Hockey Facts

• In outdoor field hockey there are eleven players on the field, 10 players plus a goalkeeper, much like soccer
• In indoor field hockey there are 5 players on the field (court), 4 players plus a goal keeper
• Players can be substituted as many times and at any time, including when the ball is in play
• All field hockey sticks are right handed
• Referee is called an Umpire – and there are usually two on the field/court
• Players can use only the flat side of their stick – but can use most of the flat side, not just the hooked area, as long as the ball does not touch their hands
• When you block somebody from getting to the ball, whether intentional or not, it is a foul – called OBSTRUCTION
• If the ball goes in the net from outside of the 16 yard semi-circle around the goal, the goal does not count
• There is no “off-side” rule
• There are 3 main ways to hit the ball according to the rules:

 Sweep hit – get down low and sweep your stick along the ground
Push pass – push the ball to a teammate
Drive – a powerful hit designed to drive the ball, with speed and power, down the field  (outdoor only)

• “Modern Day” field hockey was first played in Scotland in the 1700s
• Field Hockey was originally called Shinty
• Outdoor field hockey can be played on grass, multi-sport turf, or water based turf
• To be considered as an International recognized match a game must be played on FIH approved turf
• There is at present ONE water based turf in Ontario – in Brampton at Cassie Campbell Community Centre
• There are TWO more water-based turfs under construction at the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto – and they are part of the infrastructure for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games
• Field hockey sends more athletes to college proportionately than any other sport
• At the 2012 London Olympics, field hockey was the 3rd most spectated sport
• Men’s field hockey has the fastest swing speed of any sport, including golf and baseball
• Field hockey is known as HOCKEY everywhere but North America
• Players travel more than 5 miles during the course of a field hockey match
• Field hockey is the national sport of Holland
• The British helped spread field hockey throughout the British Empire, which explains it’s popularity in India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand
• Field hockey is one of the oldest competitive sports which is recorded way back in Ancient Greek Olympic Games
• Field hockey is played by men and women in over 100 countries on 5 continents by over 3,000,000 people around the world
• In outdoor field hockey there are two 35 minute halves
• The winning men’s and women’s teams in the 2015 PanAm Games will qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Field hockey used to be a contact sport
• Field hockey is a highly technical sport
• There are three different ways to score – field goal, penalty corner, penalty stroke
• The National Outdoor teams are comprised predominantly of athletes from BC where field hockey is introduced in middle schools
• The National Indoor teams are comprised predominantly of athletes from Ontario
• A generation ago, before BC built more water based turfs and before the introduction of field hockey in schools, there was a more equal representation of Ontario athletes, versus  BC athletes on the National team
• Field hockey is among the 3 most popular sports in the world along with soccer and cricket
• Field hockey is played in 10 Canadian Universities and in 8 provinces
• Field hockey is played in 264 NCAA colleges and universities
• There are over 1000 scholarships available each year for field hockey athletes in Division I and Division II NCAA Colleges and Universities
• Field hockey has its own World Cup and is played in international multisport games like the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and PanAm Games

• 'Blackheath Rughy and Hockey Club' is the first hockey club in the world which was set up in the year 1861 in England.


• London ws the first city in England to popularize this game in the 1870s.

• In the year 1886, Hockey Association of England was formed in London.

• the apex institution of hockey is 'Federation Internationale de Hockey', which was established on January 7, 1924, with headquarters at Vienna (Austria), which was later shifted to Paris (France). The first International Hockey Match was played between Wales and Ireland in Rayle on June 26, 1895.

• Hockey was introduced in the Olympic Games for the first time in 1908 in London.

• Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was formed on the 7th November, 1925 at Gwalior.

• Since 1944, National Hockey Championship is organised by the IHF every year.

• All India Women's Hockey Federation was formed in 1947.

• India took that part in Olympics for the first time in 1928 (in Amsterdam Olympics)

• In Olympics, India has won the hockey title a maximum of 8 times. The first World Cup Hockey was played in Barcelona in 1971.

(credit::acfieldhockeyacademy