INTRODUCTION
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers of players, apparel, and playing surface, they share broad characteristics of two opposing teams using sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal.
There are many types of hockey. Some games make the use of skates, either wheeled or bladed, while others do not. In order to help make the distinction between these various games, the word hockey is often preceded by another word i.e. field hockey, ice hockey, roller hockey, rink hockey, or floor hockey.
In each of these sports, two teams play against each other by trying to manoeuvre the object of play, either a type of ball or a disk (such as a puck), into the opponent’s goal using a hockey stick. Two notable exceptions use a straight stick and an open disk (still referred to as a puck) with a hole in the center instead. The first case is a style of floor hockey whose rules were codified in 1936 during the Great Depression by Canada’s Sam Jacks. The second case involves a variant which was later modified in roughly the 1970s to make a related game that would be considered suitable for inclusion as a team sport in the newly emerging Special Olympics. The floor game of gym ringette, though related to floor hockey, is not a true variant due to the fact that it was designed in the 1990s and modelled off of the Canadian ice skating team sport of ringette, which was invented in Canada in 1963. Ringette was also invented by Sam Jacks, the same Canadian who codified the rules for the open disk style of floor hockey 1936.
Certain sports which share general characteristics with the forms of hockey, but are not generally referred to as hockey include lacrosse, hurling, camogie, and shinty.
HISTORY
The history of hockey can be traced back thousands of years, with evidence of similar games in Egypt, Greece, Iran, and Ethiopia:
Egypt
4,000-year-old carvings in an Egyptian tomb depict teams playing with sticks and a projectile
Greece
A depiction from around 600 BC suggests the game was called kerētízein , which may have been played with a horn or horn-like stick
Iran
Evidence of hockey-like games can be found in Iran
Ethiopia
Evidence of hockey-like games can be found in Ethiopia from 1,000 BC
Ireland
Hurling dates back to before 1272 BC in Ireland
Inner Mongolia
The Daur people have played beikou, a game similar to modern field hockey, for about 1,000 years
The modern game of hockey emerged in England in the mid-19th century, with the first official rules established in 1876 by the first Hockey Association. The British developed the first version of modern-day field hockey, which became a popular school game and was introduced to the Indian army in the 1850s.
HISTORY OF HOCKEY IN INDIA
Introduced in the Indian army during British rule, hockey attracted the masses so much so that India won a hat-trick of gold medals not once but twice.
Among the world’s premier sports with an Olympic legacy and featuring blue riband events like the World Cup, Champions Trophy and FIH Pro League, field hockey traces its roots back to the 16th century.
One of the most ancient games in the world — a crude form of the sport was played in Egypt some 4,000 years ago — the history of hockey can be traced back to 1527 in Scotland. Back then, it was called ‘hokie’ – where players hit around a small ball with sticks.
However, the first version of modern-day field hockey was developed by the British sometime between the late 18th and early 19th century. It was introduced as a popular school game then and made its way to the Indian army during British rule in the 1850s.
The availability of large plots of land as playing fields and the uncomplicated nature of equipment meant that hockey gradually became the popular sport of choice among children and young adults in India, with the country’s first hockey club being formed in then Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1855.
In the next few decades, national competitions like the Beighton Cup in Calcutta and Aga Khan tournament in Bombay (now Mumbai) popularised the sport further, especially in erstwhile provinces of Bombay and Punjab.
There were talks of forming a hockey association in India in 1907 and 1908, but it didn’t materialise. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was only formed in 1925, one year after the formation of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
The IHF organised its first international tour in 1926 to New Zealand, where the Indian hockey men’s team played 21 matches and won 18. The tournament saw the emergence of a young Dhyan Chand, who would go on to become arguably the best hockey player the world has ever seen.
After a rocky relationship with the Olympic Games until 1924 — hockey was only played in 1908 and 1920 and dropped for the other editions — the presence of a global sports body (FIH) ensured that hockey gained permanent Olympic status starting Amsterdam 1928.
The Indian Hockey Federation applied and earned an FIH membership in 1927, thus ensuring that the Indian hockey team would play its first Olympics in 1928.
It was the beginning of a legacy – decorated with eight gold medals – a record till today.
