| FIELD HOCKEY FACTS |
Hockey is played in 132 countries and is the second most popular team sport after soccer. Men's and women's competitions are played at the Olympic Games and at the Field Hockey World Cup, both of which are played every four years.
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| FIELD HOCKEY FACTS |
Check out our field hockey rules, hockey positions, hockey history and hockey pitch layout by following the links on the top of the page.
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|  | Field Hockey Pitch |  | The Field Hockey Pitch Most hockey field dimensions were originally fixed using whole numbers of imperial measures and are expressed as such in this article. It is, nevertheless, the metric measurements shown in parenthesis which are the current official dimensions of the field of play as laid down by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in the "Rules of Hockey 2005".The game is played between two teams of eleven players on a 100 × 60 yard (91.4 m × 55 m) rectangular field. At each end there is a goal 7 feet (2.14 m) high and 12 feet (3.66 m) wide, and a semi-circle 16 yards (14.63 m) from the goal known as the shooting circle (or D or arc), with a dotted line 5 yards (5 m) from the semi-circle, as well as lines across the field 25 yards (22.9 m) from each end-line and in the center of the field. A spot, called the penalty spot, is placed 7 yards (6.4 m) from the center of each goal. Traditional grass pitches are far less common in modern hockey with most hockey being played on synthetic surfaces. Since the 1970's sand based pitches were favoured as they dramatically speed up the pace of the game. However, in recent years there has been a massive increase in the number of 'water based' artificial turfs. Indeed, international hockey is now predominantly played on this surface as it requires a greater level of ball control due to the less predictable nature of the surface. |  |
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