Figure 1.-- We have only limited information on field hockey at this time. It appears to be another sport which has developed in England. The boys mostly wear short pants uniforms when playing hockey. We note some team photographs, but are unsure as to what country is involved.

We have only limited information on field hockey at this time. It appears to be another sport which has developed in England. Field hockey in the United States is esentially a girls sports with the uniform mostly consisting of pleated skirts. Some high school boys's have challenged the legality of excluding boys. An exception here are some exclusive private schools which are based on English private schools. The sport in Europe is widely played by girls, but boys also play it. It is widely played by boys , for example, in the Netherlands. It is also played by boys at at many private English schools. The boys mostly wear short pants uniforms when playing hockey. We note some team photographs, but are unsure as to what country is involved. We are not sure, for example, where the team here is from (figure 1). I think that they might be German.

History

We have only limited information on field hockey at this time. It appears to be another sport which has developed in England. Field hockey was introduced as Olympic sport in 1908. It did not begon as a woman's event until 1980.

Descroption

The hockey field is layed out like a soccer field with two oposing goals. The difference is that a small hard ball is is used which is moved by hotting it with stocks. Field hockey is a fast moving game with stocks flying right and left. The speed is affected by the heighth of the grass. As in soccer, the players are in constant motion as the ball is moved back and forth in the field. With well trained teams, gials are achieved with considerable difficulty and scorces tend to be very low.

Country Trends

Field hockey is widely played in many countries. It is especially popular in Britain and the former British Dominions including Australia, India, and Pakistan.. There are some other countries where it is played besids Britain and the Dominions, including America and the Netherlands.

Gender Differences

While Field hockey is played in many different countries, it has varying gender conventions in the countries where it is played. Field hockey in the United States is esentially a girls sports with the uniform mostly consisting of pleated skirts. Some high school boys's have challenged the legality of excluding boys. An exception here are some exclusive private schools which are based on English private schools. The sport in Europe is widely played by girls, but boys also play it. It is widely played by boys , for example, in the Netherlands. It is also played by boys at at many private English schools.

Destinctive Nature

There are a variety of destinctive features of field hockey as a sport. There are no professional leages. Thus the sport is entirely an amateur game. In many countries it is a sport largely played in private schools, at least by younger children. Thus there are smaller numbers of children who enjoy the game. In America where field hockey is widely played by girls in public (state) schools, this means that the game is takn up at about age 14 by girls who have never played it before, unlike most sports where children begin at a younger age.

Uniforms

The boys mostly wear short pants uniforms when playing hockey. We note some team photographs, but are unsure as to what country is involved. We are not sure, for example, where the team here is from (figure 1). I think that they might be German. A British reader noted the untucked shirts an writes, "We always had to tuck in our shirts or sports jerseys when playing football (soccer), hockey, and rugby. Somehow the untucked shirts still don't look right to me, but that is now the common way of wearing the team shirt when playing. I noticed a boy playing hockey on an earlier page with his shirt tucked in. That is how we were akways turned out."

Created: 11:49 PM 7/30/2004
Last updated: 6:49 PM 11/6/2004