Field Hockey
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| Highest governing body | International Hockey Federation |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | Hockey |
| First played | 19th century, England |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Limited |
| Team members | 11 field players |
| Type | outdoor and indoor |
| Equipment | Hockey ball, hockey stick, mouthguard, shinguards |
| Presence | |
| Olympic | 1908, 1920, 1928–present |
Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The earliest origins of the sport date back to the Middle Ages in England, Scotland, France and the Netherlands. The game can be played on a grass field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players, including the goalie. Players use sticks made out of wood, carbon fibre, fibre glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities (with the higher carbon fibre stick being more expensive and less likely to break) to hit a round, hard, plastic ball. The length of the stick depends on the player's individual height. Only one end of the stick is allowed to be used. Goalies often have a different kind of stick, however they can also use an ordinary field hockey stick. The specific goal-keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick, this is to give them more surface area to save the ball. The uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts, a mouth guard and a jersey. Today, the game is played globally, with particular popularity throughout Western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and parts of the United States (primarily New England and the Mid-Atlantic states). Field Hockey is the national sport of India and Pakistan. The term "field hockey" is used primarily in Canada and the United States where ice hockey is more popular. In Sweden the term "landhockey" is used. To some degree also in Norway. It is a section of Norway's Bandy Association. Until recently they called it "hockey", when it was changed to "landhockey".
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), while field players play the ball with the flat side of their stick. Goal keepers also cannot play the ball with the back of their stick. Whoever scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout, depending on the competition's format. There are many variations to overtime play that depend on the league and tournament play. In college play, a seven-aside overtime period consists of a 10-minute golden goal period with seven players for each team. If a tie still remains, the game enters a one-on-one competition where each team chooses 5 players to dribble from the 25 yard line down to the circle against the opposing goalie. The player has 8 seconds to score on the goalie keeping it in bounds. The play ends after a goal is scored, the ball goes out of bounds, a foul is committed (ending in either a penalty stroke or flick or the end of the one on one) or time expires. If the tie still persists extra rounds thereafter until one team has scored.
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