SUBTYPES
v Field hockey
· Field hockey is played on gravel, natural grass, sand-based or water-based artificial turf, with a small, hard ball.
· 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 116-member International Hockey Federation (FIH). Men's field hockey has been played at each summer Olympic Games since 1908 (except 1912 and 1924), while women's field hockey has been played at the Summer Olympic Games since 1980.
· Current field hockey appeared in the mid-18th century in England, primarily in schools, and became firmly established at the first half of the 19th century.
· The first club was created in 1849 at Blackheath in South-East London. Field hockey is the national sport of India and Pakistan.
v 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 in Slovakia.
· The governing body of international play is the 66-member International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Men's ice hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924, and was in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Women's ice hockey was added to the Winter Olympics in 1988. North America's National Hockey League (NHL) is the strongest professional ice hockey league, drawing top ice hockey players from around the globe. The NHL rules are slightly different from those used in Olympic ice hockey over many categories.
· There are early representations and reports of ice hockey-type games being played on ice in the Netherlands, and reports from Canada from the beginning of the 19th century, but the modern game was initially organized by students at McGill University, Montreal in 1875 who, by two years later, codified the first set of ice hockey rules and organized the first teams.
· Ice hockey is played at a number of levels, by all ages.
v Inline hockey
· Inline hockey is a variation of roller hockey very similar to ice hockey, from which it is derived.
· Played by two teams, consisting of four skaters and one goalie, on a dry rink divided into two halves by a center line, with one net at each end of the rink. The game is played in three 15-minute periods with a variation of the ice hockey off-side rule. Icings are also called, but are usually referred to as illegal clearing.
