Hockey is a term used to denote a variety of both summer and winter team sports that take place either on an outdoor field, ice sheet, or dry floor such as a gymnasium. There are many types of hockey. Some games use skates, either with wheels, or blades while others do not. To help distinguish between these different sports, the word “hockey” is often preceded by another word such as “field hockey”, “ice hockey”, “roller hockey”, “rink hockey”, or “floor hockey”. History of Hockey.
In most of the world, the term hockey itself refers to field hockey, while in Canada, the United States, Russia, and most of Eastern and Northern Europe, the term usually refers to ice hockey.
Main History
The word “hockey” has been used to refer either to the summer sport of field hockey, a stick-and-ball sport, or to the winter ice team skating sports of bandy and ice hockey. This is due to the fact that field hockey and other stick-and-ball sports and related sports are played before those that are eventually played on ice with ice skates, i.e. bandy and ice hockey as well as dry ice. Sports involving the floor such as roller hockey and floor hockey.
However, what “hockey” refers to in common parlance often depends on the locale, geography, and the size and popularity of the sport involved. For example, in Europe, “hockey” usually refers to field hockey, while in Canada, it usually refers to ice hockey. In the case of bandy, the sport was initially called “hockey on ice” and predated the organization and development of ice hockey, but was officially changed to “bandy” in the early 20th century.
Field Hockey
Field hockey is played on gravel, natural grass, or sand-based or water-based artificial turf, with a small, hard ball about 73 mm (2.9 in) in diameter. The sport is popular among both men and women in many parts of the world, especially in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina. In most countries, the game is play between single-sex teams.
The governing body is the 126-member International Hockey Federation (FIH). Men’s field hockey has been play at every Summer Olympic Games since 1908 except 1912 and 1924, while women’s field hockey has been play at the Summer Olympic Games since 1980.
Modern Field Hockey
Modern field hockey sticks are made of a composite of wood, fiberglass, or carbon fiber (sometimes both) and are J-shaped, with a curve hook at the end of the stick, a flat surface on the playing side, and a curve back. There is a level. All sticks on the side are right-handed – no left-handed sticks are allow.
While field hockey in its current form appeared in England in the mid-18th century, primarily in schools, it did not become firmly established until the first half of the 19th century. The first club was form in 1849 in Blackheath in South East London. Field hockey is the national sport of Pakistan. It was the national sport of India until the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced in August 2012 that India does not have a national sport.
Ice Hockey
Ice hockey is play between two teams of skaters on a large flat area of ice, using a three-inch diameter (76.2 mm) vulcanized rubber disc call a puck. The puck is often frozen before high-level games to reduce the amount of friction and bounce on the ice. The game is play to varying degrees throughout North America, Europe, and many other countries around the world. It is the most popular game in Canada, Finland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Ice hockey is the national sport of Latvia and the national winter sport of Canada. Ice hockey is play at many levels for all ages.
The governing body of the international game is the 77-member International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Men’s ice hockey has been play at the Winter Olympics since 1924 and was at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Women’s ice hockey was add to the Winter Olympics in 1998. The National Hockey League (NHL) of North America is the strongest professional ice hockey league, featuring the top ice hockey players from around the world. NHL rules are slightly different than many categories used in Olympic ice hockey. The rules of international ice hockey were adopt from Canadian rules in the early 1900s. History of Hockey.
Famous Hockey
It was play outdoors on ice under the name “hockey” in England during the 19th century. And under various names before that. In Canada, there are 24 reports of hockey-like sports in the 19th century before 1875. The first organized and recorded game of ice hockey was play indoors in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on March 3, 1875. And was attend by several students from McGill University.
Ice hockey sticks are long L-shaped sticks made of wood, graphite, or composite with a blade on the bottom that can lie flat on the playing surface when the stick is held upright and is legal from either the left or right side. History of Hockey.
Inline Hockey
Although inline hockey is consider a variant of roller hockey, aka “rink hockey”. It is instead derived from ice hockey and uses a type of hockey puck or ball. Both roller games use a type of wheeled skate. But inline hockey uses inline skates instead of roller skates or “quads”.
The puck-based inline variant is more commonly play in North America than in Europe. While the ball-based variant is more popular in Europe. History of Hockey.
The inline hockey puck variant is play by two teams, consisting of four skaters. And a goalie, on a dry rink divided into two halves by a center line, with a net at each end of the rink. The game is play in three 15-minute periods with a variation of the ice hockey offside rule. Icings are also call but usually referred to as illegal clearing. The governing body is the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) as it is for ice hockey. But some leagues and competitions do not follow IIHF regulations, notably USA Inline and Canada Inline. For more details click here