Hockey

Hockey, or Field Hockey as it is also known, is a stick and ball game that has been played for thousands of years. It is traditionally played on grass, but now hockey is also played indoors.

In hockey, two teams of 11 players compete against each other using their 'hooked' sticks to hit, push, pass and dribble a small, hard, usually white, ball, with one aim in mind - to score by getting the ball into the opponents' goal. To do that, they have to get the ball past the other team's goalkeeper, who protects the goal, and tries to keep the ball out.

As mentioned before, every team must have a goalkeeper. The other 10 players are referred to as 'field players'. The field players can be put into three different categories - attackers, defenders and midfielders. While no player (other than the goalkeeper) has a defined role, the attackers are generally on attack, the defenders are generally on defense, and the midfielders do a bit of both.

A 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. It is important to know that the head of a hockey stick has a rounded side (the right side) and a flat side (the left side). It is only with the flat, left hand side of the stick that you are permitted to play the ball.

In hockey, field players are not allowed to use their feet (or any other parts of their bodies for that matter) to control the ball. Only the goalkeeper is allowed to use stick, hands, feet, etc. to stop the ball.

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.

A field goal is a goal scored from open, continuous play. Field goals may only be taken from the 'shooting circle', a roughly semi-circular area in front of the opponents' goal. If a ball is hit from outside the 'shooting circle' and goes into the goal, it does not count as a score.

If a defending team breaks certain rules, the other team may be awarded a 'penalty corner.' Often (but not always) penalty corners are awarded because a team breaks a rule while defending in their 'shooting circle'.

To take a penalty corner, play is stopped to allow the teams to take their positions in attack and defense. One attacker stands with the ball on a designated spot on the back-line. (It's the line that marks the shorter boundary of the field of play and on which the goal is placed.) This player will 'push out' the ball to other attackers, waiting to take a shot at goal. The other attackers usually wait at the top of the shooting circle to receive the ball. But in any case, all attackers have to be outside the shooting circle until the penalty corner begins.

Up to five defenders (including the goalkeeper) position themselves behind the back-line (either inside or outside of the goal) to defend against the penalty corner. The rest of the defenders must stay behind the