Field Hockey

Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The earliest origins of the game date back to the Middle Ages in England, Scotland, France and the Netherlands. The game can be played on a grass field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players, including the goalie. Players use sticks made out of wood, carbon fibre, fibre glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities (with the higher carbon fibre stick being more expensive and less likely to break) to hit a round, hard, plastic ball. The length of the stick depends on the player's individual height. Only one end of the stick is allowed to be used. Goalies often have a different kind of stick, however they can also use an ordinary field hockey stick. The specific goal-keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick, this is to give them more surface area to save the ball. The uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts, a mouth guard and a jersey. Today, the game is played globally, with particular popularity throughout Western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and parts of the United States (primarily New England and the Mid-Atlantic states). Field Hockey is the national game of India and Pakistan. The term "field hockey" is used primarily in Canada and the United States where ice hockey is more popular. In Sweden the term "landhockey" is used and to some degree also in Norway. It is a section of Norway's Bandy Association. Until recently they called it "hockey", when it was changed to "landhockey".

During play, goal keepers are the only players who are allowed to touch the ball with any part of their body (the player's hand is considered 'part of the stick' if on the stick), while field players play the ball with the flat side of their stick. Goal keepers also cannot play the ball with the back of their stick. Whoever scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout, depending on the competition's format. There are many variations to overtime play that depend on the league and tournament play. In college play, a seven-aside overtime period consists of a 10-minute golden goal period with seven players for each team. If a tie still remains, the game enters a one-on-one competition where each team chooses 5 players to dribble from the 25 yard line down to the circle against the opposing goalie. The player has 8 seconds to score on the goalie keeping it in bounds. The play ends after a goal is scored, the ball goes out of bounds, a foul is committed (ending in either a penalty stroke or flick or the end of the one on one) or time expires. If the tie still persists extra rounds thereafter until one team has scored.

The governing body of hockey is the International Hockey Federation (FIH, in French), with men and women being represented internationally in competitions including the Olympic Games, World Cup, World League, Champions Trophy and Junior World Cup, with many countries running extensive junior, senior, and masters club competitions. The FIH is also responsible for organising the Hockey Rules Board and developing the rules for the game.

A popular variant of field hockey is indoor field hockey, which differs in a number of respects while embodying the primary principles of hockey. Indoor hockey is a 5-a-side variant, with a field which is reduced to approximately 40 m × 20 m (131 ft × 66 ft). With many of the rules remaining the same, including obstruction and feet, there are several key variations: Players may not raise the ball unless shooting on goal, players may not hit the ball (instead using pushes to transfer the ball), and the sidelines are replaced with solid barriers which the ball will rebound off.

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  SPORTS WORLD

  Field Hockey

  Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The game can be played on a grass field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players, including the goalie. Players use sticks to hit a round, hard, plastic ball. The teams' object is to play the ball into their attacking circle and from there, hit, push or flick the ball into the goal, scoring a goal.

  History: There is a depiction of a hockey-like game in Ancient Greece, dating to c. 510 BC. Researchers disagree over how to interpret this image.

  Field of Play: The pitch is a 91.4 m × 55 m (100.0 yd × 60.1 yd) rectangular field. At each end is a goal 2.14 m (7 ft) high and 3.66 m (12 ft) wide, as well as lines across the field 22.90 m (25 yd) from each end-line (generally referred to as the 23-metre lines or the 25-yard lines) and in the center of the field.

  Equipment: Each player carries a "stick" that normally measures between 80–95 cm (31–38"); shorter or longer sticks are available. Sticks were traditionally made of wood, but are now often made also with fibreglass, kevlar or carbon fibre composites.

  Gameplay: The game is played between two teams of whom eleven are permitted to be on the pitch at any one time. The remaining players may be substituted in any combination.

  Dangerous Played Balls: A ball that has been lifted high so that it will fall among close opponents may be deemed to be potentially dangerous and play may be stopped for that reason.

  Warnings and Suspensions: When shown a green card, the player may have to leave the field for two minutes, depending on national regulations, though at international standards the player has to leave the field for two minutes, but any further infractions will result in a yellow or red card.

  Tactics: Every player has a role depending on their relationship to the ball if the team communicates throughout the play of the game.

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Field Hockey", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.