Field hockey has been around for a very long time. It's a complex and intense game to play and even to watch. It never has gotten the respect it needs because of the amount of people who see it as a "girlie sport". Its fast pace and constant ball movement are some of the many reasons people are so attracted to this sport. Personally, I play because I think it's so much different then the other sports out there (except for lacrosse, the two are somewhat similar), but people don't understand why I play because there is not future for me in field hockey. I always tell them they really don't know, someday field hockey will take control of the sport world, and hopefully I"ll be a part of it. But here's a look at the vast history of the sport.
The exact origin of field hockey as a game is unknown, although 4,000-year-old drawings found in the tomb at Beni-Hasen in the Nile Valley depicted men playing the sport. We know that many other ancient civilizations have also played the sport as seen in the drawings. These cultures range form Greeks and Romans to Ethiopians and Aztecs. (US Field Hockey Association Online- "History & Tradition").
The modern game of field hockey evolved around the mid-19th century in England. The first men's field hockey club (Blackheath) was formed in 1849.(Field Hockey Tournament On-line- "History of the Game") They started playing on a large piece of open ground with crudely designed sticks and a large solid cube of black rubber for a ball. This club led to the establishment of the Hockey Association, in London in 1886. They modernized the game a lot more then the Blackheath Club did, adding the rules such as banning the used of hands, or lifting the sticks above the shoulder. They also began to play with a sphere as a ball instead of a rubber cube. They also instituted the striking circle (Field Hockey Tournament On-line- "History of the Game") The British army introduced the game to it's many colonies, including India and others.
