Indoor field hockey
| Highest governing body | International Hockey Federation |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | Hockey |
| First played | 1950 |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Yes |
| Type | Indoor |
| Equipment | Indoor Field Hockey ball, Indoor Field Hockey Stick, mouthguard, shinpads |
Indoor field hockey, or indoor hockey, is an indoor variant of "traditional" outdoor field hockey. It is not to be confused with indoor roller hockey variants such as rink hockey, inline hockey or floorball.
It is traditionally and mainly played as a pastime by outdoor field hockey players during the off-season, when the outdoor pitches are frozen, or alternatively when conditions are too hot for outdoor play. Indoor field hockey is played in regular national and international championships. The first Indoor Field Hockey World Cup was organized in 2003. It included countries which do not compete at the highest level of the outdoor game.
Indoor field hockey differs from its outdoor parent in several ways:
The small field and sideboards make indoor field hockey a quick, technical and physical game. Some of the original rules eventually influenced outdoor hockey, such as unrestricted substitution. It is often an ideal game for field hockey players to develop vision on and off the ball, developing a better understanding of tactics and set plays.
Indoor hockey developed in Germany during the 1950s, quickly spreading to other European nations. Belgium was one of the countries to adopt the field hockey variant, and in 1966 René Frank, a native of Belgium, who was later to become President of the FIH, persuaded the German Hockey Associations to give responsibility over the rules of Indoor Hockey to the FIH. This led to the FIH recognising indoor hockey in its constitution in 1968.
Whereas in many countries field hockey is played all year long, in Germany and Austria the hockey season is divided evenly into a field hockey half in summer and an indoor hockey season in Winter. There has been criticism that this impairs these countries' chances in international field hockey competition, but on the other hand the north European climate favours indoor hockey in Winter, as outdoor pitches may be unplayable due to snow and ice. In Germany's case one could argue that it complements and enhances skills of their players with the German Women winning gold in Athens Olympics and German Men winning the 2006 Field Hockey World Cup, the 2007 indoor hockey world cup and gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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