Hockey, The sport that you run around with sticks and hit a small ball. But what is hockey?

Hockey is a team game played between two teams of eleven players each. Using hooked sticks the players try to drive a small hard ball towards goals at opposite ends of a field. There is also ice hockey, but normal hockey is often called field hockey to distinguish it from ice hockey.

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Black Sticks Mens
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. .

The uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts, a mouth guard and a T shirt. 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.

Heres a quick video to get you up to speed.

Which countries play hockey

The game of field hockey is played widely across the world. Field hockey is, in fact, the second largest team sport in the world played in over 100 countries. In Canada it is a popular family orientated sport, played mainly in clubs by both men and women. The game is also played in many schools and offers a lifetime of both sporting and social opportunities for players, officials and administrators alike.

In British Columbia, field hockey is played by over 8,000 athletes and assisted by numerous volunteers, making BC the most active field hockey province in Canada. Both the men’s and women’s National teams and the men’s and women’s National coaches are based in British Columbia. The National team training base is in Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia is proud that currently over 50% of the Men’s and Women’s National team players hail from BC.

Playing surfaces

Despite the name “field” hockey, the game has recently developed (since the mid 1980’s) from a grass pitch based sport into a sport played on artificial surfaces. In BC, the outdoor game is played on both grass and artificial surfaces. Not merely an outdoor sport, field hockey is also played as an indoor sport (six aside) on gymnasium floors that allow for an even faster game.

The transition onto artificial pitches came during the 1970s and was made mandatory for major competitions in 1976. All the lines, markings and goal specifications are outlined by the International Hockey Federation in "The Rules of Hockey".

The hockey pitch is rectangular in shape. The longer perimeter edges are called the side line, the opposing shorter edges are referred toe back line and the portion of this between the goal posts is known as the goal line. The side line must measure 91.40 m (100 yd) and the back line should measure 55.00 m (60 yd). There must be a minimum run-off of 2 m at the sidelines and 3 m at the backlines which may be a different surface for the final metre. All line markings must be white and 75 millimetres wide.

Goals

Goals consist of two upright posts placed equidistant from the centre of the backline, joined at the top by a horizontal crossbar. The inner edges of the posts must be 3.66 metres (4 yd) apart, and the lower edge of the crossbar must be 2.14 metres (7 ft) above the ground. The goalposts and crossbar must be white and rectangular in shape with width 50 millimetres (2 in) and a depth of 50 to 75 millimetres (2 to 3 in).

The goal must be at least 1.20 m deep at ground level and at least 0.90 m deep at crossbar level. The goal area must be delimited at ground level by a goal backboard and two sideboards of height 460 millimetres (18 in). Affixed to these boards, the posts and crossbar is a net to stop the ball.

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