History of field hockey
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Field hockey is a popular game possibly depicted on walls in Egypt. Drawings of what looks to be hockey have been found in an Egyptian tomb that was 4000 years old. Hockey is a popular game in India and Pakistan. It was played for hundreds of years before other countries like England modernised it. Hockey is similar to an ancient game played in Scotland called shinty. Hockey is often played at schools in the UK but its origins are unclear. Later came ice hockey, which developed in Canada.
Games similar to hockey outside the Mediterranean World
In
, a town near where it was played.) In Punjab, there is a traditional hockey-like game known as khido khundi, roughly translating to "ball and blunt stick".[citation needed]Modern hockey
A game called hockey was played in English
They rejected a form of the game that involved a 7 oz (200 g) rubber cube, catching, marking and scrimmaging, based on rugby football, at the time favoured by the Blackheath club. The Teddington club chose to limit the number per side to eleven, and preferred to play with old cricket balls. They also introduced the idea of the striking circle ('the dee' or 'D'), and they played several games in Bushy Park, in the winter of 1871. Clubs were also set up in Richmond and Surbiton in 1874, and inter-club matches were played between them and Teddington. The game grew sporadically, as the clubs did not always agree on the rules!
In the late 19th century, largely due to the British Army, the game spread throughout the British Empire, leading to the first international competition in 1895 (Ireland 3, Wales 0). The International Rules Board was founded in 1895, and hockey first appeared at the Olympic Games as a men's competition at 1908 Olympic Games in London, with only three teams: England, Ireland and Scotland. Men's hockey became a permanent fixture at the Olympics at the 1928 Olympic Games, at Amsterdam.
The first step towards an international structuring occurred in 1909, when England and
The game had been taken to
Women's hockey
Women's hockey developed separately from men's hockey. Women do not seem to have played hockey widely before the modern era. Women's hockey was first played at British Universities and schools, and the first club,
By the early 1970s there were 22 associations with women's sections in the FIH and 36 associations in the IFWHA. Discussions were started about a common rule book. The FIH introduced competitive tournaments in 1974, forcing the acceptance of the principle of competitive hockey by the IFWHA in 1973. It took until 1982 for the two bodies to merge, but this allowed the introduction of women's hockey to the 1980 Olympic Games, where, as in the men's game, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands have been consistently strong.
The synthetic revolution
In the early 1970s, the "synthetic grass" fields began to be used for hockey, with the first Olympic Games on this surface being held at the 1976 Montreal edition.
Synthetic pitches are now mandatory for all international tournaments and most national competitions. While hockey is still played on grass fields at some local levels and lesser national divisions, it has been replaced by synthetic turf almost everywhere in the western world.
The introduction of artificial surfaces has changed the game. To take into account the specificities of this surface, new tactics and new techniques (such as the Indian dribble) have been developed and new rules have been introduced to control these new techniques.
Regarding the evolution of the hockey player material, the sticks have changed shape, with the bent head at the bottom, which used to be about 15 centimetres long, becoming much stubbier. The extra length was no longer necessary, as the ball travelled much straighter on the flatter synthetic fields. The shorter length made playing the ball with the "backhand" (playing with the head of the stick to the player's left, with the head rotated 180 degrees from its usual position) much easier, increasing the speed with which this tactic, often used for evasive manoeuvres, could be used. It also makes trapping the ball by placing the entire stick on the ground, with the point of the head resting on the ground to the player's left, possible, and this stopping technique is now universal for trapping the ball at penalty corners. The sticks have also tended to become stiffer as to hit the ball harder.
The goalkeeper equipment has followed the same trend, becoming more and more able to resist to strength of the balls hit by these new generation sticks. Helmets have become compulsory, padding is thicker and of more shock-absorbing (and reflecting) foam material and more areas of the body are padded. The new equipment is very expensive and is often a considerable burden for clubs or individual goalkeepers to purchase. The composition of the hockey ball has also changed, from a leather ball with a seam similar to a cricket ball, to a seamless, usually dimpled hard plastic ball. These plastic balls are cheaper, more durable, more consistent in their behaviour, and are unaffected by water; a key requirement in water-moderated synthetic fields used in elite-level hockey.
Ancillary player equipment has also changed. The studded boots for grass fields are banned (and were in any case very uncomfortable) on synthetics, and have been replaced with boots specifically designed for synthetic turf. Shin guards have improved padding. Many players have taken to wearing padded gloves, particularly on their left hand, both to protect against contact and allow them to scrape that hand (while holding the stick) across the synthetic turf without injury. Finally, the wearing of mouthguards to protect the teeth is now compulsory for safety in many countries.
Rules
The rules of the game have widely changed. The main issues have been
- To adapt the game to the new synthetic fields introduced in the 1980s.
- To enhance comprehension from non-players to gain TVcoverage
Some of these rules changes:
- The FIH eliminated the offside rule (similar to offside in football) in the mid-1990s to increase scoring opportunities.
- Constant modifications of the penalty cornerrules to minimize its importance in the game and its readability.
- Limitation of the bow of sticks to limit the increasing use and power of drag flicks.
Footnotes
- New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). trails.heritage.wa.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
- Field Hockey Stick History - Field Hockey Stick History