What is "field hockey"

n. A form of hockey played on a grassed pitch with a hard rubber ball instead of a puck.

n. hockey played on a field; two opposing teams use curved sticks to drive a ball into the opponents' net [syn: hockey]

Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The earliest origins of the sport date back to the Middle Ages in England, Scotland and the Netherlands. The game can be played on a grass field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players including the goalie. Players use sticks made out of wood, carbon fibre, fiber glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities (with the higher carbon fibre stick being more expensive and less likely to break) to hit a round, hard, rubber-like ball. The length of the stick depends on the player's individual height. Only one end of the stick is allowed to be used. Goalies often have a different kind of stick, however they can also use an ordinary field hockey stick. The specific goal-keeping sticks have another curve on the end of the stick. The uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts, a mouth guard and a jersey. Today, the game is played globally, with particular popularity throughout western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Southern and Northeastern United States (such as Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania). Field Hockey is the national sport of Pakistan, and is sometimes assumed to be India's national sport as well. The term "field hockey" is used primarily in Canada and the United States where ice hockey is more popular.

During play, goal keepers are the only players who are allowed to touch the ball with any part of their body (the player's hand is considered 'part of the stick'), with this only applying within the shooting circle (also known as the D, or shooting arc, or just the circle), while field players play the ball with the flat side of their stick. Goal keepers also cannot play the ball with the back of their stick. Whoever scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout, depending on the competition's format. There are many variations to overtime play that depend on the league and tournament play. In college play, a seven-aside overtime period consists of a 10-minute golden goal period with seven players for each team. If a tie still remains, the game enters a one-on-one competition where each team chooses 5 players to dribble from the 25 yard line down to the circle against the opposing goalie. The player has 8 seconds to score on the goalie keeping it in bounds. The play ends after a goal is scored, the ball goes out of bounds, a foul is committed (ending in either a penalty stroke or flick or the end of the one on one) or time expires.

The governing body of hockey is the International Hockey Federation (FIH, in French), with men and women being represented internationally in competitions including the Olympic Games, World Cup, World League, Champions Trophy and Junior World Cup, with many countries running extensive junior, senior, and masters club competitions. The FIH is also responsible for organising the Hockey Rules Board and developing the rules for the sport.

A popular variant of field hockey is indoor field hockey, which differs in a number of respects while embodying the primary principles of hockey. Indoor hockey is a 5-a-side variant, with a field which is reduced to approximately . With many of the rules remaining the same, including obstruction and feet, there are several key variations – Players may not raise the ball unless shooting on goal, players may not hit the ball (instead utilising pushes to transfer the ball), and the sidelines are replaced with solid barriers which the ball will rebound off.