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Field Hockey

Field hockey is a popular competitive team sport played all around the world, belonging to the hockey sport family. Players use a stick with a curved end to hit a ball into a net to score a goal.

The game is played on a field that is 90m long and 55m wide. Teams are composed of 11 players including one goalkeeper. The duration of the game consists of 2 x 35 minute halves, with a 10 minute break, plus stoppages.

Players use sticks made of wood or fiber glass to hit a round, hard and rubber like ball. The length of the stick is usually according to the height of the player. Moreover, there are also no left hand sticks in this sport, only one side of the stick is allowed to use to hit the ball.

hockey is a high intensity sport

Goal keepers are the only players who have the permission to touch the ball with any part of their body. The team that scores the most goals at the end of 70 minutes of play wins. If the scores are tied, winner is decided by giving extra time or by penalty shoot-outs.

The uniform includes cleats, shorts, jersey and shin-guards.

The competitive season of hockey is usually played during the winter months. International competition runs all year round. Tournaments include many games over a short period of time, requiring travel and often a grueling schedule. The international hockey tournament schedule includes the following major events; Olympic Games, World Cup, Champions Trophy and Champions Challenge I and II, and Commonwealth Games.

Variants of Field Hockey

• Indoor Field Hockey — indoor team sport that was derived from field hockey.
• Hockey Fives — a shorter and faster variant of field hockey played on a smaller field with fewer players.

Other (non-ice) Hockey Sports

• Ball Hockey — very similar to ice hockey, though played on foot and on a non-ice surface.
• Roller Hockey — description of the umbrella sport name which includes rink and inline hockey.
• Rink Hockey — roller hockey played on quad skates.
• Unicycle Hockey — a team sport, similar to roller or inline hockey, though all competitors are riding a unicycle and using a tennis ball and ice-hockey sticks.
• Inline Hockey — players move around on a wooden or concrete surface wearing inline skates
• Floor Hockey — indoor (non-ice) hockey sports derived from field and ice hockey.
• Floorball — a version of floor hockey.
• Beikou Tarkbei (also called Daur Hockey) - a team sport unique to the Daur ethnic group in Inner Mongolia, that has a lot of similarities to field hockey.
• Air Hockey — played on an air-hockey table, participants try to hit a puck elevated on a cushion of air into the opponent's goal.
• Rossall Hockey — a unique form of hockey that is played only at Rossall School in England (on unusual sports list).

Related Pages

• About Hockey Sports
• Ice Hockey — a contact sport that is played on ice while wearing skates and using a stick to hit a puck into a goal.
• Field Hockey at the Olympics
• History of Field Hockey
• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports

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