Hockey

Hockey or Field Hockey as it is known in some parts of the world, is a stick and ball game with origins dating back thousands of years. It is traditionally played on grass, but more often these days - especially at the top levels and in certain countries - hockey is played on synthetic surfaces. Hockey is the national game of India and Pakistan.

The Field: A grass or synthetic pitch, rectangular, with a length of 100 yards (91.4 m) and a width of 60 yards (55 m), Flag posts of between 4 and 5 ft high (1.2-1.5 m) are placed at each 25 yards line (22.9 m), 1 yard outside the sidelines and at each corner of the field.

Teams: There are 11 players on the pitch although each team can have up to five substitutes waiting on the side-line. Players on and off the pitch substitute virtually at any time and can go on and off the pitch any number of times.

Player positions: As already mentioned, every team must have a goalkeeper - although, very occasionally, a team will play only with field players perhaps so they can put more players into attack. The 10 players other than the goalkeeper are referred to as 'field players', and are dispersed over the field of play. The field players can be put into three general categories - attackers, midfielders and defenders. While no player (other than the goalkeeper) has an exclusively defined role, the attackers are generally on attack, the defenders are generally on defense, and the midfielders do a bit of both!

Duration of a match: A regulation length hockey match lasts 70 minutes - which is broken into two halves of 35 minutes each with an interval of between 5 and 10 minutes.
The team with the most goals at the end of the 70 minutes is the winner. It is also possible for a match to end in a draw (or tie). But in some matches - such as during the Hockey World Cup or Olympics, or in a championship game - there must be a winner. In those cases, a match which is tied at the end of regulation time, then goes into extra time (the first team to score in extra time wins), and if necessary, to a penalty stroke competition.

Stick handling: An essential skill necessary for playing hockey is the ability to control, pass, push, stop and shoot the ball with your hockey stick. This is known as stick work, or stick handling and keeping the ball under close control is called dribbling. It is both beautiful and impressive to watch a player with good stick handling skills control the ball while sprinting the length of the field, or weave through the sticks and legs of defenders to create a chance for shooting at the goal.
It is important to know that the head of a hockey stick has a rounded side (the right-hand side) and a flat side (the left-hand side). It is only with the flat, left-hand, side of the stick and the edges of that side which can be used to play the ball.

Scoring: Scoring a goal in hockey is very interesting. There are only certain ways it can be done: from a Field Goal, from a Penalty Corner, and from a Penalty Stroke.

Field Goals: A field goal is a goal scored from open, continuous play. Field goals may only be scored from the 'shooting circle', a roughly semi-circular area in front of the opponents' goal. If an attacker hits the ball from outside the 'shooting circle' and it goes directly into the goal or is only touched by a defender on the way, it does not count as a score.

Penalty Corners: Offensive free hit from the endline, 10 yards from the goal, usually following a foul inside the striking circle. Offensive players must be outside the striking circle until the ball is hit, and the offense must control the ball before it can shoot. The defense is allowed five players behind the end line; all other defenders must be behind the center line. A penalty corner ends when the defense takes possession of the ball, the ball crosses over the 5-yard mark outside the striking circle, or the ball exits the striking circle twice. Also called "short corner."

Penalty Strokes: Free one-on-one shot from the penalty stroke line awarded when a foul prevents a likely goal. The goalie must remain behind the goal line until the ball is hit.

Free Hits: Awarded after most penalties. Defenders must stand five yards from the ball until it is played.

Undercutting: Penalty for a hard swing of the stick under the ball to raise it into the air.

Umpires: Each match is controlled by two umpires – they are called umpires in hockey but have the same sort of job as referees in many other sports. Basically, each umpire controls half of the pitch although they work cooperatively in the middle part of the pitch. For bad or repeated offences by players, an umpire can show them a card. A green card is a warning – essentially telling a player not to do that again! A yellow card means the player is suspended from the game for a minimum of 5 minutes or whatever time the umpire decides depending on the nature of the offence. A red card is for a very serious offence and means the player is suspended for the remainder of the match. If a player is suspended temporarily or permanently, their team plays with fewer players.