Field hockey

Field hockey, or simply hockey, is a team sport of the hockey family. The earliest origins of the sport date back to the Middle Ages in England, Scotland 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 or fiber glass to hit a round, hard, rubber like ball. The length of the stick depends on the player's individual height.There are no left hand sticks in field hockey, and only one side of the stick is allowed to be used. The uniform consists of shin-guards, cleats, skirts or shorts, and a jersey. At the turn of the 21st century, the game is played globally, with particular popularity throughout western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and Australasia as well as the American South and Northeast (such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania) as well as Southern Africa. Hockey is the national sport of Pakistan, and is sometimes assumed to be India's national sport as well, although officially India does not have a national sport. The term "field hockey" is used primarily in Canada and the United States where ice hockey is more popular.
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'), with this only applying within the shooting circle (also known as the D, or shooting arc, or just the circle), while field players play the ball with the flat side of their stick. The team that 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 and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the competition's format.
The governing body of hockey is the International Hockey Federation (IHF), 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 organizing the Hockey Rules Board and developing the rules for the sport.
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 utilizing pushes to transfer the ball), and the sidelines are replaced with solid barriers which the ball will rebound off.


(credit:Wikipedia)