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Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponents goal using a hockey stick. In many areas, one sport (typically field hockey or ice hockey) is generally referred to simply as hockey.
The first recorded use of the word "hockey" is found in the text of a royal proclamation issued by Edward III of England in 1363 banning certain types of sports and games.
The word hockey itself is of unknown origin, although it is likely a derivative of hoquet, a Middle French word for a shepherds stave. The curved, or "hooked" ends of the sticks used for hockey would indeed have resembled these staves.
History
Games played with curved sticks and a ball can be found in the histories of many cultures. In Egypt, 4000-year-old carvings feature teams with sticks and a projectile, hurling dates to before 1272 BC in Ireland, and there is a depiction from approximately 600 BC in Ancient Greece where the game may have been called ker?tízein or kerhtízein (??????????) because it was played with a horn or horn-like stick(kéras, ?????) In Inner Mongolia, the Daur people have been playing beikou, a game similar to modern field hockey, for about 1,000 years.
Fig : bas relief approx. 600 BC, in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Most evidence of hockey-like games during the Middle Ages is found in legislation concerning sports and games. Similar to Edwards proclamation was the Galway Statute enacted in Ireland in 1527, which banned certain types of ball games, including hockey.
By the 19th century, the various forms and divisions of historic games began to differentiate and coalesce into the individual sports defined today. Organizations dedicated to the codification of rules and regulations began to form, and national and international bodies sprung up to manage domestic and international competition. Ice hockey also evolved during this period as a derivative of field hockey adapted to the icy conditions of Canada and the northern United States.
Subtypes
Field hockey
Field hockey is played on gravel, natural grass, sand-based or water-based artificial turf, with a small, hard ball approximately 73 mm (2.9 in) in diameter. The game is popular among both males and females in many parts of the world, particularly in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In most countries, the game is played between single-sex sides, although they can be mixed-sex.
The governing body is the 126-member International Hockey Federation (FIH). Mens field hockey has been played at each summer Olympic Games since 1908 (except 1912 and 1924), while womens field hockey has been played at the Summer Olympic Games since 1980.
Modern field hockey sticks are J-shaped and constructed of a composite of wood, glass fibre or carbon fibre (sometimes both) and have a curved hook at the playing end, a flat surface on the playing side and curved surface on the rear side. All sticks are right-handed – left-handed sticks are not permitted. While current field hockey appeared in mid-18th century England, primarily in schools, it was not until the first half of the 19th century that it became firmly established. The first club was created in 1849 at 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 declared that India has no national sport in August 2012.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey is played on a large flat area of ice, using a three-inch-diameter (76.2 mm) vulcanized rubber disc called a puck. This puck is often frozen before high-level games to decrease the amount of bouncing and friction on the ice. The game is contested between two teams of skaters. The game is played all over North America, Europe and in many other countries around the world to varying extent. It is the most popular sport in Canada, Finland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
Ice hockey sticks are long L-shaped sticks made of wood, graphite, or composites with a blade at the bottom that can lie flat on the playing surface when the stick is held upright and can curve either way, legally, as to help a left- or right-handed player gain an advantage
Roller hockey
Roller hockey, also known as quad hockey, international-style ball hockey, and Hoquei em Patins is an overarching name for a roller sport that has existed since long before inline skates were invented. This sport is played in over sixty countries and has a worldwide following. Roller hockey was a demonstration sport at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
Street hockey
Also known as road hockey, this is a dry-land variant of ice and roller hockey played on a hard surface (usually asphalt). Most of the time, a ball is used instead of a puck, and generally no protective equipment is worn. Street hockey is played year round.