Ball Hockey

Ball Hockey

Ball hockey game between USA (Blue) and Slovakia (WHITE) at 2011 World Ball Hockey Championship.
Highest governing body	International Street and Ball Hockey Federation (International) American Street Hockey Institute (United States) Canadian Ball Hockey Association (Canada)
Nicknames	Street Hockey, US = dek hockey, some places in Canada call it "road" hockey
Characteristics
Type	Both indoor and outdoor
Equipment	Required = A ball, a hockey stick, a net. Optional in pickup but mandatory in leagues= shin pads, gloves. Optional everywhere for adults, mandatory for kids in leagues = helmet.

Ball hockey is a team sport and a variation of the sport of ice hockey and a specific variation of the game of street hockey.

Ball hockey is patterned after and closely related to ice hockey, except the game is played on foot on a non-ice surface, player equipment is different, and a ball is used instead of a hockey puck. The object of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting the ball into the opposing team's net.

Teams consist of five runners and one goaltender. The five runners are broken down into positions of three forwards and two defenseman, right and left. The forwards are further described by position name: Left Wing, Right Wing, and Center. These positions are the same as in ice hockey. Tournament Ball Hockey rules are numerous and too long to list in this article. A list of the official ball hockey tournament rules of the I.S.B.H.F. can be found online. For general information sake, Ball Hockey rules typically stipulate the following basics, meaning if you are playing under these rules, then you are playing Ball Hockey:

The ball used is a specially designed ball for ball hockey and street hockey. The International Street and Ball Hockey Federation, the worldwide governing body of official street hockey tournaments and leagues, officially recognizes two types of ball for play: a hard (Pro) version for adult warm climate play and a soft version for non-summer play and younger youth age groups. At the highest levels of ball hockey, teams use a hard, orange, small, round, and smooth orange/reddish ball 3 inches in diameter. This allows for players to make the ball curve by over/under exaggerating a windup and follow through on their shots. Several ball manufacturers now market the balls with the temperature range the ball was designed for on the packaging itself. Although there is no certified industry standard for the balls since no street hockey standards organization exists, all hockey ball manufacturers sell their balls according to the following temperature range: red/orange = hot/warm above 60 degrees (15 C), pink = cool - between 40-60 degrees (4.5-15 C)yellow = cold - below 40 degrees (4.5 C)

In most non-international tournaments, the following equipment requirements are instituted for the runners:

NOTE: Specific helmets, shin guards, and gloves for the sport of ball hockey have been developed and are manufactured and sold to ball hockey players, but it is not mandatory for players to wear these for all tournaments.

The following equipment requirements are instituted for goaltenders: