An Olympic sport since 1908, hockey is the oldest known ball and
stick game. It was so popular in the Middle Ages that is was banned for a while in England
because people should have been spending their free time practising archery instead; for
national defence.
The first Olympic Hockey Competition for men was held at the London 1908 Olympic Games; with England, Ireland and
Scotland competing separately.
After its first appearance in the 1908 Games, hockey was dropped from
the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games, then reappeared at Antwerp 1920 before being dropped again in Paris in 1924;
because the sport had no international federation.
When hockey reappeared, India dominated the competition; winning 30
consecutive games from 1928 to 1956 to take Olympic gold medals at Amsterdam 1928, Los
Angeles 1932, Berlin 1936, London 1948, Helsinki 1952
and Melbourne 1956.
Men's Olympic Hockey
Twelve teams compete in two pools of six in the preliminary rounds,
with each team playing each other and the top two teams in each pool advancing to the
semi-finals.
The semi-final winners play each other for gold and silver and the
losers play for bronze. The rest of the teams play classification matches to determine
places 5 to 12.
Women's Olympic Hockey
The process was similar for the women, except that there were only ten
teams, going into pools of five.
For Beijing 2008, the womens
hockey tournament has been increased to a 12-team tournament.
Rechelle
Hawkes captained the Hockeyroos for eight years and won three gold medals playing
Hockey for Australia: in Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000.
In Sydney, Rechelle was given the rare honour of reading the Olympic
Oath on behalf of all other athletes competing at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
             
      
     
FIH:
After Hockey was dropped from the Paris 1924 Olympic Games because the sport didn't have
an international federation, one was founded in Paris that year -- under the initiative of
Frenchman, Paul Léautey.
National Hockey Associations
Association
Royale Belge de Hockey: (Belgium - fr)
Confederacion Argentina de Hockey:
(Argentina).
Dansk Hockey Union: (Denmark).
Deutscher Hockey-Bund:
(Germany)
England Hockey:
England Hockey is a new company, limited by guarantee. It has been the National Governing
Body (NGB) of the sport since December 2002 having succeeded the English Hockey
Association (EHA) who had to suspend operations earlier in 2002 because of significant
financial problems.
Field Hockey Canada:
Field Hockey Canada (FHC) is the national sport governing body for field hockey in Canada.
Hockey Australia:
The outstanding achievements of the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos have made hockey one of
Australia's most prominent non-professional sports.
Indian Hockey Federation:
The foundation of the Indian Hockey Federation were thus laid with Col. Bruce Turnball as
President and Mr. N.H. Ansari as Honorary Secretary. It was however, not till 1927 that
the Federation started functioning as a live body. Its headquarters were shifted from
Gawalior to Delhi.
Irish Hockey Association:
The latest hockey happenings in Ireland.
Koninklijke
Belgische Hockey Bond: (Belgium - du)
Koninklijk Nederlandse Hockey Bond:
(Holland).
New Zealand Hockey Federation:
New Zealand Hockey Federation aims to offer the widest possible opportunities for all
persons through participation and achievement in the game of hockey while still providing
a healthy, social recreational environment for all.
Pakistan Hockey Federation:
The Pakistan Hockey Federation was founded in 1948.
US Field Hockey:
US Field Hockey has approximately 15,000 members and supports programs designed to educate
and promote the sport of field hockey.
Hockey Links
BharatiyaHockey:
Probably the best and most comprehensive resource on Indian Field Hockey.
Field Hockey:
Latest news from the world of field hockey.
Indian Hockey:
Sundeep Misra is among a very few dedicated hockey writers in the country, so give him a
read if you're interested in Indian hockey.
Planet Field Hockey:
Connecting the field hockey world.
Field
Hockey.
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