.
Main article: Field hockey
Field hockey is played on gravel, natural grass, or sand-based or waterbased artificial turf, with a small, hard ball approximately 73 mm (2.9 in)

in diameter. The game is popular among both males and females in

many parts of the world, particularly in Europe,Asia, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina. In most countries, the game is
played between single-sex sides, although they can be mixed-sex.
The governing body is the 126-member International Hockey
Federation (FIH). Men's field hockey has been played at each Summer
Olympic Games since 1908 except for 1912 and 1924, while women's
field hockey has been played at the Summer Olympic Games since
1980.
Modern field hockey sticks are constructed of a composite of wood,
glass fibre or carbon fibre (sometimes both) and are J-shaped, with a
curved hook at the playing end, a flat surface on the playing side and a
curved surface on the rear side. All sticks are right-handed left-handed
sticks are not permitted.
While field hockey in its current form appeared in mid-18th
century England, primarily in schools, it was not until the first half of the
19th century that it became firmly established. The first club was created
in 1849 at Blackheath in south-east London. Field hockey is the national
sport of Pakistan.[10] It was the national sport of India until the Ministry of
Youth Affairs and Sports declared in August 2012 that India has no
national sport.[11]
Ice hockey
Roller hockey (inline)
Roller hockey (quad)
Sledge hockey
Street hockey
Box Hockey being played in Miami, Florida, 1935

Air hockey is played indoors with a puck on an air-cushion table.

Beach hockey, a variation of street hockey, is a common sight

on Southern California beaches.

Ball hockey is played in a gym using sticks and a ball, often

a tennis ball with the felt removed.

Box hockey is a schoolyard game played by two people. The

object of the game is to move a hockey puck from the center of the
box out through a hole placed at the end of the box (known as the

goal). The players kneel facing one another on either side of the box,
and each attempts to move the puck to the hole on their left.

Broomball is played on an ice hockey rink, but with a ball instead

of a puck and a "broom" (actually a stick with a small plastic
implement on the end) in place of the ice hockey stick. Instead of
skates, special shoes are used that have very soft rubbery soles to
maximize grip while running around.

Deck hockey is traditionally played by the Royal Navy on ships'

decks, using short wooden L-shaped sticks.

Floor hockey is a form of hockey played on foot, on a flat, smooth

floor surface, usually indoors in gymnasiums or similar spaces.

Floorball is a form of hockey played in a gymnasium or in a sports

hall. A whiffle ball is used instead of a plastic ball, and the sticks are
only one meter long and made from composite materials.

Foot hockey or sock hockey is played using a bald tennis ball or

rolled-up pair of socks and using only the feet. It is popular in
elementary schools in the winter.

Gym hockey is a form of ice hockey played in a gymnasium. It

uses sticks with foam ends and a foam ball or a plastic puck.

Hurling and Camogie are Irish games bearing some resemblance

to and notable differences from hockey.

Indoor field hockey is an indoor variation of field hockey.

Mini hockey (or knee-hockey), also known as "mini-sticks" is a

form of hockey played in the United States in the basements of
houses. Players kneel and use a miniature plastic stick, usually about
15 inches (38 cm) long, to maneuver a small ball or a soft, fabriccovered mini puck into miniature goals. In England 'mini hockey'
refers to a seven-a-side version of field hockey for younger players,
played on an area equivalent to half a normal pitch.

Nok Hockey is a table-top version of hockey played with no

defense and a small block in front of the goal.

Pond hockey is a simplified form of ice hockey played on naturally

frozen ice.

Power hockey is a form of hockey for persons requiring the use of

an electric (power) wheelchair in daily life.

Ringette is an ice hockey variant that was designed for female

players; it uses a straight stick and a rubber ring in place of a puck.
The rules differ from those of hockey and resemble a mix of lacrosse
and basketball.

Rink bandy and Rinkball are team sports of Scandinavian origin

that are played like bandy but on an ice hockey rink and with fewer
players on each team.

Rossall hockey is a variation played at Rossall School on the sea

shore in the winter months. Its rules are a mix of field
hockey, rugby and the Eton wall game.

Shinny is an informal version of ice hockey.

Shinty is a Scottish game now played primarily in the Highlands

Skater hockey is a variant of inline hockey, played with a ball.

Spongee is a cross between ice hockey and broomball and is most

popular in Manitoba, Canada. A stick and puck are used as in hockey
(the puck is a softer version called a "sponge puck"), and the same
soft-soled shoes are worn as in broomball. The rules are basically the
same as for ice hockey, but one variation has an extra player on the
ice called a "rover".

Table hockey is played indoors on a table.

Underwater hockey is played on the bottom of a swimming pool.

Unicycle hockey is played on a hard surface using unicycles as the

method of player movement. There is generally no dedicated
goalkeeper.

Equipment

Shoulder pads

Jockstrap with cup pocket and protective cup

Hockey stick

Puck or ball

HISTORY OF HOCKEY
Where did hockey originate? Who set down the first rules of the modern
game? What was the FIH set up to do?
Whether youre a history buff or simply want to impress you mates with
you knowledge of the game, discover more about the history of hockey
below.
Hockey and its Origins
The roots of hockey are buried deep in antiquity. Historical records show
that a crude form of the game was played in Egypt 4,000 years ago and
in Ethiopia around 1,000BC.
Various museums offer evidence that a form of the game was played by
the Romans and Greeks as well as by the Aztecs several centuries
before Columbus arrived in the New World.
The modern game of hockey emerged in England in the mid-18th
century and is largely attributed to the growth of public schools, such as
Eton.
The first Hockey Association was formed in the UK in 1876 and drew up
the first formal set of rules. The original association survived for just six
years but, in 1886, it was revived by nine founding member clubs.
Hockey and the Olympics
The inaugural Olympic Hockey Competition for men was held in London
in 1908 with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales competing
separately. With the addition of Germany and France, the competition
ran with six teams.
After having made its first appearance at the London Games, hockey
was subsequently dropped from the 1912 Stockholm Games after host
nations were granted control over optional sports. It reappeared in 1920
in Antwerp after pressure from Belgian hockey advocates before being
omitted again in Paris in 1924.
The formation of the International Hockey Federation in 1924 was not
soon enough for the Paris Olympics but it did grant hockey re-entry in

Amsterdam in 1928. Hockey has been on the programme ever since,

with women's hockey included for the first time in Moscow in 1980.
Hockey and the FIH
Motivated by hockeys omission from the 1924 Paris Games, the
Fdration Internationale de Hockey sur Gazon (FIH) was founded by
Paul Lautey. M. Lautey, who would later become the first president of
the FIH, called together seven National Federations to form the sports
international governing body.
These founding members, which represented both men's and women's
hockey in their countries, were Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia,
France, Hungary, Spain and Switzerland.
Popularised in the late 19th century, the womens game developed
quickly in many countries. In 1927, the International Federation of
Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA) was formed. After celebrating
their respective Golden Jubilees - the FIH in 1974 and the IFWHA in
1980 - the two organisations came together in 1982 to form the current
FIH.
By 1964, there were already 50 countries affiliated with the FIH, as well
as three Continental Associations - Africa, Pan America and Asia - and in
1974, there were 71 members. Today, the International Hockey
Federation consists of five Continental Associations, 132 National
Associations and is still growing.

History of field hockey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Games similar to field hockey have a long history around the world. The
modern standard variant of field hockey was developed in nineteenth
century England.
Games similar to hockey outside the West[edit]
Stick and ball games with some similarities to field hockey include
the Irish game of hurling (and its Scottish cousin shinty) which dates
from at least 1272 B.C to Ireland and India. In Inner Mongolia, China,
the Daur people have been playing Beikou (a game similar to modern
field hockey) for about 1,000 years. [1] European settlers in Chile in the
16th century described a hockey-like game of the Araucano Indians

called chueca (or 'the twisted one' from the twisted end of the stick used
by players). In Western Australia, early white settlers
witnessed Noongar people played a game called dumbung, in which
bent sticks were used to hit a ball made of dried sap from the native
peartree.[1] (The game is believed to be the source of the name
of Dumbleyung, a town near where it was played.)
Modern hockey[edit]
A game called hockey was played in English public schools in the early
19th century. Lord Lytton wrote in 1853 that On the common some
young men were playing at hockey. That old-fashioned game, now very
uncommon in England, except at schools.... Hockey's popularity
increased with that of other team games. A version of the game played
in south-east London was rougher than the modern version, played on a
very large field (247m by 64m), and used a cube of black rubber and
rough planed sticks. The modern game was developed on the other side
of London by Middlesex cricket clubs, especially Teddington Hockey
Club . The members of these clubs were looking for winter exercise, but
did not particularly care for football. In 1870, members of the Teddington
cricket club, who had recently moved to play in Bushy Park, were looking
for a winter activity. They experimented with a stick game, based
loosely on the rules of association football. Teddington played the game
on the smooth outfield of their cricket pitch and used a cricket ball, so
allowing smooth and predictable motion. By 1874 they had begun to
draw up rules for their game, including banning the raising of the stick
above shoulder height and stipulating that a shot at goal must take place
within the circle in front of it. An association was formed in 1875, which
dissolved after seven years, but in 1886 the Hockey Association was
formed by seven London clubs and representatives from Trinity College,
Cambridge. Blackheath were one of the founder members, but refused
to accept the rules drawn up by the other clubs and left to found the
National Hockey Union. The Union failed, but the Association grew
rapidly.
They rejected a form of the game that involved a 7oz (200g) rubber
cube, catching, marking and scrimmaging, based on rugby football, at
the time favoured by the Blackheath club. The Teddington club chose to
limit the number per side to eleven, and preferred to play with old cricket
balls. They also introduced the idea of the striking circle (the dee or 'D'),
and they played several games in Bushy Park, in the winter of 1871.
Clubs were also set up in Richmond and Surbiton in 1874, and inter-club
matches were played between them and Teddington. The game grew
sporadically, as the clubs didnt always agree on the rules!

In the late 19th century, largely due to the British Army, the game spread
throughout the British Empire, leading to the first international
competition in 1895 (Ireland 3, Wales 0). The International Rules Board
was founded in 1895, and hockey first appeared at the Olympic
Games as a men's competition at 1908 Olympic Games in London, with
only three teams: England, Ireland and Scotland. Men's hockey became
a permanent fixture at the Olympics at the 1928 Olympic Games,
at Amsterdam.
The first step towards an international structuring occurred in 1909,
when England and Belgium agreed to recognize each other for
international competitions, soon joined in by the French federation. In
1924, the International Hockey Federation (FIH, Fdration
Internationale de Hockey) was founded in Paris, under the initiative of
the French man, Paul Lautey, as a response to hockey's omission from
the 1924 Paris Game. The founding members
were Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain,
and Switzerland. The development of the FIH owes a lot to the work of
Rn George Frank, a Belgian, in the years after the Second World
War until the 1970s. Men's hockey united under the FIH in 1970, when
the Hockey Association joined and the International Rules Board
became part of the FIH's structure.
The game had been taken to India by British servicemen, and the first
clubs formed there in Calcutta in 1885. The Beighton Cup and the Aga
Khan tournament had commenced within ten years. Entering the
Olympic Games in 1928, India won all five of its games without
conceding a goal, and went on to win in 1932 until 1956, and then in
1964 and 1980.Pakistan won in 1960, 1968, and 1984.
Women's hockey[edit]
Women's hockey developed separately from men's hockey. Women do
not seem to have played hockey widely before the modern era.
Women's hockey was first played at British Universities and schools, and
the first club, Molesey Ladies Hockey Club, was founded in 1887. The
first national association was the Irish Ladies Hockey Union in 1894, and
though rebuffed by the Hockey Association, women's hockey grew
rapidly around the world. This led to the formation of the International
Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA) in 1927, though
this did not include initially many continental European countries where
women played as sections of men's associations and were affiliated to
the FIH. The IFWHA held conferences every three years, and the
tournaments associated with these were the primary IFWHA
competitions. These tournaments were non-competitive until 1975.

By the early 1970s there were 22 associations with women's sections in

the FIH and 36 associations in the IFWHA. Discussions were started
about a common rule book. The FIH introduced competitive tournaments
in 1974, forcing the acceptance of the principle of competitive hockey by
the IFWHA in 1973. It took until 1982 for the two bodies to merge, but
this allowed the introduction of women's hockey to the 1980 Olympic
Games, where, as in the men's game, Australia, Germany, and the
Netherlands have been consistently strong.
The synthetic revolution[edit]
Grass Playing Surface
Synthetic turf at Anna Stadium,Trichy.
In the early 1970s, the "synthetic grass" fields began to be used for
hockey, with the first Olympic Games on this surface being held at
the1976 Montreal edition.
Synthetic pitches are now mandatory for all the international
tournaments and for most of the national competitions. While hockey is
still played on grass fields at some local levels and lesser national
divisions, it has been replaced by synthetic turf almost everywhere in the
western world.
The game, as well as the material used to play it, has taken a definitive
turn with the introduction of the synthetic field, gaining in speed, losing,
some would say, in skills. What is clear is that the game has deeply
evolved. In order to take into account the specificities of this surface,
new tactics, new techniques (such as the indian dribble) have been
developed and new rules have been settled, often, in order to frame,
these new techniques. Regarding the evolution of the hockey player
material, the sticks have changed shape, with the bent head at the
bottom, which used to be about 15 centimetres long, becoming much
stubbier. The extra length was no longer necessary, as the ball travelled
much straighter on the flatter synthetic fields. The shorter length made
playing the ball with the "backhand" (playing with the head of the stick to
the player's left, with the head rotated 180 degrees from its usual
position) much easier, increasing the speed with which this tactic, often
used for evasive manoeuvres, could be used. It also makes trapping the
ball by placing the entire stick on the ground, with the point of the head
resting on the ground to the player's left, possible, and this stopping
technique is now universal for trapping the ball at penalty corners. The
sticks also tend to become more and stiffer as to hit the ball
harder. Fibreglass, carbon fibre and kevlar were first applied to the

traditional wood core in early 1970s. Sticks with an aluminium core have
been produced but are now prohibited due to the danger they pose
when broken. Wooden sticks are less and less common, and players are
now playing with sticks entirely made of synthetic composite materials.
The goalkeeper equipment has followed the same trend, becoming more
and more able to resist to strength of the balls hit by these new
generation sticks. Helmets have become compulsory, padding is thicker
and of more shock-absorbing (and reflecting) foam material and more
areas of the body are padded. The new equipment is very expensive
and is often a considerable burden for clubs or individual goalkeepers to
purchase. The composition of the hockey ball has also changed, from
aleather ball with a seam similar to a cricket ball, to a seamless, usually
dimpled hard plastic ball. These plastic balls are cheaper, more durable,
more consistent in their behaviour, and are unaffected by water; a key
requirement in water-moderated synthetic fields used in elite-level
hockey.
Ancillary player equipment has also changed. The studded boots for
grass fields are banned (and were in any case very uncomfortable) on
synthetics, and have been replaced with boots specifically designed for
synthetic turf. Shin guards have improved padding. Many players have
taken to wearing padded gloves, particularly on their left hand, both to
protect against contact and allow them to scrape that hand (while
holding the stick) across the synthetic turf without injury. Finally, the
wearing of mouthguards to protect the teeth is now compulsory for safety
in many countries.
Rules[edit]
The rules of the game have widely changed. The main issues have been

To adapt the game to the new synthetic fields introduced in 1980s.

To enhance comprehension from non-players in order to
gain TV coverage

Some of these rules changes:

The FIH eliminated the offside rule (similar to offside in football) in

the mid-1990s in order to increase scoring opportunities.

Constant modifications of the penalty corner rules in order to

minimize its importance in the game and its readability.

Limitation of the bow of sticks in order to limit the increasing use

and power of drag flicks.

The Origins of the Game :

Hockey-like games involving sticks and balls have been played for
thousands of years. Historical records show that a crude form of hockey
was played in Egypt 4,000 years ago, and in Ethiopia around 1,000 BC.
Various museums offer evidence that a form of the game was played by
Romans, Greeks and by the Aztec Indians of South America several
centuries before Columbus landed in the New World.
The National Archaeological Museum in Athens holds a square marble
slab measuring 60 cm x 20 cm with four bas-reliefs of ancient sporting
events. One of these shows Athenian youths playing field hockey. These
bas-reliefs date back to 514 BC and show that a type of hockey was
being enjoyed in Greece at that time. This type of hockey, called
"" (Keritizin) in ancient Greece, was very popular. Called
such names as "paganica" by the Romans, "hurling" by the Irish and
"shinty" by the Scots, the name "hockie" seems to have been first
recorded in Ireland in 1527 and probably comes from the French word
"hoquet" meaning "shepherds crook".

Over the last 500 years, Soft Hockey has been played in Ancient
Countries under different names, especially in India and has been one of
the most popular sports in the villages where there is no proper
infrastructure to cope with field hockey. This sport is very popular in rural
areas and also with Urban School children. Earlier, villagers used to
make the hockey stick with bamboo. Soft balls were also made of
bamboo & homemade rubber and the reason it was so popular was that
the game required few players, either Men or Women, or both, with
minimum equipment and a small ground. The chances of injury were
less in comparison to other games. The game used to be played by
pushing the ball and not hitting it as this would lead to a longer period in
recovering the ball, which would probably go into the ponds or bushes.
The ploughable fields used to act as the playground and the border of

the fields acted as boundary. Thus, the game of Soft Hockey came into
being with SPEED, STAMINA and SKILL being the associated qualities.
Over the same period on other Continents, the sport has been refined
and developed into other separate sports like field hockey, shinty,
cricket, ice-hockey, la-crosse, croquet etc, but most historians place the
roots of modern hockey in the chilly climes of northern Europe,
specifically in Great Britain and France where field hockey was always a
popular summer sport.

Hockey in England in the 17th and 18th century consisted of whole

villages playing the game with the objective of hitting the ball into the
opposing villages' common ground. Teams often consisted of 60 to 100
players and games occasionally lasted several days or so with injuries
such as broken arms and legs not uncommon. Umpires could only
arbitrate a decision if called upon to do so by a player from one of the
teams. (a situation that sounds familiar even in these days and in 1527
hockey had been forbidden because of the violence among the
players!).

When ponds and lakes froze in winter, it was not unusual for the athletes
to play a version of it on ice. An ice game known as kolven was popular
in Holland in the 17th century and later on the game really took hold in
England. In his book, Fischler's Illustrated History of Hockey, veteran
hockey journalist and broadcaster Stan Fischler writes about a
rudimentary version of the sport becoming popular in the English
marshland community of Bury Fen in the 1820s. The game, he explains,
was called bandy, and the local players used to scramble around the
town's frozen meadowlands, swatting a wooden or cork ball, known as a
kit or cat, with wooden sticks made from the branches of local willow
trees. Articles in London newspapers around that time mention
increasing interest in the sport, which many observers believe got its
name from the French word hoquet, which means "shepherd's crook" or
"bent stick." A number of writers thought this game should be forbidden
because it was so disruptive to people out for a leisurely winter skate.

In 1852 the sports master of Harrow Public School advised his pupils
that, among other things, no more than thirty players per team were
allowed on the field at any one time. In those early days, team formation
consisted of having more forwards than defenders, a situation that
persisted up until the late 1800's.
The game that we know today emerged at Eton College in England in
the 1860s when the first rules were written down. Further rules were
written in 1875 when the first Hockey Association was formed. The game
was played on a field nearly 200 metres in length and all players chased
the ball for the whole of the game. London's Wimbledon Hockey Club
(organized 1883) standardized the game after the many centuries of
informal play in England and it thereafter spread to other countries,
particularly in Europe and the British empire. In 1886 the Teddington
Cricket Club effectively lead a movement which resulted in the British
Hockey Association being formed which included amongst its rules a
striking circle for hitting goals.
Changes in rules and play quickly developed from this beginning and by
1889 the pyramid system - five forwards, three halves, two backs and a
goalkeeper became the accepted method of playing hockey.
In 1890 the English, Irish and Welsh hockey associations formed the
International Rules Board and umpires were given power to make
decisions without waiting for players to appeal for a free hit - something
that a large number of players have yet to learn. The men of the United
States also started playing field hockey in 1890, with the Field Hockey
Association of America, which regulates men's play, being formed in
1930. However, the sport has little appeal to American males and they
only medalled once (bronze in 1932) in Olympic competition, which
India, Great Britain, and Pakistan have dominated. Rules for men and
women there are essentially the same as in Great Britain - see M. J.
Barnes and R. G. Kentwall, Field Hockey (2d ed. 1978). Hockey, or
"Field Hockey" as it is also known, is now played in every continent with
many nations competing in the three major competitions - The Olympic
Games, The World Cup and The Champion's Trophy.

The Rise of Professional Hockey: (the Fdration Internationale de

Hockey (F.I.H.))
Hockey was a strictly amateur affair until 1904, when the first
professional league was created - oddly enough in the United States.
Known as the International Pro Hockey League, it was based in the ironmining region of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. That folded in 1907 and an
even bigger league, the National Hockey Association (NHA) emerged
three years later. Shortly after that came the Pacific Coast League (PCL)
and in 1914, a transcontinental championship series was arranged
between the two, with the winner getting the coveted cup of Lord
Stanley. However, the men running the NHA decided to suspend
operations when World War I threw the entire hockey establishment into
disarray.

The first Olympic Hockey Competition was held in London in 1908 with
men's teams competing and with England, Ireland and Scotland
competing separately. Women's hockey was not included in the
Olympics until 1980. Hockey was played at the Commonwealth Games
for the first time in 1998.
After having made its first appearance in the 1908 Games, hockey was
subsequently dropped from the 1912 Stockholm Games, and
reappeared in 1920 in Antwerp before being omitted again in Paris in
1924. The Paris organisers refused to include hockey on the basis that
the sport had no International Federation.

Hockey had made its first steps toward an international federation when
in 1909 the Hockey Association in England and the Belgium Hockey
Association agreed to mutually recognise each other to regulate
international hockey relations. The French Association followed soon
after, but this was not considered sufficient for recognition as an
international federation!
Mr. Paul Lautey, a Frenchman who would become the first President of

the FIH, was motivated to action following hockey's omission from the
program of the 1924 Paris Games and hockey took its most important
step forward when the International Hockey Federation, the world
governing body for the sport, was founded in Paris in 1924 at his
initiative. Mr. Lautey called together representatives from seven
national federations to form the sport's international governing body, the
Fdration Internationale de Hockey sur Gazon. The six founding
members, which represented both men's and women's hockey in their
countries, were Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary,
Spain and Switzerland.
The women's game developed quickly in many countries and in 1927,
the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA)
was formed. The founding members were Australia, Denmark, England,
Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and Wales. After
celebrating their respective Golden Jubilees -- the FIH in 1974 and the
IFWHA in 1980 -- the two organisations came together in 1982 to form
the FIH.
The growth of the International Hockey Federation from its early
beginnings has been most impressive. Denmark joined in 1925, the
Dutch men in 1926, Turkey in 1927, and in 1928 -- the year of the
Amsterdam Olympics -- Germany, Poland, Portugal and India joined.
India's addition marked the membership of the first non-European
country.
By 1964, there were already fifty countries affiliated with the FIH, as well
as three continental associations -- Africa, Pan America and Asia -- and
in 1974, there were 71 members. Today, the International Hockey
Federation consists of five Continental associations -- Europe and
Oceania have since joined -- and 119 member associations, the most
recent addition being the Bahamas Hockey Association which was
admitted during the November 1996 FIH Congress.
Today, the work of the International Hockey Federation is accomplished
through the efforts of the FIH President, Secretary General and
Treasurer, working together with an Executive Board, the FIH Council, a

number of instrumental Committees, and the professional staff in its

Brussels headquarters.
In many ways, the FIH serves as the "guardian" of the sport. It works in
co-operation with both the national and continental organisations to
ensure consistency and unity in hockey around the world. The FIH not
only regulates the sport, but is also responsible for its development and
promotion so as to guarantee a secure future for hockey.

The Game - Clothing

It's remarkable how little equipment the hockey players of the past wore
and how rudimentary the gear they did have truly was. In the beginning,
skates consisted of blades that were attached to shoes, and sticks were
made from tree branches. The first goalie shin and knee pads had
originally been designed for cricket. The quality of the gear progressed
over the years, with true hockey skates being made and players wearing
protective gloves. Shin guards eventually came into being, but many
times they didn't do much to soften the blow of a puck or stick, and
players were known to stuff newspaper or magazines behind them for
extra protection.
For many years the blades on sticks were completely straight, but New
York Rangers star Andy Bathgate began experimenting with a curve in
the late 1950s. During a European tour of Ranger and Blackhawk
players, Bathgate showed his innovation to Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita,
and they began playing with one themselves. And it wasn't long before
most NHL players had done the same thing.
Amazingly, goalies played without masks until 1959, when Jacques
Plante wore face protection at a game in the old Madison Square
Garden after he had taken a puck in the cheekbone from Andy Bathgate.
Plante's coach, Toe Blake, pressured him to shed the mask later on, and
he did for a while. But he started wearing a mask again the following
spring, and other goaltenders eventually followed suit. But it wasn't until
1973 that an NHL netminder (journeyman Andy Brown) appeared in a
game without a mask for the last time.

It's also surprising to think that players didn't begin wearing helmets with
any sort of regularity until the early 1970s; prior to that the only people
who wore them did so mostly because they were recovering from a head
injury, or, as was the case of one former Chicago Blackhawk forward,
because they were embarrassed about being bald. The League passed
a rule prior to the start of the 1979-80 season decreeing that anyone
who came into the NHL from that point on had to wear a helmet. By the
early 1990s there were only a few players left who went bareheaded,
and the last one to do so was Craig MacTavish, who retired after the
1996-97 season.

The Game - Equipment

Hockey is predominantly played as a winter sport by two teams of eleven
players (ten roving players and a goalkeeper). The aim of hockey is to
score more goals than the other team and to do this players use their
hockey sticks to propel the ball toward the team's goal. Players may run
several kilometres in the course of the game. Hockey is essentially a
non-body contact game (which is sometimes difficult to believe!) and
rules restrict the amount of body contact and tackling that is permitted.
The hockey field or pitch is a rectangular field 60 yards wide and 100
yards long (54.90m by 91.50m).
Hockey games are played in two 35 minute halves with a five to ten
minute break at half time. Two umpires control the game (one on each
side of the field) and to score a goal you must shoot from within the
circle (actually a semi circle) and the ball must pass wholly across the
goal line.
The hockey stick is approximately one yard long with a curved end, is
flat on one side and rounded on the other. The stick is made from
hardwood (metals are forbidden) and usually has a laminated handle.
Fibreglass is now widely used as a binding agent in the wooden stick.
Hockey sticks may have different weights, curves and lengths but there
is a maximum weight of 28 ounces and the stick must fit through a 2"
diameter ring

The ball can only be played with the flat side and edges of the stick, but
there are many situations when it is necessary to turn the stick over with
the end pointing downwards in the "reverse stick" position. There are no
left-handed hockey sticks, but hockey players who are natural lefthanders can still be very successful players.
The ball is the same size and weight as a cricket ball and is covered by a
thin shell of dimpled plastic to keep it waterproof. Although white is the
traditional colour, other colours may be used - bright orange is often
used on sand filled artificial turf fields.
Field players usually wear only shin pads and mouth guards for
protection, but goal keepers wear a considerable amount of protective
clothing including chest, arm & throat protectors, gloves, leg pads and
kicking boots, helmets, etc.
The rules and equipment for both men and women are the same - see
FIH rules.

1. HOCKEY
Hockey Home | History | About hockey | Field of
Play | Players | Umpire | Scoring | Personalities

History

Hockey became popular in India when the British Regiments played the
game in India and introduced it in the British Indian Regiments who
quickly picked up the game. The first hockey club was formed in
Calcutta in 1885-86 followed by Bombay and Punjab. Read more

About Hockey

The game is played between two teams. Each team consists

of 11 players including the goal keeper. In the beginning, the
captains of both the teams toss for the choice of ends or
doing pass. more..
3.
Field

The hockey playground is rectangular in shape. It is 100 yards long and

60 yards wide.. more

Scoring

When a ball has passed completely and according to the rules over the
goal-lines, between the goal posts and under the cross bars, a goal is
scored.more.
Players

A player who has been substituted may re-enter the field of play as a
substitute for another player. more...

Umpires

There will be two umpires to control the game and to administer the

rules. These umpires will be the sole judges of the game. more

Personalities

Personalities who made great contribution in enhancing prestige of

Indian Hockey in the eyes of the world..