Hurling (Irish: Iománaíocht/Iomáint) is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic and Irish origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for over 3,000 years, and is considered to be the world's fastest field sport. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of players, and much terminology. There is a similar game for women called camogie(camógaíocht). It shares a common Gaelic root with the sport of shinty (camanachd), which is played predominantly in Scotland.

The objective of the game is for players to use a wooden stick called a hurley (in Irish a camán, pronounced) to hit a small ball called a sliotar between the opponents' goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is equivalent to three points. The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or struck on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short­range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than four steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick and the ball can only be handled twice while in his possession.

Provided that a player has at least one foot on the ground, a player may make a shoulder to shoulder charge on an opponent­ (a) who is in possession of the ball, or (b) who is playing the ball, or (c) when both players are moving in the direction of the ball to play it. No protective padding is worn by players. A plastic protective helmet with a faceguard is mandatory for all age groups, including senior level, as of 2010. The game has been described as "a bastion of humility", with player names absent from jerseys and a player's number decided by his position on the field.[1]

Hurling is played throughout the world, and is popular among members of the Irish diaspora in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, and South Korea. In many parts of Ireland, however, hurling is a fixture of life.[1] It has featured regularly in art forms such as film, music and literature. The final of the All­Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was listed in second place by CNN in its "10 sporting events you have to see live", after the Olympic Games and ahead of both the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championship. After covering the 1959 All­Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final between Kilkenny and Waterford for BBC Television, English commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme was moved to describe hurling as his second favourite sport in the world after his first love, football (soccer).In 2007, Forbes magazine described the media attention and population multiplication of Thurles town ahead of one of the game's annual provincial hurling finals as being "the rough equivalent of 30 million Americans watching a regional lacrosse game".

Statistics A team comprises 15 players, or "hurlers". The hurley is generally 24 to 36 inches (61 to 91 cm) in length. The ball, known as a sliotar, has a cork centre and a leather cover; it is between 69

and 72 mm (2.7 and 2.8 in) in diameter, and weighs between 110 and 120 g (3.9 and 4.2 oz).

The goalkeeper's hurley usually has a bas (the flattened, curved end) twice the size of other players' hurleys to provide some advantage against the fast moving sliotar.

A good strike with a hurley can propel the ball over 150 km/h (93 mph) in speed and 110 metres (361 ft) in distance.[citation needed][6][7]

A ball hit over the bar is worth one point. A ball that is hit under the bar is called a goal and is worth three points.

As of 2010, all players must wear a helmet.

Rules

Playing field

A standard hurling pitch

A Hurling pitch is similar in some respects to a rugby pitch but larger. The grass pitch is rectangular, stretching 130–145 metres (140–160 yards) long and 80–90 m (90–100 yd) wide. There are H­shaped goalposts at each end, formed by two posts, which are usually 6–7 metres (20–23 feet) high, set 6.5 m (21 ft) apart, and connected 2.5 m (8.2 ft) above the ground by a crossbar. A net extending behind the goal is attached to the crossbar and lower goal posts. The same pitch is used for Gaelic football; the GAA, which organizes both sports, decided this to facilitate dual usage. Lines are marked at distances of 14 yards, 21 yards and 65 yards (45 yards for Gaelic Football) from each end­line. Shorter pitches and smaller goals are used by youth teams.[8]

Teams[edit] Teams consist of fifteen players: a goalkeeper, three full backs, three half backs, two midfielders, three half forwards and three full forwards (see diagram). The panel is made up of 24–30 players and five substitutions are allowed per game. An exception can now be made in the case of a blood substitute being necessary

Ball[edit] The ball consists of a cork core covered by two pieces of leather stitched together. Called a sliotar, it is a subject to strict regulations as regards its size, mass and composition.[9]

Helmets[edit]

A standard hurling helmet

From 1 January 2010, the wearing of helmets with faceguards became compulsory for hurlers at all levels. This saw senior players follow the regulations already introduced in 2009 at minor and under 21 grades. The GAA hopes to significantly reduce the number of injuries by introducing the compulsory wearing of helmets with full faceguards, both in training and matches. Hurlers of all ages, including those at nursery clubs when holding a hurley in their hand, must wear a helmet and faceguard at all times. Match officials will be obliged to stop play if any player at any level appears on the field of play without the necessary standard of equipment.[10]

Timekeeping[edit]

Standard hurling positions

Senior inter­county matches last 70 minutes (35 minutes per half). All other matches last 60 minutes (30 minutes per half). For teams Under­13 and lower, games may be shortened to 50 minutes. Timekeeping is at the discretion of the referee who adds on stoppage time at the end of each half.

If a knockout game finishes in a draw, a replay is staged. If a replay finishes in a draw, 20 minutes extra time is played (10 minutes per half). If the game is still tied, another replay is staged.[clarification needed]

In club competitions, replays are increasingly not used due to the fixture backlogs caused. Instead, extra time is played after a draw, and if the game is still level after that it will go to a replay.

Technical fouls[edit] The following are considered technical fouls ("fouling the ball"):

Picking the ball directly off the ground (instead it must be flicked up with the hurley) Throwing the ball (instead it must be "hand­passed": slapped with the open hand) Going more than four steps with the ball in the hand (it may be carried indefinitely on

the hurley though) Catching the ball three times in a row without it touching the ground (touching the

hurley does not count) Putting the ball from one hand to the other Hand­passing a goal Throwing the hurley

Scoring[edit] Scoring is achieved by sending the sliotar (ball) between the opposition's goal posts. The posts, which are at each end of the field, are "H" posts as in rugby football but with a net under the crossbar as in soccer. The posts are 6.4 m apart and the crossbar is 2.44 m above the ground.

If the ball goes over the crossbar, a point is scored and a white flag is raised by an umpire. If the ball goes below the crossbar, a goal, worth three points, is scored, and a green flag is raised by an umpire. A goal must be scored by either a striking motion or by directly soloing the ball into the net. The goal is guarded by a goalkeeper. Scores are recorded in the format goal total – point total. For example, the 1997 All­Ireland final finished: Clare 0–20 Tipperary 2–13. Thus Clare won by "twenty points to nineteen" (20 to 19). 2–0 would be referred to as "two goals", never "two zero". 0–0 is said "no score".

Tackling[edit] Players may be tackled but not struck by a one handed slash of the stick; exceptions are two handed jabs and strikes. Jersey­pulling, wrestling, pushing and tripping are all forbidden. There are several forms of acceptable tackling, the most popular being:

the "block", where one player attempts to smother an opposing player's strike by trapping the ball between his hurley and the opponent's swinging hurl;

the "hook", where a player approaches another player from a rear angle and attempts to catch the opponent's hurley with his own at the top of the swing; and

the "side pull", where two players running together for the sliotar will collide at the shoulders and swing together to win the tackle and "pull" (name given to swing the hurley) with extreme force.

Restarting play[edit]

The match begins with the referee throwing the sliotar in between the four midfielders on the halfway line.

After an attacker has scored or put the ball wide of the goals, the goalkeeper may take a "puckout" from the hand at the edge of the small square. All players must be beyond the 20 m line.

After a defender has put the ball wide of the goals, an attacker may take a "65" from the 65 m line level with where the ball went wide. It must be taken by lifting and striking. However, the ball must not be taken into the hand but struck whilst the ball is lifted.

After a player has put the ball over the sideline, the other team may take a 'sideline cut' at the point where the ball left the pitch. It must be taken from the ground.

After a player has committed a foul, the other team may take a 'free' at the point where the foul was committed. It must be taken by lifting and striking in the same style as the "65".

After a defender has committed a foul inside the Square (large rectangle), the other team may take a "penalty" from the ground from behind the 20 m line. Only the goalkeeper may guard the goals. It must be taken by lifting and striking and the sliotar must be stuck on or behind the 20m line (The penalty rule was amended in 2015 due to safety concerns. Before this the ball merely had to start at the 20m line but could be struck beyond it. To balance this advantage the two additional defenders previously allowed on the line have been removed).

If many players are struggling for the ball and no side is able to capitalize or gain control of the sliotar the referee may choose to throw the ball in between two opposing players. This is also known as a "Clash".

Officials[edit] A hurling match is watched over by eight officials:

The referee Two linesmen Sideline official/standby linesman (inter­county games only) Four umpires (two at each end)

The referee is responsible for starting and stopping play, recording the score, awarding frees, noting infractions, and issuing yellow (caution) and red (order off) penalty cards to players after offences.

Linesmen are responsible for indicating the direction of line balls to the referee and also for conferring with the referee. The fourth official is responsible for overseeing substitutions, and also indicating the amount of stoppage time (signalled to him by the referee) and the players substituted using an electronic board. The umpires are responsible for judging the scoring. They indicate to the referee whether a shot was: wide (spread both arms), a 65 m puck (raise one arm), a point (wave white flag), or a goal (wave green flag).

Contrary to popular belief within the association, all officials are not obliged to indicate "any misdemeanours" to the referee, but are in fact only permitted to inform the referee of violent conduct they have witnessed which has occurred without the referee's knowledge. A linesman/umpire is not permitted to inform the referee of technical fouls such as a "Third time in the hand", where a player catches the ball for a third time in succession after soloing or an illegal pick up of the ball. Such decisions can only be made at the discretion of the referee.

History[edit]

A graph demonstrating hurling scoring since 1910

Hurling is older than the recorded history of Ireland. It is thought to predate Christianity, having come to Ireland with the Celts.[11] It has been a distinct Irish pastime for at least 2000 years. The earliest written references to the sport in Brehon law date from the fifth century.[11] In the book by Seamus King "A History of Hurling" there is a reference from Irish verbal history of hurling as far back as the 1200 B.C being played in Tara co Meath. Hurling is related to the games of shinty that is played primarily in Scotland, cammag on theIsle of Man and bandy that was played formerly in England and Wales. The tale of the Táin Bó Cuailgne (drawing on earlier legends) describes the hero Cúchulainn playing hurling at Emain Macha. Similar tales are told about Fionn Mac Cumhail and the Fianna, his legendary warrior band. Recorded references to hurling appear in many places such as the fourteenth century Statutes of Kilkenny and a fifteenth­century grave slab survives in Inishowen, County Donegal.[12]

Hurling was said to be played in ancient times by teams representing neighbouring villages. Villages would play games involving hundreds of players, which would last several hours or even days.[13]

U.S. president Barack Obama accepting a hurley from TaoiseachEnda Kenny

The eighteenth century is frequently referred to as "The Golden Age of Hurling". This was when members of the Anglo­Irish landed gentry kept teams of players on their estates and challenged each other's teams to matches for the amusement of their tenants.

One of the first modern attempts to standardise the game with a formal, written set of rules came with the foundation of the Irish Hurling Union at Trinity College Dublin in 1879. It aimed "to draw up a code of rules for all clubs in the union and to foster that manly and noble game of hurling in this, its native country".[14]

Graph of hurling and gaelic football ratio of points to goals from 1910 to 2015

The founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884 in Hayes Hotel, Thurles, Co Tipperary, turned around a trend of terminal decline by organising the game around a common set of written rules. In 1891 the first All­Ireland hurling final was played with Kerry winning the championship. However, the twentieth century saw Cork, Kilkenny[15] and Tipperary dominate hurling with each of these counties winning more than 20 All­Ireland titles each. Wexford,Waterford, Clare, Limerick, Offaly, Antrim, Dublin, and Galway were also strong hurling counties during the twentieth century.

As hurling entered the new millennium, it has remained Ireland's second most popular sport. An extended qualifier system resulted in a longer All­Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, but Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny have come to dominate the championship and some argue that the All­Ireland has become less competitive. Pay­for­play remains controversial and the Gaelic Players Association continues to grow in strength. The inauguration of the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup gave new championships and an opportunity to play inCroke Park to the weaker county teams. Further dissemination of the championship structure was completed in 2009 with the addition of the Lory Meagher Cup to make it a four tier championship.

Hurling at the Olympic Games[edit] Hurling was an unofficial sport at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States. In the final, Fenian F.C. (Chicago) USA beat Innisfails (St. Louis). This was the only time hurling was in the Olympics.[16]

International[edit] Although many hurling clubs exist worldwide, only Ireland has a national team (although it includes only players from weaker counties in order to ensure matches are competitive). It and the Scotland shinty team have played for many years with modified match rules (as with International Rules Football). The match is the only such international competition. However, competition at club level has been going on around the world since the late nineteenth century thanks to emigration from Ireland, and the strength of the game has ebbed and flowed along with emigration trends. Nowadays, growth in hurling is noted in Continental Europe, Australia, and North America.

Argentina[edit] Irish immigrants began arriving in Argentina in the nineteenth century.[17]

The earliest reference to hurling in Argentina dates from the late 1880s in Mercedes, Buenos Aires. However, the game was not actively promoted until 1900, when it came to the attention of author and newspaperman William Bulfin. Under Bulfin's patronage, the Argentine Hurling Club was formed on 15 July 1900, leading to teams being established in different neighborhoods of Buenos Aires and the surrounding farming communities.

Games of hurling were played every weekend until 1914 and received frequent coverage from Argentina's Spanish language newspapers, such as La Nación. After the outbreak of World War I, it became almost impossible to obtain hurleys from Ireland. An attempt was made to use native Argentine mountain ash, but it proved too heavy and lacking in pliability. Although the game was revived after the end of the war, the golden age of Argentine hurling had passed. World War II finally brought the era to its close.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, immigration from Ireland slowed to a trickle. In addition, native born Irish­Argentines assimilated into the local community. The last time that hurling was played in Argentina was in 1980, when the Aer Lingus Hurling Club conducted a three­week tour of the country and played matches at several locations.[18] Since 2009, with the realization of several Summers Camps and the visit of the All Stars in December, hurling returned to be a frequent activity at the Hurling Club, where many boys and young men have since been trained and taught to play. Even the Hurling Club are invited to participate Hurling Festival is organized within The Gathering events organized by Aer Lingus. This team will be present in September 2013 in the city of Galway. The team consists of 21 players from Hockey and Rugby teams. Many have contributed to the return hurling as an activity in the Club. As an example we can name Alejandro Yoyo Wade, Johnny Wade, Barbie, Cecilia and Irene Scally, David Ganly, Dickie Mac Allister, Eduardo Cabrera Punter, Hernan Magrini Scally. Several Irish have participated in many opportunities to work with the skills and education: Jonathan Lynch, Kevin O'Connors and Michael Connery, who currently works with the team's training to participate in the Aer Lingus International Hurling Festival.[19]

Australia and New Zealand[edit] The earliest reference to hurling in Australia is related in the book "Sketches of Garryowen." On 12 July 1844, a match took place at Batman's Hill in Melbourne as a counterpoint to a march by the Orange Order. Reportedly, the hurling match attracted a crowd of five hundred Irish immigrants, while the Orange march shivered out of existence.[20]

Several hurling clubs existed in Victoria in the 1870s including Melbourne, Collingwood, Upper Yarra, Richmond and Geelong.

In 1885, a game between two Sydney based teams took place before a crowd of over ten thousand spectators. Reportedly, the contest was greatly enjoyed despite the fact that one newspaper dubbed the game "Two Degrees Safer Than War."[21]

Arden Street Oval in North Melbourne was used by Irish immigrants during the 1920s. The game in Australasia is administered by Australasia GAA.

Britain[edit] Hurling was brought to Britain by Irish immigrants in the nineteenth century. The game is administered by British GAA. Warwickshire and Lancashire compete at inter­county level in the Lory Meagher Cup, competing against other counties in Ireland. London is the only non­Irish team to have won the All­Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (having captured the title in 1901), and after winning the 2012 Christy Ring Cup gained the right to contest the Liam McCarthy Cup in 2013.

The first ever hurling game played in the Scottish Highlands was played at Easter 2012 between CLG Micheal Breathnach and Fir Uladh, an Ulster select of Gaeiligoiri, as part of the Iomain Cholmcille festival, na Breathnaich coming out victorious.

South Africa[edit] Soldiers who served in the Irish Brigade during the Anglo­Boer War are believed to have played the game on the veldt. Immigrants from County Wicklow who had arrived to work in the explosives factory in Umbogintwini, KwaZulu­Natal formed a team c. 1915–1916. A major burst of immigration in the 1920s led to the foundation of the Transvaal Hurling Association in Johannesburg in 1928. Games were traditionally played in a pitch on the site of the modern day Johannesburg Central Railway Station every Easter Sunday afterMass.

In 1932, a South African hurling team sailed to Ireland to compete in the Tailteann Games, where they carried a banner donated by a convent of Irish nuns in Cape Town. On their arrival, they were personally received by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) at the time, Éamon de Valera.

South African hurling continued to prosper until the outbreak of World War II, which caused immigration from Ireland to cease and made it impossible to import equipment. Games of hurling and Gaelic football were occasionally sponsored by the Christian Brothers schools in Boksburg and Pretoria well into the 1950s. Both games have all but ceased to be played.[22]

North America[edit] Further information: Canadian GAA, New York GAA and North American GAA

References to hurling on the North American continent date from the 1780s in modern­day Canada concerning immigrants from County Waterford and County Kilkenny,[23] and also, in New York City. After the end of the American Revolution, references to hurling cease in American newspapers until the aftermath of the Potato Famine when Irish people moved to America in huge numbers, bringing the game with them.[24]

Newspaper reports from the 1850s refer to occasional matches played in San Francisco, Hoboken, and New York City. The first game of hurling played under GAA rules outside of Ireland was played on Boston Common in June 1886.

In 1888, there was an American tour by fifty Gaelic athletes from Ireland, known as the 'American Invasion'. This created enough interest among Irish Americans to lay the groundwork for the North American GAA. By the end of 1889, almost a dozen GAA clubs existed in America, many of them in and around New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Later, clubs were formed in Boston, Cleveland, and many other centers of Irish America. Concord, New Hampshire has its state's only hurling team, sponsored by The Barley House Pub.

In 1910, twenty­two hurlers, composed of an equal number from Chicago and New York, conducted a tour of Ireland, where they played against the County teams from Kilkenny,Tipperary, Limerick, Dublin, and Wexford.

Traditionally, hurling was a game played by Irish immigrants and discarded by their children. Many American hurling teams took to raising money to import players directly from Ireland. In recent years, this has changed considerably with the advent of the Internet and increased travel. The Barley House Wolves hurling team from New Hampshire was formed when U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq saw a hurling game on the television in Shannon airport as their plane refuelled.[25] Outside of the traditional North American GAA cities of New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco, clubs are springing up in other places where they consist of predominantly American­born players who bring a new dimension to the game and actively seek to promote it as a mainstream sport, especially Joe Maher, a leading expert at the sport in Boston.[26] Currently, the Milwaukee Hurling Club, with 300 members, is the largest Hurling club in the world outside of Ireland, which is made of all Americans and very few Irish immigrants. The St. Louis

Gaelic Athletic Club was established in 2002 and has expanded its organization to an eight team hurling league in the spring and six team Gaelic football league in the fall. They also have a 30­member camogie league. Saint Louis has won two National Championships in Jr C Hurling (2004, and 2011), as well as two National Championships in Jr D Gaelic Football (2005, and 2013). The Indianapolis Hurling Club began in 2002, then reformed in 2005. In 2008, the Indy Hurling Club won the Junior C National Championship. In 2011, Indy had 7 club teams and sent a Junior B, Junior C and Camogie team to nationals. Hurling continues to grow in popularity with teams now in Charleston, SC, Orlando, FL, Augusta, GA, Greenville, SC, Indianapolis, IN, Worcester, MA, Corvallis, OR, Concord, NH, Portland, Maine, Madison, WI, Hampton Roads, VA, Nashville, TN and Hartford, Connecticut.

The GAA have also begun to invest in American college students with university teams springing up at University of Connecticut, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Purdue University, Indiana University, University of Montana and other schools. On 31 January 2009, the first ever US collegiate hurling match was held between UC Berkeley and Stanford University, organized by the newly formed California Collegiate Gaelic Athletic Association. UC Berkeley won the match by 1­point, as well as the most recent best­of­three College Cup, 2 matches to 1. On Memorial Day Weekend of 2011, the first ever National Collegiate GAA championship was played. The Indiana University Hurling Club won all matches of the tournament, and won by four points in the championship final to be crowned the first ever U.S. National Collegiate Champions.

Major hurling competitions[edit]

Counties contesting the All­Ireland Senior Football Championship (yellow),All­Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (blue), or both (green)

Further information: List of Gaelic games competitions

All­Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Connacht Senior Hurling Championship Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Ulster Senior Hurling Championship National Hurling League Christy Ring Cup Nicky Rackard Cup All­Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship

Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship All­Ireland Under­21 Hurling Championship

Leinster Under­21 Hurling Championship All­Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Poc Fada Féile na nGael Composite rules shinty–hurling (usually internationals between Scotland and Ireland)

The All­Ireland Poc Fada Hurling & Camogie Championships is an annual tournament testing the skills of Ireland's best hurlers and camogie players. Poc Fada is Irish for "long puck". The championships are sponsored by M Donnelly & Co. (who has been a sponsor since 1996). The All Ireland Poc Fada Finals take place on the Saturday of the Irish August Bank Holiday each year (since 2005). For 2014 the date is 2 August. The starting time is 11:30 (On the 2.5 km course the Boys Under 16 final begins first, followed by the Camogie Final with the Senior Final following thereafter on the 5 km course). The Senior Hurling Final starts at "An Fhána Mór", Annaverna, County Louth, competitors must puck a sliotar with a hurley to the top of Annaverna Mountain, "An Céide," and onwards to "Carn an Mhadaidh"' and after a short break continue down to "An Gabhlán," finishing back at "An Fhána Mór," Annaverna. The whole course measures 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).

Tournaments[edit] Seniors Final ­ An Corn Setanta (The Setanta Cup)[edit] The 12 competitors competing in this category qualify as the 4 Provincial champions, the 4 Provincial runners­up, the current champion, the 2013 "All Star" goalkeeper and 2 invitationals (in the past competitors have come from USA, Europe and South Africa). An Corn Setanta ("The Setanta Cup") is awarded to the player who takes the lowest number of pucks. Ties are broken by the distance by which the player's last puck crosses the finish line.

History[edit] The tournament was founded in 1960 by Fr. Pól Mac Sheáin and the Naomh Moninne club based in Fatima, Dundalk, Louth, with the first All Ireland event taking place in 1961 Limerick man Vincent Godfrey the first winner, out of 16 hurlers invited. The competition went off the calendar after 1969 before returning in 1981 with 12 competitors. The concept of the competition originates in the Irish legend of "Táin Bó Cuailgne" when Cúchulainn, who as the boy Setanta set out from his home at Dún Dealgan to the King's court atEmain Macha hitting his sliotar before him and running ahead to catch it. In 2001 the Poc Fada was held at Dundalk Stadium (Dundalk Racecourse) due to foot­and­mouth disease on the Cooley Peninsula, doing two laps of the circuit (2 miles 880 yards / 4,023 metres). The 2005 tournament was won by Albert Shanahan of Limerick, with international soccer player Niall Quinn (who played for Dublin in the All­Ireland minor final of 1983) also competing. Almost all of the winners have been from the traditional hurling counties, but Dinny Donnelly (Meath), Gerry Goodwin (Tyrone), Colin Byrne (Wicklow), Paul Dunne (Louth), Mary Henry (Westmeath), 2009 champion Gerry Fallon (Roscommon) and the 2010 champion Graham Clarke (Down) have been the exceptions. The record currently stands at 48 pucks (an average of 104 metres per puck), achieved by Brendan Cummins (Tipperary) in 2004. The current record for the Camogie course is held by Patricia Jackman of Waterford when in 2013 she completed the course in 27 pocs and 7 metres (over the end line). Traditionally the most successful competitors have generally been goalkeepers, owing to the need

for goalkeepers to puck the ball far up the field in a game of hurling but increasingly there are more "outfield" Hurlers and Camogs out qualifying their goalkeeping contemporaries at county and provincial final level.

Poc Fada Hall of Fame[edit] Name County Number of Wins Years

Brendan Cummins Tipperary 9 2004,2005,2006,2007,2008

2011,2012,2013,2014,2015

Ger Cunningham Cork 7 1984 to 1990

Michael Shaughnessy Galway 3 1994 to 1996

Roll of Honour[edit] Poc Fada Seniors[edit]

Year Winner County Number of pucks

1961 Vincent Godfrey Limerick 52

1962 Ollie Walsh Kilkenny 67

1963 Ollie Walsh

Tom Geary

Dinny Donnelly

Kilkenny

Waterford

Meath

70

1964 Oliver Gough Kilkenny

1965 Denis Murphy Cork

1966 Finbar O'Neill Cork

1967 Finbar O'Neill Cork

1968 Finbar O'Neill Cork

1969 Liam Tobin Waterford

1970­80 Eleven year hiatus

1981 Pat Hartigan Limerick

1982 Gerry Goodwin Tyrone

1983 Pat Hartigan Limerick

1984 Ger Cunningham Cork

1985 Ger Cunningham Cork

1986 Ger Cunningham Cork

1987 Ger Cunningham Cork

1988 Ger Cunningham Cork

1989 Ger Cunningham Cork

1990 Ger Cunningham Cork

1991 Tommy Quaid Limerick

1992 Albert Kelly Offaly

1993 Albert Kelly Offaly

1994 Michael Shaughnessy Galway

1995 Michael Shaughnessy Galway

1996 Michael Shaughnessy Galway

1997 Colin Byrne Wicklow

1998 Albert Kelly Offaly

1999 Davy Fitzgerald Clare

2000 Colin Byrne Wicklow 50

2001 Albert Shanahan Limerick 49 §

2002 Davy Fitzgerald Clare 52

2003 Paul Dunne Louth 54

2004 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 48

2005 Albert Shanahan Limerick 58

2006 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 52

2007 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 49

2008 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 49

2009 Gerry Fallon Roscommon 60 (strong wind)

2010 Graham Clarke Down 51

2011 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 50

2012 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 39 §

2013 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 51

2014 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 54

2015 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 57

§ short course 2001 ­ took place at the Dundalk Racecourse (two and a half­mile) due to foot­and­mouth disease. § Less mountainous course 2012 ­ The Senior Men's competition was played over the "Lower" course due to the prevailing weather conditions on Finals' Day. They started at the 2.5 km course start line pucking to "An Gábhlan" and back to the start line where they turned and repeated the course for a second time. The course distance was also 5 km.

Shinty (Scottish Gaelic: camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England] and other areas in the world where Scottish Highlanders migrated.

While comparisons are often made with field hockey, the two games have several important differences. In shinty, a player is allowed to play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of the stick, called a caman, which is wooden and slanted on both sides. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not come down on an opponent's stick, a practice called hacking. Players may also tackle using the body as long as it is shoulder­to­shoulder.

The game was derived from the same root as the Irish game of hurling and the Welsh game of Bando, but has developed unique rules and features. These rules are governed by the Camanachd Association. A composite rules shinty–hurling game has been developed, which allows Scotland and Ireland to play annual international matches.

Another sports with common ancestry is bandy, which is played on ice.

Game[edit] Playing area[edit] The objective of the game is to play a small ball into a goal, or "hail", erected at the ends of a 140 to 170­yard­long pitch. The game is traditionally played on grass, although as of 2009 the sport may be played on artificial turf.[2]

Shinty field (Winterton), Inveraray

Ball[edit] The ball is a hard solid sphere slightly smaller than a tennis ball chopped in half, consisting of a cork core covered by two pieces of leatherstitched together. The seam is raised. It is very similar to a hurling sliotar in that it resembles an American baseball with more pronounced stitching. The ball is usually white, but there is no statutory colour, black being a common colour for Kyles Athletic and fluorescent balls now being available.

Plastic balls or soft balls are often used in youth competitions such as the variant, "First Shinty".

Stick[edit] The ball is played using a caman, which is a stick of about 3 1∕2 ft (1.1 m) long with two slanted faces. Unlike the Irish camán, it has no blade. The caman is traditionally made of wood, traditionally ash but now more commonly hickory, and must not have any plate or metal attached to it. The caman would be made from any piece of wood with a hook in it, hence caman, from the Scottish and Irish Gaelic word, cam meaning bent or crooked. It can also be called a stick or club. The slant of the face will vary according to the position that the stick is used for.

Plastic camans are common in the youth variant "First Shinty".

The field of play

Rules of play A player can play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of the stick. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not come down on an opponent's stick, this is defined as hacking. A player may tackle using the body as long as this is shoulder­to­shoulder as in Association Football (soccer).

A player may only stop the ball with the stick, the chest, two feet together or one foot on the ground. Only the goalkeeper may use his hands and then only with an open palm. He may not catch it. Playing the ball with the head constitutes a foul whether intentional or not as it is considered dangerous play. Other examples of dangerous play, which will be penalised, are players, while grounded, playing the ball and reckless swinging of the caman in the air, which might endanger another player.

A player doing keepy­uppy.

Fouls result in a free­hit, which is indirect unless the foul is committed in the penalty area, commonly referred to as "The D". This results in a penalty hit from 20 yards.

A ball played by a team over the opposing bye line results in a goal hit from the edge of the D, a ball played by a team over their own results in a corner. A ball hit over the sideline results in a shy. A shinty shy involves the taker tossing the ball above his head and hitting the ball with the shaft of the caman. The ball must be directly overhead when struck to be legal.

Scoring[edit] The winner of a game of shinty is the team that scores the most goals. A team scores a goal "when the whole of the ball has passed over the goal­line and under the cross­bar". A goal can only be scored with the caman; there is no goal when the ball "has been kicked, carried or propelled by hand or arm by a player of the attacking side." A goal can not be scored directly from a free­hit.[3]

Team size[edit] Teams consist of 12 players, including a goalkeeper. A match is played over two halves of 45 minutes. With the exception of the goalkeeper, no player is allowed to play the ball with his

hands. There are also variants with smaller sides, with some adjustments in the field size and duration of play.

Substitutions[edit] As with sports such as football, shinty originally did not have substitutes. These were introduced in the 1960s, progressively expanding to allow a maximum of three substitutions per game. As of 2011, a rule change allowed for rolling substitutions to be made at senior level.[4] It was already a common place practice at youth level.

Origins[edit] Shinty is older than the recorded history of Scotland and is thought to predate Christianity. Hurling, which is a similar game to shinty, is derived from the historic game common to both peoples which has been a distinct Irish pastime for at least 2,000 years.[5]Shinty/Hurling appears prominently in the legend of Cúchulainn, the Celtic mythology hero.[6] A similar game was played on the Isle of Man known as cammag, a name cognate with camanachd. The old form of hurling played in the northern half of Ireland, called "commons", resembled shinty more closely than the standardised form of hurling of today. Like shinty, it was commonly known as camánacht and was traditionally played in winter.

The origins of the name shinty are uncertain. There is a theory that the name was derived from the cries used in the game; shin ye, shin you and shin t'ye, other dialect names were shinnins, shinnack and shinnup,[7] or as Hugh Dan MacLennan proposes from the Scottish Gaelic sìnteag.[6] However, there was never one all encompassing name for the game, as it held different names from glen to glen, including cluich­bhall (play­ball in English) and in the Scottish Lowlands, where it was formerly referred to as Hailes,common/cammon (caman), cammock (from Scottish Gaelic camag), knotty and various other names, as well as the terms still used to refer to it in modern Gaelic, camanachd oriomain.

The game was traditionally played through the winter months, with New Year's Day being the day when whole villages would gather together to play games featuring teams of up to several hundred a side, players often using any piece of wood with a hook as a caman. In Uist, stalks of seaweed were put to use due to a lack of trees. Modern camans are made from several laminates of ash or hickory, which are glued and cut into shape, although one­piece camans were still commonplace until the early 1980s. The ball was traditionally a round piece of wood or bone, sometimes called a cnapag, but soon developed into the worsted leather balls used today.

Organisation[edit] For more information regarding the organisation of the sport, see Camanachd Association In common with many sports, it became formalised in the Victorian Era and the first organised clubs were established in cities such as Glasgow and London where there were thousands of Gaels resident.[8]

In 1887, a historic game was played between Glenurquhart Shinty Club and Strathglass Shinty Club in Inverness. This game was attended by thousands of people and was a major milestone in developing a set of common rules. This fixture was to be repeated on 12 January 2007 in Inverness as the opening centrepiece of the Highland 2007 celebrations in Scotland, but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The modern sport is governed by the Camanachd Association (Scots Gaelic: Comann na Camanachd). The association came into being in the late Victorian era in as a means of formulating common rules to unite the various different codes and rules which differed between

neighbouring glens, in this the sport shares similarities with other sports that became organised around this time. The first meeting of the Camanachd Association was held in Kingussie in 1893.

The Camanachd Association maintained its initial structure for much of its first century, but the 'Future of Shinty' Report published in 1981 led to a compete restructuring of the way in which shinty was organised and managed. That, in turn, led to the move away from a dependence on volunteers to govern the sport, to the Association's first salaried employees being employed.[9]

Competitions[edit]

Map of Scotland showing North/South divide in shinty

North tactics

South tactics

Clubs compete in various competitions, both cup and league, on a national and also North/South basis. While the top Premier Division has been played on a Scotland­wide basis since 1996, the lower leagues are based on geography. Many clubs run second teams that also compete in these leagues against clubs with only one senior side.

League shinty

League shinty was originally organised on a regional basis, with distinct competitions for the North District and at one time, two separate leagues for Argyll (the Dunn League) and the Southern League, for clubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh and the surrounding areas. Over time, there have been moves to amalgamate leagues and, since the 1980s, a push for national competition at the highest levels. In the modern era of league shinty, Kingussie have been unsurpassed in their domination of the sport; according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, Kingussie is world sport's most successful sporting team of all time,[10] winning 20 consecutive

league championships and going 4 years without losing a single fixture in the early 1990s. This unmatched run of dominance was ended on 2 September 2006 by rivals Newtonmore, who defeated Oban Camanachd 2­0 to ensure that Kingussie could not catch the team at the top of the Premier Division. However, Newtonmore were unable to replace their neighbours as champions, as the first post­Kingussie champions were confirmed as Fort William, who sealed the title on 30 September 2006 having won their games in hand over Newtonmore. Kingussie regained the title in 2007. Since 2010, Newtonmore has been the dominant league force.

Cup shinty[edit] League shinty has always been seen as being less important than cup shinty and the premier national competition remains the Scottish Cup or the Camanachd Association Challenge Cup (the Camanachd Cup for short) which has also been dominated by Kingussie in the last twenty years. The other dominant team in shinty history has been Newtonmore, Kingussie's near neighbours. However, these two teams only met in the Camanachd Cup Final for the first time in 1984 as before 1983 the competition was designed to ensure the final was a North/South affair.

The Macaulay Cup still preserves this guaranteed North/South Final. There are also national equivalents for the Camanachd Cup for intermediate and junior teams. There are also regional cups for both senior and junior teams; the MacTavish Cup is the senior cup for the North and the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup is the one for the South.

There are also many cups that are played as annual events between two local rivals, the Lovat Cup between Lovat and Beauly is the most prestigious of these.

Playing season[edit] Shinty was traditionally played through the winter, based around the tradition of the "Iomain Challainn", where New Year was marked by a game between neighbouring parishes. The summer was left free for seasonal work and friendly tournaments. The Winter season always ran over, however, and many teams would find themselves finishing the previous season only weeks before the next one would start.

In 2003, shinty clubs voted for a trial period of two years of a summer season from March to October, with a view to moving permanently to summer shinty if the experiment was judged to be a success. Despite opposition from the "Big Two", Kingussie and Newtonmore, and other small groups in the game, an EGM in November 2005 voted by an overwhelming majority (well over the required two thirds) to make summer shinty the basis upon which the game would proceed.[10]

There have been teething problems since the move to summer shinty, with a couple of teams being culpable for the season running over into November and December. Season 2010 saw the league season finished by the first weekend in October, almost on schedule.

Shinty does still get played during the winter, in University Shinty which teams compete for the second most valuable trophy in Scottish sport ­ the Littlejohn Vase ­ and in New Year fixtures, the most prestigious of which is the Lovat Cup, played between Beauly and Lovat.[1]

Media coverage

Local papers, such as the West Highland Free Press, The Buteman, the Oban Times and the Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard, have in­depth shinty reports. The Inverness­based media reduce shinty coverage to one summary of the whole weekend's action as do national newspapers, such as the Sunday Herald and the Sunday Post. The only significant national press coverage is of the Camanachd Cup final.

The first ever shinty match broadcast live on television was the 1964 Celtic Society Cup Final in 1964.[11] Although Camanachd Cup finals and internationals have been shown over the years, 2006 marked the first ever regular TV deal for shinty with matches being shown on the BBC Sports show Spòrs. This was then followed by the STV show "An Caman".

2009 saw the Camanachd Association sign a deal with BBC Alba to broadcast all national finals as well as the Marine Harvest Festival. The MacAulay Cup and Camanachd Cup final were also shown on BBC Two. There is also an increasing amount of shinty on the internet, with various clips garnering attention on video sites such as YouTube. 2011 was a disappointing year for TV coverage outside of the usual games, but 2012 saw several games filmed live on BBC Alba.

The sport is given a lot of exposure on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal by the programme, Spòrs na Seachdain, although English­language radio interest is usually restricted to the big events in the year. Commentary on the Camanachd Cup Final is provided in both English and Gaelic.

Shinty outside the Highlands[edit] Now predominantly a Highland game, there are also clubs found in Aberdeen, Aberdour(Fife), Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Cornwall, Oxford and even London. University Shinty is a popular section of the sport, with almost all Scotland's main universities possessing a team. Historically, Glasgow University, Aberdeen University and Edinburgh University have vied for supremacy, but in recent years, Strathclyde University, Robert Gordon's College, Dundee University, and the University of St. Andrews have risen to prominence. It is also played in the British Army, with The Scots Shinty Club keeping alive the tradition of the game being played in the Forces.

London Camanachd is a long established shinty club in England first established in the Victorian era. They do not play league matches but do sometimes compete in the Bullough Cup. They have historically been attached to the South District. They went into abeyance in 1992, but were reconstituted in 2005. They played the first officially recognised shinty match outside Scotland in 80 years on Saturday 22 July 2006 against the Highlanders. They now compete annually in the English Shinty Championships against rivals Cornwall as well as playing shinty­hurling matches and organising sporadic friendlies against visiting teams.

28 December 2010 saw Ireland hold its first dedicated shinty match in Westmeath, with participation from players who have played the Compromise rules Shinty/Hurling.[2]

A Cornwall Shinty Club was established in 2012 playing their first game on 21 April 2012 against London; the match finished a draw. They also entered the St Andrew's Sixes tournament in 2012. Following this, in December 2012, two more Cornish clubs were created; the first being the Combined Universities of Cornwall and the second being Mabe. These two teams put forward their best players to play for the Cornwall Shinty Club.

There was a team in Northallerton in the 1970s, which competed in six­a­sides; and on 1 August 2012 a re­vamped Northallerton Shinty Club was formed. The club is hoping to draw in a few former players, but wants to focus on raising awareness of the game in Yorkshire and bringing new local players into the game.

Shinty was previously played widely in England in the 19th century and early 20th century, with teams such as London Scots, Bolton Caledonian and Cottonopolis; Nottingham Forest F.C. was established by Shinty Players.[12]

Since 2012 London has hosted the annual "London Shinty Festival" which has been attended by Cornwall, London, Oxford, St Andrews university ladies team, and the Scots. It is an open tournament held in late September after the Shinty season is finished to allow any traveling teams the opportunity to attend,

Since 2013, a combined English Shinty Association side has entered the Bullough cup, being beaten in 2013 by Tayforth and then in 2014 by Ballachulish.

Shinty is also spreading to North America; though originally played in the 18th and 19th century by Scottish immigrants, the sport died out. However, it is enjoying a revival; teams such as Northern California Camanachd Club (NCCC), Central California Cammanchd (CCC)), and Oregon Shinty­Camanachd (OSC) play at Highland Games and other venues across the USA. See Shinty in North America. or go to US Camanachd at http://www.uscamanachd.org.

Shinty and hurling internationals[edit] In recognition of shinty's shared roots with hurling, an annual international between the two codes from Scotland and Ireland is played on a home and away basis usingcomposite rules. In recent years, the Irish have had the upper hand, but the Scots won the fixture narrowly in 2005 and again in 2006, this time at Croke Park, Dublin, albeit with the Irish fielding weaker players from the second tier Christy Ring Cup. Scotland made it four in a row when they won in 2008.

In popular culture[edit] Billy Connolly suggested in September 2009 that shinty should become Scotland's

national sport because the Scotland football team's performances had been so bad.[13]

Runrig have referred to shinty in several songs, "Recovery", "Pride of the Summer" and most explicitly in the song "Clash of the Ash", which is specifically about the sport.

The accordionist Gary Innes has also played for Scotland 8 times at shinty. Some shinty players have asserted that Quidditch, the fictional sport in the Harry

Potter book and film series by J.K. Rowling was inspired by shinty.

The TV series Hamish MacBeth featured a shinty match as an integral part of the plot of the episode "More Than A Game", with real shinty players, Dallas Young of Kingussie and Neil "Ach" MacRae of Kinlochshiel Shinty Club, playing pivotal roles.

A shinty training session is shown in the second episode of the BBC series Monty Halls' Great Escape.

A shinty game is shown on the Starz TV show Outlander in episode 4­The Gathering. A "shinty ball" is mentioned by Australian Celtic Punk band the Rumjacks in their

2010 song "An Irish Pub Song." The song is a tongue­in­cheek commentary on the explosive popularity of "Irish pubs" in Australia.

Shinty ­ iomain or camanachd in Scottish Gaelic ­ was introduced to Scotland along with Christianity and the Gaelic language nearly two thousand years ago by Irish missionaries. Indeed, it is worth noting, 1,400 years after St Columba's death, that the venerable Saint is said to have arrived on these shores as a result of a little local difficulty at an Irish hurling match. (2) While shinty's place in world sport has been recognised in terms of its historical pedigree and connection with its cultural cousin of hurling in Ireland, its provenance world­wide and its significance as one of the cultural anchors which emphasised the "Scottish­ness" of Gaels forced abroad has been consistently under­estimated, if not ignored completely. Shinty, or some similar version of stick and ball games, has been played through time virtually UK­wide, from wind­swept St Kilda to the more hospitable and gentler plains of the Scottish Borders; from the Yorkshire moors to Blackheath in London. It is a game of great antiquity. It is linked (not always with complete accuracy) to golf and ice hockey, and is also to be found in a much wider space from the plains of Montevideo in the mid­nineteenth century, to Toronto and Canada's Maritime Provinces; from the blistering heat of New Year's Day in Australia 150 years ago, to Cape Town and also the war­ravaged wastes of Europe through two World Wars. Shinty, as with many other aspects of Highland heritage (notably the Gaelic language) has been frequently threatened: by Statute, the influence of Sabbatarianism following the Reformation, the savage

dislocation of the Highland Clearances and in more modern times, by harsh economic reality and a falling birth­rate. This paper will, in defining shinty's place and space in world sport: 1 Summarise the origins of the game now known as shinty 2 Establish its presence world­wide 3 Focus on its provenance in England 4 Re­assess shinty's "place and space in world sport". The modern game of camanachd (shinty), is played to the following rules (in summary): The field of play is rectangular, not more than 170 yards (155 metres) nor less than 140 yards (128 metres) and its breadth not more than 80 yards (73 metres) nor less than 70 yards (64 metres), with minimalist markings. Scoring is by goals which consist of two upright posts, equidistant from the corner flags and 12 feet (3.66 metres) apart, joined by a horizontal cross­bar, 10 feet (3.05 metres) from the ground. The goal has a net attached to the uprights and cross­bars, as in Association Football. The ball is spherical, made of cork and worsted inside, the outer cover of leather or some other approved material, not more than eight inches (20 cms) and not less than 7.5 inches (19 cms) in circumference. The weight of the ball at the start of the game should not be more than 3 ounces (85 gms) nor less than 2.5 ounces (70 gms). In previous times balls have been made of India Rubber, wood, lemons, sheep droppings and sheep's vertebrae ­ basically anything which could be hit with a wide variety of curved sticks. Players' equipment and apparel, apart from the obvious stick (known as a caman) is also minimal: shin guards and strips basically, safety being paramount. Helmets and face­guards are now more common, à la hurling and cricket, and helmets are compulsory for certain younger players. The caman must conform to the following standard: the head must not be of a size larger than can pass through a ring with a diameter of 2.5 inches (6.3 cms); no plates, screws, or metal in any form shall be attached to or form part of the caman. (The Irish game of hurling allows such attachments.) A player whose caman is broken during a game may play the ball before obtaining a replacement caman, providing the broken caman is not deemed dangerous to himself or another player. Origins There is no doubt that shinty (or more accurately, some early form of the stick and ball game) was played in pagan times, but whether it was, as has been suggested 3 "a recognisable relic of a very ancient, pagan, magical fertility rite", I doubt, although the folk­lore collector Reverend Robert C. MacLagan, in somewhat bizarre fashion, also postulated some phallic significance in relation to the shinty stick. (4) As Anne Ross details in her important The Pagan Celts, (5) board games were very popular amongst the ancient Celts, and no doubt helped to pass the long evenings. Field games were also encouraged. Cù Chulainn, the greatest of all the Irish heroes, excelled at such games. Originally known as Sètanta, he won his name by driving a ball through the foaming mouth of a dog, forcing the brute's entrails through the other end. This prodigious feat, we are told in Tàin Bo Cuailgne (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), ensured that the women of Ulster went forth to meet him "stark naked" and bared their breasts to him. Our hero was, according to the tale, "placed in three vats of water to quench the ardour of his wrath".(6) Hurling, shinty's sporting and cultural cousin, has such a distant ancestry that it is impossible to pin down its origins. According to the evidence of Irish myth and legend, the game had its devoted followers more than a thousand years before Christ. The first recorded reference dates to the Battle of Moytura, near Cong, County Mayo, in 1272 BC between the native Fir Bolg and the invading Tuatha De Danann, who were demanding half the country. When the request was refused, a battle was inevitable. While the sides were preparing for the fray it was agreed to have a hurling contest between twenty­seven of the best players from each side. The match began. Many a blow was, predictably, dealt on legs and arms "till their bones were broken and bruised and they fell outstretched on the turf and the match ended." The Fir Bolg won, fell upon their opponents, and then slew them.(7) There was also Sgàthach, the warrior queen who trained the Irish heroes in the south end of the Isle of Skye. The heroes arrived, with three bounds across the Irish Sea, to perform their legendary feats; tales which are brilliantly satirised by Flann O'Brien in his Snàmh dà eun ("At­Swim­Two­Birds").

We know that the Tailtean Games, said to be the oldest recorded organised sports in the world, were held in Ireland as far back as approximately 1800BC, and that they went on until 1180AD. Stick and ball games would have been central to their performance. But even before that, as Benny Peiser points out, the Egyptians are to be found playing games with what appear to be sticks and balls some 4,000 years ago.(8) The earliest historical evidence regarding the stick and ball games of the Gael is to be found in an Irish document dating to the twelfth century ­ a version of the deeds of the ubiquitous Cù Chulainn, where the word caman is clearly seen.(9) The game at home In Scottish terms, the earliest written reference to shinty or "schynnie" is in 1589, in the Kirk Session Records of Glasgow.(10) The Club of True Highlanders regarded shinty as being: undoubtedly the oldest known Keltic sport or pastime. The game is also called Cluich bhall, shinnie, shinty, bandy, hurling, hockey, and at one time was a universal and favourite game of the whole of Keltland....The origin of this game is lost in the midst of ages... indeed, it is said, and, no doubt, with great truth, that the game of Camanachd, or club playing, was introduced into the Green Isle by the immediate descendants of Noah. On such authority we may rationally conclude that it was played by Noah himself; and if by Noah, in all probability by Adam and his sons.(11) The Book of the Club of True Highlanders is a remarkable piece of work published by the Society of True Highlanders in 1881. The Club's aims, according to one shinty historian, were: buried beneath an ant­heap of balderdash about supporting the "Dress, Language, Music and Characteristics of our illustrious and ancient race in the Highlands and Isles of Scotland." ... They held three­day hunts, Gothic theatricals, balls and Highland Games at which cows were first felled with a hammer, then torn to pieces and barbecued.(12) Edited by C. MacIntyre North, the book (published in two volumes) is a most fascinating text relating to several (sometimes completely spurious) aspects of Highland and Gaelic culture and is apparently based on material allegedly gathered in the 1870s.(13) The term "shinty" itself requires some explanation. Iomain, or more latterly camanachd, were the Gaelic terms, meaning driving. This is "An English View of Shinty" in 1893, the year the game took on the first vestiges of its organised form, with the establishment of the ruling body, the Camanachd Association: Camanachd is not an orchid; nor is it a new biological eccentricity, nor the latest freak of pathological nomenclature. It is a recreation. In Scotland there are three games which can best claim to be native to the soil ­ golf, curling and shinty and the greatest of these is shinty, whereof the Gaelic name is camanachd....(14 "Shinty"(or its variants shindy, shinnie, shindig etc), however, has proved much more contentious, and the general view is that it is derived from the Gaelic sinteag ­ a "leap, bound". Shinnie, in fact is held to be the older of the two (around 1600) with shintie replacing it some 100 years later. According to the sport's first real historian, Father Ninian MacDonald, OSB: Hurling or hurley became the English equivalent used in Ireland (which must be carefully distinguished from Hurling as practised in Cornwall). In Cheshire we find "baddin," in Lincolnshire "crabsow," in Fifeshire "carrick," in Dorsetshire "scrush," and in Gloucestershire "not" (from the knotty piece of wood used as a ball). In other districts we find "chinnup, camp, crabsowl, clubby, humney, shinnup, shinney­law, shinney," and so on.(15) Shinty is still, strictly, an amateur game. While sponsorship may be a relatively modern concept in its delivery of support to the sport, it is clear that the patronage offered by the lairds and gentry was well established across the Highlands, and indeed Scotland, in the nineteenth century. Sir Aeneas MacKintosh described the Camack or Shinty matches as follows, in his "Notes descriptive and Historical, Principally relating to the Parish of Moy in Strathdearn", published in 1892. Playing at Shiney is thus performed ­ an equal number of men drawn up on opposite sides, having clubs in their hands, each party has a goal, and which party drives a wooden ball to their adversaries (sic) goal, wins the game, which is rewarded by a share of a cask of whiskey, on which both parties get drunk. This game is often played upon the ice, by one parish against another, when they come to blows if intoxicated, the players (sic) legs being frequently broke, may give it the name of Shiney.(16) Given the presence of the aqua vitae, it should be no surprise that there was no event of greater importance in connection with the celebration of the advent of the New Year in the Highlands than the

New Year's Day Shinty Match. Alexander Campbell, in his epic poem The Grampian's Desolate (1804), added the following notes to his original work as a footnote: A cask of whisky strong, the victor's prize: The rural sports and pastimes of the Gael are fast hastening into desuetude. Of the very few of those gymnastic exercises that still remain, wrestling, putting the stone, and shinny, or shinty (creatan) are practised occasionally. The latter exercise, of which I have attempted a description, is by far the most active and arduous of our rural pastimes. Shinny is a game performed with a wooden ball, and sticks or clubs crooked at one of the extremities, for the purpose of hitting the ball with more address and certainty.(17) It was usual in the Highlands to have the principal games of shinty at New Year or Old New Year, although other festivals were also marked in other areas of the country as well. These contests were often between two districts or parishes, with no limit to the numbers taking part. Players arrived and departed at will, and often matches continued from the forenoon until darkness fell. There was a tradition in Beauly near Inverness that prizes often took the form of "right" or "monopoly" of raiding nearby farmers' stocks or produce without opposition. The practice was continued in some Highland areas in the early 1900s by younger boys where the major prize for opposing shinty teams was the right to raid, without permission, the best farm's vegetable plot at Halloween.(18) More conventionally, however, side bets were often placed by lairds, and the games held, (most usually without rules, but sometimes with a specific caveat), were no more than a means of settling old (or new) scores. Mrs M MacLeod Banks, in her British Calendar Customs, drew heavily on the work of Ninian MacDonald and MacLagan. She introduces shinty thus: Shinty. The chief game in Scotland at New Year was Shinty, or Shinny, the second probably the oldest form of the name. Played with a bent or curved stick, the caman, its Gaelic name was Camanachd, shortened to Cammock; it was also known as Iomain, driving, though this name applied as well to football, or any game in which a ball was driven forward.(19) Mrs Banks then goes on to reproduce some valuable source material relating to the games in the oral tradition and especially the Tales, and the rules, particularly the selection of the captains. She concludes by advising that "A piper played before and after the game... At the end the chief, or laird, gave a dinner, or, failing him, a number were entertained at the house of a mutual friend. In the evening a ball was given, open to all."(20) One of the best sources for determining shinty's "place and space" is the dictionary. For example, the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: (schinnie,)/shinnie/ shiny/ shinye, n, [Obscure. Cf. Gaelic sinteag a skip, a pace, later Scots shinty (1769) thegame, (1773) the stick, 18th century English shinney (1794) the stick.] A game played with a stick curved at one end like a hockey stick and used for striking a ball, also, the stick itself. [With respectt to the Kirk­yeard, that ther be no playing at golf, carrict, shinnie (Liber Coll. Glasgow, p. lxviii shinny], in the High Kirk, or Kirjk­yard, or Blackfriar Kirk yeard, either Sunday or week day; 1589 Glasgow Kirk S. 16 Oct. in Wodrow Life of Mr David Weems 14 in Biog. Coll. II (Maitland Club 1845).] The bairnes of France have the exercise of the tap, the pery, the cleking, and (instead of our gouf, which they know not) they have shinyes; 1665­7 Lauder Journal, 125, He did transub Himself to ball, the Parliament to club, Which will him holl when right teased at ane blow Or els Sir Patrick will be the shinnie goe; c 1690 Bk. Pasquils 181.21 In Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1825) shinty is to be found sandwiched between "Shinnock" and "Shiolag": SHINNOCK, s. The same with shinty, a game, Loth. SHINTY, s. 1. A game in which bats, somewhat resembling a golf­club, are used. In London this game is called hockey. It seems to be the same which is designed not in Gloucest.; the name being, borrowed from the ball, which is "made of a knotty piece of wood;" Gl. Grose. The game is also called Cammon. V. CAMMOCK.(22) Perhaps more surprisingly however, the English Dialect Dictionary (EDD) records the following: shinham in the north of England, shinnins and shinnop in Yorkshire, and shinny and shinty in the north of England generally, and as far south as Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Gloucestershire. EDD mentions shinty being played in Workington in Cumberland as late as 1888, when two boys were fined for playing the

game in the street and a third "was let off, having been well thrashed by his parent". Finally, EDD records shinnop, as well as meaning the ball­and­stick game "to trip any one up on the ice" in the East Riding of Yorkshire, possibly indicating the game having been played there on ice.(23) The Oban Times of 8 January, 1870 devoted eighteen column inches to an article on "New Year Customs in the West Highlands". As many as forty people with sticks would do the Calluinn round (as it was known in Gaelic) it states, the sticks being used as "joists and supports" eventually! The grand finale, the article tells us, is the shinty match ­ "usually about ten a.m. on New Year's morning": Every able­bodied male inhabitant, from both sides of the country, for a distance of many miles each way, meet on a common near the centre of the parish, where a great match of playing the club is held between the two sides of the district... I have seen as many as 2,000 men engaged in these contests, besides a vast number of visitors. Usually the stakes were simply the honour of either half of the district, but occasionally a hogs­head of whiskey was given to the winners by the proprietor. This liberality led to such scenes of drinking, and sometimes of fighting, that in recent years he wisely refrained from a present in the train of which were consequences so disagreeable. Even then, however, shinty was of much wider interest than just being the expression of some local conflict, or a landlord's patronage. The view from outside ­ and it is an important one for a number of reasons ­ was as follows in The Penny Magazine of 31 January 1835. Produced by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, the Magazine's cover provides us with a useful visual representation of shinty as it was perceived at the time: (24) In the Highlands of Scotland it is customary for persons to amuse themselves, in the winter season, with a game which is called "shinty". This sport has a considerable resemblance to that which is denominated "hurling" in England, and which Strutt describes under that name. The shinty is played with a small hard ball, which is generally made of wood, and each player is furnished with a curved stick somewhat resembling that which is used by golf players... Large parties assemble during Christmas holidays, one parish sometimes making a match against another. In the struggles between the contending players many hard blows are given, and more frequently a shin is broken, or by rarer chance some more serious accident may occur. This account of shinty may be short on specifics in terms of location and identity, but the formula used in the description of play is important because of the detail it reveals of the game ­ its rules and rationale. The social aspect and the standing of the individuals taking part is also significant, as well as its confirmation that the game was played as part of the Christmas festival. It should be noted that there was a very active shinty scene south of Hadrian's Wall in the nineteenth century. The pages of the Highlander newspaper, particularly in the late 1870s and early 1880s, read more like an account of English Premier league football matches with details of games and frequent references to Birmingham, Manchester Camanachd, Old Trafford, the Highland Camanachd Club of London, Cottonopolis, Bolton, Nottingham Forest and Stamford Bridge, to name but a few. The London Camanachd Club had direct links through preceding clubs in the metropolis to the Highland Camanachd Club of London, which was formed in March 1878. This was not, however, the first club established in England. That singular honour belongs to Cottonopolis, Manchester, the Camanachd Club formed prior to December, 1875. The Manchester Camanachd Club held interclub matches on Christmas and New Year's Days and they also played a 30­a­side game against a local Scottish organisation, the Manchester and Salford Caledonian Club, on Christmas Day, 1877. The Bolton Caledonian Camanachd Club was formed on 19 December 1877, with more than 50 members. The first meeting between the clubs did not take place till 8 February 1879 at Old Trafford, Manchester, where the home team was victorious. Several matches between the two clubs were played in the following years including one at Bolton for the benefit of the local infirmary. It is not certain when the Manchester and Bolton clubs ceased playing shinty. The last known contest between the two was in April 1881.(25) The Highlander is not the only valuable newspaper though. The Inverness Courier of 23 June 1841 tells us that: Highlanders in London were greatly interested in a shinty match organised by the committee of a body which called itself `The Society of True Highlanders'. The match took place in Copenhagen Fields, `an extent of rich meadow land lying on the outskirts of Islington.' There was much enthusiasm and keenly contested games. It is said that before the gathering half the glens of Lochaber had been ransacked for shinty clubs. The game abroad

The feverish activity which characterises shinty in Scotland and England in the mid­nineteenth century was matched in the farthest­flung corners of the globe ­ eventually in a fantasy world of Celtic twilight, as we read in the Inverness Courier of 13 July 1842, relating an account of a match on 4 April, on the plains of Montevideo: After sides were called, and a few other preliminaries arranged, playing commenced, and was carried on with great spirit till four P.M., when the players sat down on the grass and partook of an asado de carvo con cuero (beef roasted with the hide on,) and plenty of Ferintosh (Aldourie and Brackla being scarce.)(26) Dancing then followed, and much else by way of celebration. Similar scenes were also enacted from the Cape of Good Hope to Toronto in Canada, to New York, where a team was formed in 1903.27 In the summer of 1995, Effie Rankine of North Uist, who has stayed in Mabou, Cape Breton Island since the 1970s, recited for me a version of the poem "Tiugainn a dh'iomain" ("Come and play shinty") her mother had learned in North Uist. She also recited this short New Year verse from Mabou itself, which shows how the tradition survived on the other side of the Atlantic. Duan Challuinn Oidhche Chullainn, Challainn, chruaidh Thàinig mi le'm dhuan gu tigh Mis' Alasdair Mac Iain Mhòir Gabhaidh mi mòran leis a mhòran Gabhaidh mi an t­ìm leis an aran Agus gabhaidh mi an t­aran leis fhèin A'chailleach chòsagach, chòsagach Na geàrr d' òrdag leig a staigh mi.(28) This verse was originally recited for Effie by Johnnie White of Cape Mabou and related to the turn of the century. When Effie asked about the tradition of celebrating New Year, Johnnie replied "'S e na camain a bh'aca a' bualadh nan tighean" ­ "it was shinty sticks they had hitting the houses." This remarkable transference and survival of the oral tradition is explained by the dislocation of thousands of people from the Highlands to the far sides of the world during the infamous Highland Clearances. The songs and stories which survived (and sustained) the mass movement of Highland people in the nineteenth century, (particularly during the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s), are the main source for the delineation of one of the most interesting aspects of shinty's space and place. Canada has been reasonably well dealt with, although there is still scope for further work on the survival of the customs and pastimes in Alba Nuadh (Nova Scotia) in particular.(29) However, one of the standard works on the history of Scots in Australia states: Some other Scottish sports have not taken on at all. (Curling requires frozen lakes, which are in short supply in this country. Shinty is very similar to the Irish game of hurling, and some Highland shinty players may have formed the kindred game in Australia, but shinty itself is unknown.)(30) This is a complete mis­representation of the facts and a distortion of what actually happened. The earliest evidence I have so far located of shinty actually being played in Australia is in the Port Phillip Patriot of 6 January 1842. Shinty. On New Year's Day a splendid game at the good old Scotch game of shinty came off on Mr Donald McLean's farm on the Merri Creek. About twenty stalwart Highlanders ranged on either side, and the game was so keenly contested that after a four hours' struggle under the broiling heat of the mid­day sun the parties were fain to withdraw the game, neither party being able to gain the victory. Two year's earlier, the journal of the Argyllshire farmer Niel Black reveals that the "broiling heat" may, in fact, have been too much for the Gaels who wished to indulge in their traditional New Year pastime: The mode in which the New Year was welcomed out here was to keep up a constant firing but was not troubled with first footing. We had a quiet New Year, different indeed from any I had ever seen before. I dined with Eddington but there was no party in either place. It would have been hard work here to play the Shinty or dance in the heat we have had at present but I thought it might be done.(31)

Perhaps the most convincing evidence of shinty's translation to Australia is a water­colour painting ascribed to the Scot John Rae in 1842. The scene depicted appears to show shinty being played. It is one of a series painted by Rae, a Scotsman who apparently arrived in Sydney in December 1839, a year after the "St George", the vessel which left Oban in 1838, packed with Badenoch folk, and for which the Gaelic song "Guma Slàn do na fearaibh"32 was composed. The Oxford Companion to Australian Sport33 captions the same picture: "Hockey is supposedly depicted in this 1842 sketch by John Rae entitled A Game like Hockey in Hyde Park, Sydney." Further evidence of shinty in Australia at this time is to be found in the Hamilton Spectator, in the poem "Shinty", by Ossian Macpherson (34) who apparently wrote it when in London in 1842. It is remarkable for its similarity to other poems of the period, including material from Leabhar Comunn nam Fìor Ghàidheal ­ The Book of the Club of True Highlanders. Compare, for example, this from Macpherson in Australia, drawing on his poem, "Shinty", commending the establishment of a Caledonian Society to Scots of the neighbourhood: Get up, up, ilk Hielan' wight: The magpie coos, the morn is bright: Seize the camac: grasp it tight, An hasten awa' to shinty. Then drain the quaich, fill again, Loudly blaw the martial strain, An' welcome gie wi' micht an' main, To guid auld Hielan' shinty. with this, from The Book of the Club of True Highlanders: Deil tak' the glass! Gie me a capp, That I may drink a heart drap In health to ilka honest chap Wha loses that game of shinty.(35) It comes as no surprise then when one finds that in Geelong, Victoria, a society was established by Highlanders to maintain the culture and traditions of their people. "Comunn na Feinne" (The Fingalian Society) lasted from the 1850s to the 1940s and featured shinty at its New Year gatherings, particularly in its early years.(36) To go back 300 years on the American Continent, it is worth noting in terms of place and space that the Araucanians took horses from the Spaniards in the mid­1500s and moved frequently between Argentina and Chile, fighting the Spaniards on the coast and fleeing to the mountains for refuge. Secure in their mountain retreats, we know the Araucanians found time for sport and recreation.(37) Returning to Canada, the exact degree to which shinty influenced the development of stick sports there is one which is the matter of some debate, albeit that the argument is very much peripheral to the main difference of opinion about who, exactly, "invented" the game which is now called "ice hockey". There can be little doubt but that shinty was a contributory influence to the development of the sport: the indigenous Indian population were playing games called "shiney" in hundreds of different forms across the continent before the Gaels arrived.(38) It is well known too that when settlers from Wester Ross arrived in Pictou, Nova Scotia in 1773, aboard the vessel "Hector", there was a piper in the company.(39) Whether the assembled masses had taken time to pack shinty sticks amongst what little possessions they could take with them is extremely unlikely. There is little doubt, however, that once they got to Canada, they took up where they left off at home in many respects. Their sports and pastimes were just about all they had in the face of extreme adversity as the store of songs which has survived shows. It appears, however, that the people adapted as soon and as best they could in trying circumstances. Indeed, in the face of difficulties visited on them by certain members of the clergy, notably Reverend Norman MacLeod(40), the horrors of the natural environment may have paled into insignificance. This song was written by Alexander MacDonald, (Am Painter Mòr ­ the Big Painter), son of Donald and Sarah MacDonald, who was born in 1829, and died in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in April 1910. Big Donald moved from Lochaber in Scotland to Mabou c.1816. The song details how "young people's past still

seem to be largely the traditional ones ­ music and song at waulkings and weddings, the celebration of Calluinn and shinty playing." Bu chridheil ar duan An uair na Callainn, 'S mo luaidh na fir nach 'eil beò, A bheireadh dhuinn duais Bho fhuaim nan caman Gu luath 's a' ghloin' air a' bhòrd. (41) Finally, in relation to shinty in Canada, I refer to a book called Games and Songs of American Children. It was printed originally in Toronto in 1883 and re­printed again in 1963. Item number No 136 is "Hockey". This sport is also called Shinny. The ball is struck on the ground with a bent stick, the object being to drive it over the enemy's line. The game is much played on the ice, as has been the case from the oldest times in the North; for this is doubtless a descendant of the games with bat and ball described in Icelandic Sagas. The name of "Bat and Ball", also given to this sport, indicates that in many districts, this was the usual way of playing ball with the bat. Captain Archibald MacRa Chisholm of Strathglass, first Chief of the Camanachd Association claimed that he had played shinty in North America "with our cousins and relations in Canada, during the winter, on skates, with a splendid field of ice, 300 miles long, 200 miles wide, and the ice at least 10 feet thick". (42) If the game we know today as shinty had penetrated the Canadian consciousness to the extent just detailed, then it can safely be assumed that the ancient and noble game is very much part of the developing history of sport in Canada. Survival One of the most famous early depictions of shinty play is a painting called A Highland Landscape with a Game of Shinty. It is believed to have been painted around 1840, and was attributed to D. Cuncliffe (1826­55) and A. Smith of Mauchline (1840) by Father Ninian MacDonald in the frontispiece of his famous book Shinty. The painting contains all the elements of the (fictional) Highland scene of the time, with a shinty match the central action, pipers, dancers and Lairds set in an idyllic and completely over­romanticised Highland Glen. Shinty is often regarded as having retreated to the Gàidhealtachd (Highlands of Scotland) by the nineteenth century. From there it was re­introduced to the Lowlands by people who were encouraged or forced to move south. One example is the children at New Lanark, and this also appears to be the explanation for an active shinty club in the Vale of Leven in the 1870s; certainly it was Highlanders in exile who played in the matches which were held in Glasgow and Edinburgh (and much further afield) from the 1870s onwards. It has not hitherto been properly recognised, however, that a continuous tradition exists for shinty south of the Highland Line until the second half of the nineteenth century. There is extensive evidence of shinty as a children's game in the Lowlands, particularly in and around Edinburgh until about 1850. In 1816 members of the Burgess Golfing Society complained that their play on Bruntsfield Links was being made hazardous by shinty players.(43) There is also a significant corps of visual evidence confirming shinty's existence in the city at the same point. David Octavius Hill's A view of Edinburgh from the north of Castle Rock, showing the Castle, the New Town and the Firth of Forth, dates to approximately 1860.(44) Hill's panoramic vista of Edinburgh shows a group of youths playing shinty at the west end of Princes Street Gardens. There is also Charles Altamount Doyle's Duddingston Loch painting (1876), which clearly shows shinty play in Edinburgh.(45) It was in situations such as these no doubt that the law was most often invoked against shinty and other sports. Shinty, as with many other aspects of Highland heritage, and the Gaelic language in particular, has been frequently threatened by Royal edicts against popular and "uncontrollable" games, as well as by the Sabbatarianism which followed the Reformation, outlawing the playing of sports on the day of rest, and the rapid erosion of the Highland way of life. Clearly this intervention often came on an official basis, with policemen having an obvious role in stopping shinty. The County Police orders for Edinburghshire in 1842 included the following: Many complaints having been made of boys playing at "shinty or football" upon the public roads, the Constable is directed to put an immediate stop to it.(46)

The law was invoked against shinty in Oban, Argyllshire, in 1843: And be it Enacted, That every person shall be liable to a penalty of not more than forty shillings who on any road, bridge, or quay within the limits of this Act shall commit any of the following offences (that is to say,) Every person who shall fly any kite, or play at shinty, foot­ball, or other game, to the annoyance of passengers.(47) The value of statutory evidence lies, of course, in its authenticity, as opposed to the bogus nature of much contained in, for example, the Book of the Club of True Highlanders. That charge cannot be levelled against another volume which greatly enhances our knowledge of the "intriguing web with wayward strands" that is shinty.(48) One of the finest historical expositions of shinty, its time, place and context, as well as Gaelic vocabulary, is by the famous scholar Alexander MacBain of Inverness. However, the man to whom we owe the greatest debt of all was Alexander Littlejohn, a Londoner of Scottish origins who donated the fabulous Littlejohn trophy and Album to the University of Aberdeen, the trophy for play between student teams from the Scottish universities.(49) Conclusion A series of hugely interesting and memorable exhibitions matches 100 years ago were the immediate catalyst leading to the formation of the Camanachd Association, shinty's ruling body. The game has developed from a series of loosely organised clubs and structures, into a reasonably efficiently run and progressive organisation with around forty clubs of varying strengths competing on a regular basis, commanding national media attention and significant sponsorship. Shinty has approximately 2,000 players and between 2,500 and 3,000 members of the Camanachd Association, with teams playing at various levels from primary school age to senior (adult). The Association has a turn­over of approximately £100,000 annually. In Ireland, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), a multi­million pound business, administers an organisation of over 200,000 players ­ a ratio of 100 hurlers for every shinty player. However, Scotland remain unbeaten by Ireland in the four full international matches in the compromise game of shinty/hurling played between 1993 and 1996, including an historic first ever win on Irish soil by the Scots at that fourth meeting. Shinty in its organised form has come a long way since it fought to survive in the Glens of the Highlands and much further afield, in public parks as far from its main heartland as Wimbledon, Manchester, and even in Aberdeen, where the North of Spey Club, met on the links on 1 January 1849, "for conducting the long established Celtic game". The game is being dragged, often kicking and screaming, into the twenty­first century ­ round a roundabout, rather than at the cross­roads, I would venture. Developments such as Team Sport Scotland's initiative see shinty once again making inroads into many of the urban areas where, 100 years ago, it was played with gusto. The sport's dilemma is, however, whether to promote the ancient sport of the Gael as a modern, vibrant game, or to preserve it as a quaint aspect of Highland culture. It has, after all, survived the ravages of two World Wars and has also seen off the many economic disasters which have beset the Highlands; decisions taken by executives of multi­national oil companies in the US, or Admirals of their navy to set sail for home. The falling birth­rate and school closures are but another historical affliction affecting the game in rural areas. Shinty's players and administrators regard their sport, quite rightly in my view, as one of the greatest games in the world. For life­force and continuing success, however, the game must continue to aspire to skill and spectacle at the highest level. Shinty is also one of Scotland's truly national ­ indeed international ­ assets, which has an important, and hitherto largely under­valued pedigree and provenance world­wide. For too long now historians, and particularly sports historians, have at best under­valued, at worst ignored, shinty's rightful place and space in world sport.

The Shinty/Hurling International Series is an annual sports competition played annually between the Ireland national hurling team(selected by the Gaelic Athletic Association) and Scotland national shinty team (selected by the Camanachd Association). The series is conducted

according to the rules of Shinty/Hurling, which is a hybrid sport consisting of a mixture of rules from the Scottish sport of Shintyand the Irish sport of Hurling.

Matches are played at men's senior, men's under 21 and women's levels, with Ireland having had the most success in recent years, winning the last six senior series.[1]

History[edit] The first known international fixture between a Scottish shinty team and Irish hurling team occurred in 1896, when the London Camanchd and London GAA local clubs met in a friendly. The following year, the first official series featuring an amalgamation of rules from both sports, occurred at Celtic Park in Scotland between Glasgow Cowal and Dublin Celtic. International tests between all­Scotland and all­Ireland teams were played intermittently prior to World War II, though the anti­British sentiment of the GAA prevented a formalised series from occurring until the 1970s.[2] It was not until 2003 that the Camanachd Association and the Gaelic Athletic Association committed to a yearly series, though in recent years the series has been changed from a single test series to a two test aggregate points series.[3]

In 2013, a sport, known as Iomain, which incorporates a stick that is created specifically for the hybrid game, was trialled at Croke Park, with a view to it being introduced as a replacement for the current series.[4] Currently, the scoring system operates as follows:[5]

Goal = 3 points Over = 2 points (if struck from a free or from more than 65 metres) Over = 1 point (from general run of play)

Results[edit] Men (2003–09)[edit]

One test match per year

Tournament

Date Host nation

Result Venue Winner Reference

2003 25 October

Scotland

Ireland 5–9

Scotland 1–13

Bught Park, Inverness

Ireland

2004 16 October

Ireland Ireland 3–10

Scotland 4–7

Ratoath, County Meath

Draw Report

2005 8 October 2005

Scotland

Scotland 4–8

Ireland 2–11

Bught Park, Inverness

Scotland

2006 5 November 2006

Ireland Scotland 2–13

Ireland 2–5

Croke Park, Dublin

Scotland

2007 13 October

Scotland

Scotland 4–10

Ireland 0–11

An Aird, Fort William

Scotland

2008 18 October

Ireland Scotland 1–10

Ireland 1–9

Nowlan Park, Kilkenny

Scotland

2009 31 October

Scotland

Ireland 2–8

Scotland 1–8

Bught Park, Inverness

Ireland

Men (2010–present) Two test matches per year, points combined on aggregate to determine series winner

Tournament

Date Host nation

Result Venue Aggregate score & series

winner

Reference

2010 30 October

Ireland

Ireland 2–15

Scotland 2–16

Croke Park, Dublin

Ireland win 7–21 to 5–23 on aggregate

Report

13 November

Scotland

Scotland 3–7

Ireland 5–6

Bught Park, Inverness

Report

2011 22 October

Ireland

Ireland 1–16

Scotland 2–8

Geraldine Park, Athy

Ireland win 3–25 to 3–19 on aggregate

Report

29 October

Scotland

Scotland 1–11

Ireland 2–9

Bught Park, Inverness

Report

2012 20 October

Scotland

Scotland 2–9 (19)

Ireland 3–10 (25)

Bught Park, Inverness

Ireland win 11–21 (76) to 6–12 (42) on

aggregate

Report

27 October

Ireland

Ireland 8–11 (51)

Scotland 4–3 (23)

Cusack Park, Ennis

Report

2013 26 October

Ireland

Ireland 4–12 (24)

Scotland 2–12 (18)

Croke Park, Dublin

Ireland win 5–27 (42) to 2–26 (32) on aggregate

Report

2 November

Scotland

Scotland 0–14 (14)

Ireland 1–15 (18)

Bught Park, Inverness

Report

2014 18 October

Scotland

Scotland 3–14 (23)

Ireland 2–8 (14)

Bught Park, Inverness

Ireland win 4–26 (38) to 3–22 (31) on aggregate

Report

25 October

Ireland

Ireland 2–18 (24)

Scotland 0–8 (8)

Pairc Esler, Newry

Report

2015 24 October

Scotland

Scotland 3–15 (24)

Ireland 2–8 (14)

Bught Park, Inverness

Scotland win 5­23 (38) to 4­18 (30) on aggregate

Report

21 November

Ireland

Ireland 2­10 (16)

Scotland 2­8 (14)

Croke Park, Dublin

Report

Women[edit] The women's game is also referred to as Shinty/Camogie. The following is an incomplete table of recent results (missing results from 2011–13).

2003 Oct 25 Ireland 5–9 Scotland 1–13 Inverness 2004 Oct 16 Ireland 3–10 Scotland 4–7 Ratoath 2005 Oct 8 Scotland 4–8 Ireland 2–11 Bught Park, Inverness 2006 Nov 9 Scotland 2–13 Ireland 2–5 Croke Park, 2007 Oct 13 Scotland 4–10 Ireland 0–11 An Aird, Fort William 2008 Oct 18 Scotland 1–10 Ireland 1–9 Nowlan Park, 2009 Oct 31 Ireland 2–2 Scotland 0–0 Bught Park, Inverness[6]

2010 Oct 30 Ireland 6–9 Scotland 2–2 Ratoath[7]

2014 Oct 28 Scotland 4­2 (12) def. Ireland 1­6 (9)[8]

All­time standings

Men Country Series won Matches won Total scores

Ireland 7 10 (of 18)1 47–191 (354)2

Scotland 4 7 (of 18)1 39–186 (315)2

Updated post 2015 first test 1 One draw has occurred; in 2004 2 Goals in 2012 series worth 5 points

The rules of the composite sport are designed to allow for neither side to gain an advantage, eliminating or imposing certain restrictions. The goals are those used in hurling, with 3 points for a goal (in the net under the crossbar) and 1 point for a shot over the crossbar. A stationary ball taken straight from the ground and shot over the crossbar scores 2 points. For the 2012 International Series, a goal became worth 5 points in an effort to increase the number of goals. This was rule was abandoned for the 2013 series, in favour of the traditional model of 3 points for a goal.

Players may not catch the ball unless they are the goalkeeper (or a defender on the line for a penalty) and this must be released within three steps. Players may not kick the ball, but can drag the ball with their foot.

Although there is a statutory size for the ball to be used in the games, there is often a custom of using a sliotar in one half and a shinty ball in the other. Each half lasts 35 minutes.

History[edit] The first games played were challenge matches between London Camanachd and London GAA in 1896 and Glasgow Cowal and Dublin Celtic in 1897 and 1898, with the first game played at Celtic Park.[1] However, there was then a hiatus until Scottish representative teams and Irish sides took place in the 1920s. Following intermittent international games between Scotland and an all­Ireland team before the Second World War, controversy arose as the British Government put pressure upon the Camanachd Association to cease from co­operating with the Gaelic Athletic Association, disapproving of their perceived anti­British viewpoint[2][3]

However, universities in both countries kept the link going after the war and this led to a resumption of international fixtures between the two codes in the 1970s.

After a long run of Irish successes, Scotland won four fixtures in a row from 2005 until Ireland reclaimed the title in 2009. Scotland's successes have been marred by a lack of interest from an Irish perspective. Unlike the international rules football tests between Australia and Ireland, few players from the top flight counties participate in the event—though in recent times this trend has bucked and more higher ranked Irish players have represented their nation.

2007 also saw the use of compromise rules as a way of developing the Gaelic languages in Ireland and Scotland by the Columba Initiative. A team called Alba, made up of Scottish Gaelic speakers, played Míchael Breathnach CLG, from Inverin, Galway. The project was repeated in 2008.[4] The Gaelic speakers international was played for a third time in 2010 in Portree in the Isle of Skye on 13 February 2010.

There are also Scottish/Irish women's and under­21s sides which have competed against one another.

In 2009, the first full shinty/hurling match in the United States took place between Skye Camanachd and the San Francisco Rovers.

In 2010, the fixture was played at Croke Park before the international rules football game and then a return leg was played at the Bught Park two weeks later.

On 28 April 2012 the inaugural match between the teams of Irish Defence Forces and the British Army was played at Bught Park in aid of PoppyScotland.

Cammag is a team sport originating on the Isle of Man. It is closely related to the Scottish game of shinty and is similar to the Irish hurling. Once the most widespread sport on Man, it ceased to be played around 1900 after the introduction of association football,[2] though it has experienced a revival in the 21st century.

Equipment involves a stick (Manx: camman, meaning "little curved thing"[2]) and a ball (crick or crig) with anything between four and two hundred players. Sometimes whole towns and villages took part, or even played each other. The cammag can be any stick with a bent end, and is similar in design to the caman in shinty, both unlike the Irish camán, having no blade. A gorse wood cammag, if of suitable size and shape, was a very much treasured possession. The crick can be made from cork or wood, and varied from circular to egg­shaped, sized from

approximately two inches in circumference to the size of a fist. Old accounts tell that the crick was sometimes covered in cloth or leather.[3]

The Manx word Cammag, as in modern Scottish Gaelic and Irish camán, is derived from the Gaelic root word cam, meaning bent.[4]

Cammag season started on Hunt the Wren Day (26 December) and was only played by men (of all ages) during the winter. Corris's Close (now Athol Street) was the chief playing­ground in the town of Peel.

In modern times, an annual match of cammag is played in St John's.

Recent matches

An open Cammag match is played on Boxing Day/Hunt the Wren Day (26 December) on the Tynwald field at St John's. Matches are held between the North and the South of the island. Research by David Fisher in the archives of Manx National Heritage clarified that the Northern line historically ran from the Grand Island Hotel to Niarbyl, south of Peel. The game usually starts at 2 p.m., and is played over three 20­minute periods.

Teams are informal and unregulated, often numbering more than 50 people (both males and females) on the field ­ historic commentary cites matches played with anywhere between four and two hundred players.[5] In recent years, the match has been refereed by local radio presenter John Kaneen who revived the game in recent years. Playing equipment is supposed to consist of a bent stick, though there are many variations on the design. The game is a physically demanding contact sport, and protective equipment is advised.

The game usually revolves around a central pack, where a large number of players are confined in a small space, and the ball cannot move large distances. Breakout attacks down the open wings occasionally take place, though the large number of players in the centre of the field makes it difficult to attack the staked­out goals from outside positions.

The 2005 St John's match resulted in a 4­2 win for the North, despite being heavily outnumbered by a Southern side that included Peel for the second time. The North managed to control the game by holding the ball in the centre pack (where a relatively small number of players have access to the ball), and playing a solid defensive game. Scorers for the North were David Fisher(2), Ean Radcliffe and Roy Kennaugh.

The 2006 St John's match resulted in a 4­4 draw, the North coming back from a 4­2 deficit at the end of the second period to draw the match level. Referee John Kaneen decided that the South should hold the cup until the 2007 match.

The 2007 match resulted in a 5­1 win for the South.

The 2008 match resulted in a 5­4 win for the North. The North closed a 4­1 deficit in the final third of the match to draw level at full­time, then scored in the sudden death period to win the match. Scorers for the North included Ean Radcliffe (pushover goal), Rob Teare, Paul Rogers and Jole Fisher (2 goals).

The 2009 match resulted in a 4­3 win for the North. The South led by 2­0 at the end of the first period, but failed to hold on to their lead. At the end of the final period, the match was drawn at 3­3, and went to extra time. The North scored to win the match 4­3. The match was an intensely physical game that included many ground mauls.

The 2010 match resulted in a 3­2 win for the South. The game was refereed by David Fisher, John Kaneen and Stewart Bennett. The match was dominated by a much larger southern side, including four goalkeepers at one point, but the North held on for a 2­2 draw at the end of the third half. Scorers for the North were Jole Fisher and Ean Radcliffe, whilst well known player

John "Dog" Collister kept goal. The match went to sudden death, which was won by the South who massed for a pushover goal.

The 2011 match resulted in a 3­0 win for the South. The southern side held the majority of possession, and the South's much larger numbers meant that the northern side was on the defensive for much of the match.[6]

The 2012 match was a landslide 9­4 victory for the North, the largest score in recent memory. Heavy rain meant challenging conditions, but the sides were evenly matched for most of the game and until the third half, the score remained at 4­4. The North secured victory with a 5­goal streak in the last half for a convincing win. Scorers for the North included Oli Trainor and Ean Radcliffe (3).

The 2013 match was once again mired in controversy as scoring was disputed, a common thing in Cammag matches ­ although the South put three goals over the line to the North's two, referee Paul Callister ruled that it was unclear whether an early goal for the South should have been allowed due to being too high over the keeper, and that a late goal for the South had been kicked over the line, which would be disqualified as all scoring has to be with the stick. Scorers for the North were John Faragher and Ean Radcliffe, in the face of superb goalkeeping from the South which denied the North another overwhelming victory. After the one­sided victory by the North in the 2012 match, it was decided that the South should hold the cup for the year.

2005 : North 4 ­ 2 South 2006 : North 4 ­ 4 South 2007 : South 5 ­ 1 North 2008 : North 5 ­ 4 South 2009 : North 4 ­ 3 South 2010 : North 2 ­ 2 South 2011 : South 3 ­ 0 North 2012 : North 9 ­ 4 South 2013 : South 3 ­ 2 North (2 Southern goals in doubt)

Isle of Man Cammag Association In January 2014 it was announced that the Isle of Man Cammag Association had been founded to act as the governing body for the game. Within 18 months it is expected that a league of 7 teams will be created. Each team will play each other at home and away, meaning each team will play 12 games. The rules will be set out in the Isle of Man Cammag Association handbook. The first game is expected to take place on July 5, 2015.

Bando is a team sport – related to hockey, hurling, shinty, and bandy – which was first recorded in Wales in the eighteenth century.[1] The game is played on a large level field between teams of up to thirty players each of them equipped with a bando: a curve­ended stick resembling that used in field hockey.[1] Although no formal rules are known, the objective of the game was to strike a ball between two marks which served as goals at either end of the pitch.[1] Popular in Glamorgan in the nineteenth century, the sport all but vanished by the end of the century. Now a minority sport, the game is still played in parts of Wales where it has become an Easter tradition.

History Bando is believed to have common origins with bandy. The game was first recorded in the late eighteenth century, and in 1797 a traveller en route from Cowbridge to Pyle noted 'the extraordinary barrenness' of the locality in ash and elm trees, hard woods ideal for bando bats, and came across hordes of people hastening to the sea shore to watch a game of bando.[2] Whereas the sticks were made of hard wood, the ball, known as a "colby",[3] was normally of yew, box or crabapple.[4] The sport

was often played between local villages, with fierce rivalries in the west of Glamorgan between Baglan, Aberavon and Margam and in mid Glamorgan between Pyle, Kenfig and Llangynwyd.[5] Edward Matthews of Ewenni records that no­one above the age of twelve­month would be seen without a bando stick.[2]

Although many pre­industrial games are recorded to be lawless affairs with haphazard rules, the contrary appears true with bando. Once a challenge of a game was made between villages, wagers were normally set which demanded an agreed set of rules, including the number of players, normally between 20 and 30 and the size of the playing area.[6] Matthews records a playing area of 200 yards, with the goal markers at each end set ten yards apart.[6] Despite a set of rules, the game was still open to violent play with players often using their bando sticks to strike their opponents.[7]

One of the more notable teams of the time were the' Margam Bando Boys', a team who played on Aberavon Beach. The team are celebrated in a macaronic ballad called the Margam Bando Boys written in the earlier part of the nineteenth century.[1]

Margarm Bando Boys, (first three verses)

Due praises I'll bestow

And all the world shall know

That Margam valour shall keep its colour

When Kenfig's waters flow

Our master, straight and tall

Is foremost with the ball;

He is, we know it, and must allow it,

The fastest man of all

Let cricket players blame,

And seek to slight our fame,

Their bat and wicket can never lick it,

This ancient manly game

Bando is believed to be the first mass spectator sport of Glamorgan and Wales, and in 1817 a match between Margarm and Newton Nottage attracted over 3,000 spectators.[5]The sport remained popular throughout the century with notable personalities known to play the sport including preacher John Elias and future prime minister, David Lloyd George.[8] The sport continued to be played until the second half of the nineteenth century, but was beginning to be replaced by other sports. The game survived in the Aberavon area until the death of Theodore Talbot, the captain of the Margam Bando Boys in 1876.[6] Talbot, the son of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot and heir to the Margam Estate was a supporter of the sport, and his death coincided with the coming of the Mansel, Avon Vale and Taibach tinworks. The

employees turned to a new sport spreading through south Wales, rugby union, with Aberavon Rugby Football Club forming in 1876.[6]

Now a minority sport the game survives as an amateur game in parts of Wales, and some small­scale attempts have been made to revive the game in the country. Despite having no religious links with Easter, the sport become a tradition on the date as part of some parish festivals.

Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. Based on the number of participating athletes, bandy is the second most popular winter sport in the world, only ice hockey is more popular.[3]

The sport is considered a form of hockey and has a common background with association football, ice hockey and field hockey. Like association football (soccer), the game is normally played in halves of 45 minutes each, there are eleven players on each team, and the bandy field is about the same size as a football pitch. It is played on ice like ice hockey, but like field hockey, players use bowed sticks and a small ball.

If it is very cold or if it is snowing, the match can be broken into thirds of 30 minutes each. At the extremely cold 1999 World Championship some matches were played in four periods of 15 minutes each and with extra long breaks in between. In the World Championships the two halves can be 30 minutes each for the nations in the B division.

A variant of bandy, rink bandy, is played to the same rules but on a field the size of an ice hockey rink and with fewer people on each team. Bandy is also the predecessor of floorball, which was invented when people started playing with plastic bandy­shaped sticks and light balls when running on the floors of indoor gym halls.

History

Russian monastery records dating back to the 10th to 11th centuries record games which may be ancestors of bandy. A game that could be recognized as essentially modern bandy was played in Russia by the early 18th century, although the rules used differed from those that were invented in England at a much later date. Throughout modern times, Russia has kept a top position in the bandy area: as one of the founding nations of the International Federation in 1955, and as fielding the most successful team in the World Championships. Russians see themselves as the creators of the sport, which is reflected by the unofficial title for bandy, "Russian hockey" (русский хоккей).

The first match, which later has been dubbed the original bandy match, was a match held at The Crystal Palace in London in 1875. However, at the time, the game was called "hockey on the ice",[4] probably as it was considered an ice variant of field hockey.

The name "bandy" comes from Britain, which has played an important role in the development of the sport. Bando, a game played in Wales in ancient times, is similar to bandy. It was played throughout the country in varying forms and is still to be found in some areas. The earliest example of the Welsh­language term bando occurs in a dictionary by John Walters published in 1770–94. The game became particularly popular in the Cynffig­Margam district of the Vale of Glamorgan where wide stretches of sandy beaches afforded ample room for play. As a winter sport, British bandy originated in the Fens of East Anglia where large expanses of ice formed on flooded meadows or shallow washes in cold winters, and skating was a tradition. Members of the Bury Fen Bandy Club published rules of the game in 1882, and introduced it into other countries. The first international match took place in 1891 between Bury Fen and the then Haarlemsche Hockey & Bandy Club from the Netherlands (a club which after a couple of club fusions now is named HC Bloemendaal). The same year, the National Bandy Association was started in England.[4]

The first ever national bandy league was started in Sweden in 1902. Bandy was played at the Nordic Games in 1905 and between Swedish, Finnish and Russian teams in 1907. A European championship was held in 1913 with eight countries participating.[4]

The location of highest altitude where bandy has been played is in the capital of the Tajik autonomous province of Gorno­Badakhshan, Khorugh.[7]

As of 2015 national federations exist in several nations, including Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, China, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Somalia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United States.[8]

Historical relationship with football and ice hockey Bandy as a precursor to ice hockey has had some influence on hockey's development and history – mainly in European and former Soviet countries. While modern ice hockey was created in Canada, a game more similar to bandy was played initially, after British soldiers introduced the game in the 19th century. At the same time that modern ice­hockey rules were formalized in British North America, bandy rules were formulated in Europe. A cross between English and Russian rules developed, with the football­inspired English rules dominant, together with the Russian low border along most of the two sidelines.

Before Canadians introduced ice hockey into Europe in the late 19th century, "hockey" was another name for bandy, and still is in parts of Russia and Kazakhstan.

With football and bandy being dominant sports in parts of Europe, it was common for sports clubs to have both popular bandy and football sections, with athletes playing both sports but during different times of the year. Some examples are English Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy Club (today known just as Nottingham Forest F.C.) and Norwegian Strømsgodset IF and Mjøndalen IF, with the latter still having an active bandy section.

During all of the 20th century, bandy remained alongside ice hockey in some European countries, especially in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Ice hockey became more popular than bandy in most of Europe mostly because hockey became an Olympic sport, but bandy did not. Athletes in Europe who had played bandy, switched to ice hockey in the 1920s to be able to compete in the Olympics. The smaller ice fields needed for ice hockey also made the ice hockey rinks easier to maintain, especially in countries with short winters. On the other hand, ice hockey was not played at all in the Soviet Union until the 1950s. Bandy players in Russia started to play hockey to compete internationally, when the Soviet Union wanted to compete with the west. The typical European style of ice hockey, with flowing and less physical play, represents a heritage of bandy.

Names of the sport The sport’s English name comes from the verb "to bandy," from the Middle French bander ("to strike back and forth"), and originally referred to a 17th­century Irish game similar to field hockey. The curved stick was also called a "bandy."[16]

Old names for bandy are hockey on the ice[4] or hockey on ice. Since the mid­20th century the term bandy is usually preferred to prevent confusion with ice hockey.

The sport is known as bandy in many languages though there are a few notable exceptions. In Russian bandy is called "Russian hockey" (русский хоккей) or more frequently "hockey with a ball" (xоккей с мячом) while ice hockey is called "hockey with a puck" (xоккей с шайбой) or more frequently just "hockey". In Belarusian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian it is also called "hockey with a ball" (хакей з мячoм, хокей з м'ячем and хокей с топка respectively). In Armenian,

Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uzbek, bandy is known as "ball hockey" (Հոկեյ գնդակով, допты хоккей, топтуу хоккей, and koptokli xokkey respectively). In Finnish the two sports are distinguished as "ice ball" (jääpallo) and "ice puck" (jääkiekko). In Estonian and Hungarian, bandy is also called "ice ball" (jääpall and jéglabda, respectively), although in Hungarian it is more often called "bandy" nowadays.

Games

Match between Helenelunds IK and AIK at Sollentunavallen in Sweden in 2006

Bandy is played on ice, using a single round ball. Two teams of 11 players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal using sticks, thereby scoring a goal.[17]

The game is designed to be played on a rectangle of ice that is the same size as a soccer field. Bandy also has other rules that are similar to soccer. Each team has 11 players, one of whom is a goalkeeper. The offside rule is also employed. A goal cannot be scored from a stroke­in or goal throw, but unlike soccer, a goal cannot be scored directly from a stroke­off or corner stroke.[19] All free strokes are “direct” and allow a goal to be scored without another player touching the ball.

The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. If both teams have scored an equal number of goals, then, with some exceptions, the game is a draw.

The primary rule is that the players (other than the goalkeepers) may not intentionally touch the ball with their heads, hands or arms during play. Although players usually use their sticks to move the ball around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their heads, hands or arms and may use their skates in a limited manner. Heading the ball will result in a five­minute penalty.

In typical game play, players attempt to propel the ball toward their opponents' goal through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a team­mate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent who controls the ball. However, physical contact between opponents is limited. Bandy is generally a free­flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play, or when play is stopped by the referee. After a stoppage, play can recommence with a free stroke, a penalty shot or a corner stroke. If the ball has left the field along the sidelines, the referee must decide which team touched the ball last, and award a restart stroke to the opposing team, just like football's throw­in.

The rules do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of player specialisations have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders, who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders, who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball to pass

it to the forwards. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, to discern them from the single goalkeeper. These positions are further differentiated by which side of the field the player spends most time in. For example, there are central defenders, and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in these positions in any combination (for example, there may be three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards), and the number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders would create a more aggressive and offensive­minded game, while the reverse would create a slower, more defensive style of play. While players may spend most of the game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time. The layout of the players on the pitch is called the team's formation, and defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager(s).

Rules[edit] Overview

There are eighteen rules in official play. The same rules are designed to apply to all levels of bandy, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, veterans or women are permitted. The rules are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on the nature of the game. The Bandy Playing Rules can be found on the official website of the Federation of International Bandy.[18] and are overseen by the Rules and Referee Committee.

Players and officials[edit]

The making of a historic bandy ball, from the original cork on the left to the final ball painted red. To the far right is a modern bandy ball.

The goalkeeper has no stick

Each team consists of a maximum of 11 players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. A team of fewer than eight players may not start a game. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, but they are only allowed to do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal. Though there are a variety of positions in which

the outfield (non­goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the rules of the game.

Any number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game. Substitutions can be performed without notifying the referee and can be performed while the ball is in play. However, if the substitute enters the ice before his teammate has left it, this will result in a five­minute ban. A team can bring at the most four substitutes to the game and one of these is likely to be an extra goalkeeper.

A game is officiated by a referee, the authority and enforcer of the rules, whose decisions are final. The referee may be assisted by one or two assistant referees.

Equipment[edit] The basic equipment players are required to wear include a pair of skates, a helmet, a mouth guard and, in the case of the goalkeeper, a face guard. The teams must wear uniforms that make it easy to distinguish the two teams. The skates, sticks and any tape on the stick must be of another colour than the ball.

In addition to the aforementioned equipment, various protections are used to protect knees, elbows, genitals and throat. The pants and gloves may contain padding.

The bandy stick[edit]

A bandy stick and ball

The stick used in Bandy is a natural part of the sport. The stick should be made of an approved material such as wood or another similar material and it should not contain any metals or sharp parts which can hurt the surrounding players. The bandy stick should be crooked and the bend of the blade is split up into 5 different dimensions, where 1 has the smallest bend and 5 has the most. Bend 4 is the most common size in professional bandy. The bandy stick should not have similar colours to the ball, such as orange or pink; it should be no longer than 127 centimetres (50 in), and the breadth should not exceed 7 centimetres (2.8 in).[20]

Field[edit] Main article: Bandy field

Standard field measurements

Swedish U17 player on a corner stroke.

The size of a bandy field is 45–65 metres (148–213 ft) by 90–110 metres (300–360 ft), which totals to 4,050–7,150 square metres (43,600–77,000 sq ft), or about the same size as a football pitch and considerably larger than an ice hockey rink. Along the sidelines a 15 cm (6 in) high border (vant, sarg, wand, wall) is placed to prevent the ball from leaving the ice. It should not be attached to the ice, to glide upon collisions, and should end 1–3 metres (3 ft 3 in–9 ft 10 in) away from the corners.

Centered at each shortline is a 3.5 m (11 ft) wide and 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) high goal cage and in front of the cage is a half­circular penalty area with a 17 m (56 ft) radius. A penalty spot is located 12 metres (39 ft) in front of the goal and there are two free­stroke spots at the penalty area line, each surrounded by a 5 m (16 ft) circle.

A centre spot denotes the center of the field and a circle of radius 5 m (16 ft) is centered at it. A centre­line is drawn through the centre spot and parallel with the shortlines.

At each of the corners, a 1 m (3 ft 3 in) radius quarter­circle is drawn, and a dotted line is painted parallel to the shortline and 5 metres (16 ft) away from it without extending into the penalty area. The dotted line can be replaced with a 0.5­metre (1 ft 8 in) long line starting at the edge of the penalty area and extending towards the sideline, 5 metres (16 ft) from the shortline.

Duration and tie­breaking measures[edit] A standard adult bandy match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play; the referee can, however, make allowance for time lost through significant stoppages as described below. There is usually a 15­minute "half­time" break between halves. The end of the match is known as full­time.

The referee is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time, and must be reported to the match secretary and the two captains. The referee alone signals the end of the match.

In league competitions games may end in a draw, but in some knockout competitions if a game is tied at the end of regulation time it may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15­minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, the game will be replayed. As an alternative, the extra two times 15­minutes may be played as "golden goal" which means that the first team that scores during the extra­time wins the game. If both extra periods are played without a scored goal, a penalty shootout will settle the game. The teams shoot five penalties each and if this doesn't settle the game, the teams shoot one more penalty each until one of them misses and the other scores.

Ball in and out of play

Under the rules, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a stroke­off (a set strike from the centre­spot by one team) until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of six restart methods depending on how it went out of play:

Stroke­off Goal­throw Corner stroke Free­stroke Penalty shot Face­off

If the time runs out while a team is preparing for a free­stroke or penalty, the strike should still be made but it must go into the goal by one shot to count as a goal. Similarly, a goal made via a

corner stroke should be allowed, but it must be executed using only one shot in addition to the strike needed to put the ball in play.

Free­strokes and penalty shots[edit] Free­strokes can be awarded to a team if a player of the opposite team offends any rule, for example, by hitting with the stick against the opponent's stick or skates. Free­strokes can also be awarded upon incorrect execution of corner­strikes, free­strikes, goal­throws, and so on. or the use of incorrect equipment, such as a broken stick.

Rather than stopping play, the referee may allow play to continue when its continuation will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed. This is known as "playing an advantage". The referee may "call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within a short period of time, typically taken to be four to five seconds. Even if an offence is not penalised because the referee plays an advantage, the offender may still be sanctioned (see below) for any associated misconduct at the next stoppage of play.

If a defender violently attacks an opponent within the penalty area, a penalty shot is awarded. Certain other offences, when carried out within the penalty area, result in a penalty shot provided there is a goal situation. These offences include a defender holding or hooking an attacker, or blocking a goal situation with a lifted skate, thrown stick or glove and so on. Also, the defenders (with the exception of the goal­keeper) are not allowed to kneel or lay on the ice. The final offences that might mandate a penalty shot are those of hitting or blocking an opponent's stick or touching the ball with the hands, arms, stick or head above the shoulders. If any of these actions is carried out in a non­goal situation, they shall be awarded with a free­stroke from one of the free­stroke spots at the penalty area line. A penalty shot should always be accompanied by a 5 or 10 minutes penalty (see below). If the penalty results in a goal, the penalty should be considered personal meaning that a substitute can be sent in for the penalised player. This does not apply in the event of a red card (see below).

Warnings and penalties[edit]

Blue: 10 minutes penalty, red: match penalty.

A ten minutes penalty is indicated through the use of a blue card and can be caused by protesting or behaving incorrectly, attacking an opponent violently or stopping the ball incorrectly to get an advantage.

The third time a player receives a penalty, it will be a personal penalty meaning he or she will miss the remainder of the match. A substitute can enter the field after five or ten minutes. A full game penalty can be received upon using abusive language or directly attacking an opponent

and means that the player can neither play nor be substituted for the remainder of the game. A match penalty is indicated through the use of a red card.

Offside[edit] The offside rule effectively limits the ability of attacking players to remain forward (i.e. closer to the opponent's goal­line) of the ball, the second­to­last defending player (which can include the goalkeeper), and the half­way line. This rule is in effect just like that of association football.

International[edit]

Russia in the World Championships 2012

World Championships[edit] The Bandy World Championship for men were first held in 1957 and then every two years starting in 1961, and every year since 2003. Currently the record number of countries participating in the World Championships is seventeen. Since the number of countries playing bandy is not large, every country which can set up a team is welcome to take part in the World Championship. The quality of the teams are very varying, however, with only six nations, the Soviet Union, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Kazakhstan, ever having won any medals (even allowing for the fact that Russia essentially just took over from the Soviet Union in 1992). Finland won the 2004 world championship in Västerås, while all other championships have been won by the Soviet Union, Russia, or Sweden.

In February 2004, Sweden won the first World Championship for women, hosted in Finland, without conceding a goal. In the 2014 women's World Championship Russia won, for the first time toppeling the Swedes from the throne.

There are also Youth Bandy World Championship in different age groups for boys and young men and in one age group for girls. The oldest group is the under 23 championship, Bandy World Championship Y­23.

Olympic Games[edit] Although bandy was the demonstration sport at the VI Olympic Winter Games in 1952 (Oslo, Norway), and is IOC accepted,[21] it has not become an official Olympic sport. Only three teams played bandy at the 1952 Winter Olympics: Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Bandy was eventually recognised by the IOC in 2001. The then IOC President, Jacques Rogge, was very impressed with bandy when he saw it for the first time in 2006.[22]

In 2010 it was reported that FIB president Boris Skrynnik believed bandy would be on the programme for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi,[23] but this did not happen. Nikolay Valuyev said in February 2015 there was a good chance for inclusion in the 2022 Winter Olympics if Almaty would win the bidding process,[24] but in July 2015 the 2022 Games were given to Beijing.[25] There is a rumour though that bandy can be included in Beijing 2022.[26] The Russian Olympic Committee is working towards the inclusion of bandy in the Winter Olympics.[27]

Youth Olympic Games[edit] At the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, bandy will be a demonstration sport,[28] which will consist of a match between national youth teams of Norway and Sweden.[29]

Asian Winter Games[edit]

The final of the bandy tournament at Asian Winter Games between Kazakhstan and Mongolia

At the 2011 Asian Winter Games, open to members of the Olympic Council of Asia, bandy for men was included for the first time. With Japan as a new FIB member, the international federation is working towards including bandy also in the next games in Sapporo­Obihiro 2017. According to Boris Skrynnik, it was confirmed for inclusion.[30] However, at the official site there is no sign of bandy.[31]

Friendlies[edit] The national teams also meet for friendly games from time to time. Finland, Norway and Sweden usually play Russia in the Russian Government Cup. The USA and Canada meet for friendlies once a year.

The central European teams Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands met for a four nation competition in January 2014, an event which is intended to be recurrent. It is called Coupe Norsel and is scheduled for January 2016 next time.[32]

World Cup[edit] The World Championships should not be confused with the annual World Cup in Ljusdal, Sweden, which has been played annually since the 1970s and is the biggest bandy tournament for elite level club teams. It was played indoors in Sandviken from 2009 to 2011 because Ljusdal has no indoor arena. It is planned to be in Ljusdal again once an indoor arena has been built. World Cup matches are played day and night, and the tournament is played in four days in late

October. The teams participating are mostly, and some years exclusively, from Sweden and Russia. So far (2014) only once, a Finnish team has won the World Cup.

Since 2007, there is also a Bandy World Cup Women for women's teams.[33]

Champions Cup[edit] Another club tournament is the Champions Cup. It is a pre­season tournament held in Edsbyn, Sweden and features clubs from Russia and Sweden.

International federation[edit]

World map showing the 32 members of the Federation of International Bandy

The Federation of International Bandy (FIB) had 32 members in 2014.[34] Formed in 1955, the name was changed from International Bandy Federation in 2001 after the International Olympic Committee approved it as a so­called "recognized sport"; the abbreviation "IBF" was already used by another recognized sports federation. In 2004, FIB was fully accepted by IOC.

FIB is now a member of Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations.

Winter Universiade[edit] The 2017 Winter Universiade will be held in Almaty with bandy as a demonstration sport.[35][36] It will be repeated in Krasnoyarsk 2019.[37]FIB and FISU have signed a cooperation agreement about developing student bandy.[38]

World Championships for students[edit] Two World Championships for students is a requirement before being able to become a full medal sport at the Winter Universiade. Therefore, the first tournament will be organised in 2016, in Ulyanovsk.[39]

European Championship[edit] The 1913 European Bandy Championships was held in the Swiss town of Davos with England victorious.[40]

Varieties[edit] Rink bandy is a variety played on an ice hockey­size rink.[41] It was in the programme of the 2012 European Company Sports Games.[42] Some FIB countries don't have a large ice surface and only play rink bandy at home, in fact most of the World Championships Group B participants.

Countries[edit] England[edit]

Historical English team

Bury Fen

The first recorded games of bandy on ice took place in The Fens during the great frost of 1813–1814, although it is probable that the game had been played there in the previous century. Bury Fen Bandy Club[43] from Bluntisham­cum­Earith, near St Ives, was the most successful team, remaining unbeaten until the winter of 1890–1891. Charles G Tebbutt of the Bury Fen bandy club was responsible for the first published rules of bandy in 1882, and also for introducing the game into the Netherlands and Sweden, as well as elsewhere in England where it became popular with cricket, rowing and hockey clubs. Tebbutt's home­made bandy stick can be seen in the Norris Museum in St Ives.

The first Ice Hockey Varsity Matches between Oxford University and Cambridge University were played to bandy rules, even if it was called ice hockey at the time.

England won the European Bandy Championships in 1913,[44] but that turned out to be the grand finale, and bandy is now virtually unknown in England. In March 2004, Norwegian ex­player Edgar Malman invited two big clubs to play a rink bandy exhibition game in Streatham, London. Russian Champions and World Cup Winner Vodnik met Swedish Champions Edsbyns IF in a

match that ended 10–10. In 2010 England became a Federation of International Bandy member. The federation is based in Cambridgeshire, the historical heartland.[45]

Estonia[edit] Bandy was played in Estonia in the 1910s to 1930s and the country had a national championship for some years. The national team played friendlies against Finland in the 1920s and '30s. The sport was played sporadically during Soviet occupation 1944­1991. It has since then become more organised again, partly through exchange with Finnish clubs and enthusiasts..

Finland[edit]

A match in Finland

Bandy was introduced to Finland from Russia in the 1890s. Finland has been playing bandy friendlies against Sweden and Estonia since its independence in 1917.

The first Finnish national championships were held in 1908 and was the first national Finnish championship held in any team sport. National champions have been named every year except for three years in the first half of the 20th Century when Finland was at war. The top national league is called Bandyliiga and is semi­professional. The best players often go fully professional by being recruited by clubs in Sweden or Russia.

India[edit] India has a national bandy team. Bandy Federation of India takes care of bandy in India. Its headquarters is in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. Bandy is generally played in northern India where there is generally snow and ice. India is one of 6 countries in Asia and in total 28 to be a member of Federation of International Bandy. BFI planned to send a team to the tournament in Astana­Almaty 2011,[46] but ultimately did not.

Kazakhstan[edit]

Rauan Issaliyev, captain of theKazakhstan national bandy team

Bandy has a long history in many parts of the country and it used to be one of the most popular sports in Soviet times. However, after independence it suffered a rapid decline in popularity and only remained in Oral (often called by the Russian name, Uralsk), where the country's only professional club Akzhaiyk is located. They are competing in the Russian second division. Recently bandy has started to gain popularity again outside of Oral. The former capital Almaty has in recent years hosted both the Asian Winter Games (with bandy on the program) as well as the Bandy World Championship in which Kazakhstan finished 3rd. Plans are made to reinvigorate the bandy section of the club Dynamo Almaty, who won the Soviet Championships in 1977 and 1990 as well as the European Cup in 1978. The Asian Bandy Federation also has its headquarters in Almaty. Since a few years the state is supporting bandy. Medeu in Almaty is the only arena with artificial ice. A second arena in Almaty was built for the World Championship 2012, however, it was taken down afterwards.Stadion Yunost in Oral[47] will get artificial ice for the 2015­16 season.[48]

Norway[edit]

Celebrating the bronze medal in WCS 2006

Bandy was introduced to Norway in the 1910s. The Swedes contributed largely, and clubs sprang up around the capital of Oslo. Oslo, including neighbouring towns, is still today the region where bandy enjoys most popularity in Norway.

In 1912 the Norwegians played their first National Championship, which was played annually up to 1940. During WWII, illegal bandy was played in hidden places in forests, on ponds and lakes. In 1943, −44 and −45, illegal championships were held. In 1946 legal play resumed and still goes on. After WWII the number of teams rose, as well as attendance which regularly were in the thousands, but mild winters in the 1970s and 80s shrunk the league, and in 2003 only 5 clubs (teams) fought out the 1st division with low attendance numbers and little media coverage.

In recent years, the number of artificially frozen pitches have increased in Norway, and more sports clubs have reinvigorated their bandy sections with new men's and youth teams. Because of this, as well as an increase of Swedish players in Norway, the competitiveness of the game has risen, especially in the first division Eliteserien. The adult men's game in Norway today consists of Eliteserien with 8 teams, as well as 3 lower divisions. Bandy in Norway has also started to spread geographically, and while the sport is more popular than ice hockey in and around the capital Oslo, some clubs in apart locations in the 3rd division only have access to hockey rinks and therefore play rink bandy for home games. Compared to the past, attendance is still fairly low, but important Eliteserien matches can attract around 1000 spectators.

Russia[edit]

Trud Stadium in Arkhangelsk.

In Russia bandy is known as hockey with a ball or simply Russian hockey. A similar game became popular among the Russian nobility in the early 1700s, with the imperial court of Peter the Great playing a predecessor of modern bandy on Saint Petersburg's frozen Nevariver. Russians played this game using ordinary footwear, with sticks made out of juniper wood, only later were skates introduced. It was only in the second half of the 19th century that bandy became popular among the masses throughout the Russian Empire. Traditionally the Russians used a longer skate blade than other nations, giving them the advantage of skating faster. However, they would find it more difficult to turn quickly. A bandy skate has a longer blade than a hockey skate, and the "Russian skate" even longer.

When the Federation of International Bandy was formed in 1955, with the Soviet Union as one of its founding members, the Russians largely adopted the international rules of the game developed in England in the 19th century, with one notable exception. The other countries adopted the border.

Bandy is considered a national sport in Russia[49] and is nowadays the third most popular one.[50] It is also the only discipline to have official support of the Russian Orthodox Church.[51]

The Russian Bandy Super League is played every year and the winner in the final becomes Russian champion. The Russian Cup has been played annually (except for just some years) since 1937.

Sweden[edit]

After the 2010 final at Studenternas Idrottsplats in Uppsala, Sweden

Bandy was introduced to Sweden in 1895. The Swedish royal family, noblemen and diplomats were the first players. Swedish championships for men have been played annually since 1907. In the 1920s students played the game and it became a largely middle class sport. After Slottsbrons IF won the Swedish championship in 1934 it became popular amongst workers in the smaller industrial towns and villages. Bandy remains the main sport in many of these places.

Bandy in Sweden is famous for its "culture" – both playing bandy and being a spectator requires great fortitude and dedication. A "bandy briefcase" ("bandyportfölj" in Swedish) is the classic accessory for spectating – it is typically made of brown leather, well worn and contain a warm drink in a thermos and/or a bottle of liquor.[52] Bandy is most often played at outdoor arenas during winter time, so the need for spectators to carry flask or thermoses of 'warming' liquid like Glögg is a natural effect.

A notable tradition is "annandags bandy", bandy games played on Saint Stephen's Day, which formerly marked the start of the bandy season and always draw bigger crowds than usual. Games traditionally begin at 1:15 pm.[53]

The final match for the Swedish Championship is played every year on the third Saturday of March. From 1991 to 2012, it was played at Studenternas Idrottsplats in Uppsala, at times drawing crowds in excess of 20,000. The reason for why the play­off match was set in Uppsala is because of IFK Uppsala and its success in the beginning of the 20th century. IFK Uppsala won 11 titles in the Swedish Championships between 1907 and 1920, which made them the most successful bandy club in the entire country. Now, however, the record is held by the club Västerås SK.

In 2013 and 2014 the final was played indoors in Friends Arena, the new national stadium for football in Solna with retractable roof with a capacity of 50 000. From 2015 onwards,Tele2 Arena in Stockholm has been chosen instead.

Switzerland[edit] In the late 19th and early 20th Century, Switzerland had become a popular place for winter vacations and people went there from all over Europe. Winter sports like skiing, sledding and bandy was played in Geneva and other towns.[54] Students from Oxford and Cambridge went to Switzerland to play each other – the predecessor of the recurringIce Hockey Varsity Match was a bandy match played in St. Moritz in 1885. This popularity for Swiss venues of winter sport may

have been a reason, the European Championship was held there in 1913. The Swiss had their own national bandy team by then, which they haven't had since.

Ukraine[edit] Bandy was played in Ukraine when she was part of the Soviet Union. After independence in 1991, it took some years before organised bandy formed again, but Ukrainian champions have been named annually since 2012.

United States[edit] Main article: Bandy in the United States

Bandy has been played in the United States since around 1980. The activity is mainly centred to Minnesota even if a fan interest also exist in other states. The bandy clubs in the US only have teams but the interest is stable and even if some clubs folds after only some years, other clubs have been around from the start and have a steady following. The United States national bandy team has taken part in the Bandy World Championships since 1985 and is also regularly playing friendlies against Canada.

United States bandy championships have been played annually since the early 1980s, but the league is still not widely followed by sports media in the country.

Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot avulcanized rubber puck into their opponent's net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of four lines of three forwards, three pairs of defencemen, and two goaltenders. Normally, each team has five players who skate up and down the ice trying to take the puck and score a goal against the opposing team.

A fast­paced, physical sport, hockey is most popular in areas of North America (particularly Canada and the United States) andEurope. In North America, the National Hockey League (NHL) is the highest level for men's hockey and the most popular. TheKontinental Hockey League (KHL) is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada,[1] where the game enjoys immense popularity. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) is the formal governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking. Worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries.[2]

Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and elsewhere. These games were brought to Canada and the United States and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as "shinny" and "ice polo". The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably inMontreal, where the first indoor hockey game was played on March 3, 1875. Some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey leagues began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion and later became the championship trophy of the NHL. In the early 1900s, the Canadian rules were adopted by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace, the precursor of the IIHF and the sport was played for the first time in the Olympics in the Olympic Games of 1920.

In international competitions, the national teams of six countries (The "Big Six") predominate: Canada, Czech Republic, Finland,Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all­time in men's competition at the Olympics, only six medals were not awarded to one of those countries. In the annual Ice Hockey World Championships, 177 of 201 medals have

been awarded to the six nations. Teams outside the "Big Six" have won only five medals in either competition since 1953:[3][4] All 12 Women's Olympic and 36 IIHF World Women's Championships medals have been awarded to one of these six countries, and every gold medal in both competitions has been won by either the Canadian national team or the United States national team.[5][6]

In Canada, the United States, and some European countries such as Latvia and Sweden, it is known simply as "hockey"; the name "ice hockey" is used in places where "hockey" more often refers to field hockey, such as South America, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and some European countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. In Russia and Ukraine, where "hockey" also can refer to bandy, ice hockey is often called "hockey with puck".

History[edit] Name[edit] The name "hockey" has no clear origin. Its first known mention is from the 1773 book Juvenile Sports and Pastimes, to Which Are Prefixed, Memoirs of the Author: Including a New Mode of Infant Education, by Richard Johnson (Pseud. Master Michel Angelo), whose chapter XI was titled "New Improvements on the Game of Hockey".[7] The belief that hockey was mentioned in a 1363 proclamation by King Edward III of England is based on modern translations of the proclamation, which was originally in Latin and explicitly forbade the games "Pilam Manualem, Pedivam, & Bacularem: & ad Canibucam & Gallorum Pugnam". The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word "hockey" when he translated the proclamation in 1720.

The 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called "'hokie' — the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves".[8] A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage.

According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word "puck" derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc (to poke, punch or deliver a blow). "...The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck."[9]

Precursors[edit]

Winter landscape, with skaters playing Golf (Hendrick Avercamp, 17th­century Dutch painter)

Stick­and­ball games date back to pre­Christian times. In Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey (including "bandie ball," played in England). IJ scolf, a game resembling colf on an

ice­covered surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a wooden curved bat (called a colf or kolf), a wooden or leather ball and two poles (or nearby landmarks), with the objective to hit the chosen point using the least number of strokes. A similar game (knattleikr) had been played for a thousand years or more by the Norse, as documented in the Icelandic sagas. In England, evidence of games of 'hockey on ice' (the name replaced "bandie ball"), played with a "bung" (a plug of cork or oak used as a stopper on a barrel) date back to the 1700s. William Pierre Le Cocq stated, in a 1799 letter written in Chesham, England:

I must now describe to you the game of Hockey; we have each a stick turning up at the end. We get a bung. There are two sides one of them knocks one way and the other side the other way. If any one of the sides makes the bung reach that end of the churchyard it is victorious.[10]

A 1797 engraving unearthed by Swedish sport historians Carl Gidén and Patrick Houda shows a person on skates with a stick and bung on the River Thames, probably in December 1796.[11]

British soldiers and immigrants to Canada and the United States brought their stick­and­ball games with them and played them on the ice and snow of winter. In 1825, John Franklin wrote "The game of hockey played on the ice was the morning sport" on Great Bear Lake during one of his Arctic expeditions. A mid­1830s watercolour portrays New Brunswick lieutenant governor Archibald Campbell and his family with British soldiers on skates playing a stick­on­ice sport. Captain R.G.A. Levinge, a British Army officer in New Brunswick during Campbell's time, wrote about "hockey on ice" on Chippewa Creek (a tributary of the Niagara River) in 1839. In 1843 another British Army officer in Kingston, Ontario wrote, "Began to skate this year, improved quickly and had great fun at hockey on the ice."[12] An 1859 Boston Evening Gazette article referred to an early game of hockey on ice in Halifax that year.[13] An 1835 painting by John O'Toole depicts skaters with sticks and bung on a frozen stream in the American state of West Virginia.[11]

In the same era, the Mi'kmaq, a First Nations people of Nova Scotia, also had a stick­and­ball game. Canadian oral histories describe a traditional stick­and­ball game played by the Mi'kmaq in eastern Canada, and Silas Tertius Rand (in his 1894 Legends of the Micmacs) describes a Mi'kmaq ball game known as tooadijik. Rand also describes a game played (probably after European contact) with hurleys, known as wolchamaadijik.[14] Sticks made by the Mi'kmaq were used by the British for their games.

"Ye Gude Olde Days" from Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game, 1899

Early 19th­century paintings depict shinney (or "shinny"), an early form of hockey with no standard rules which was played in Nova Scotia. Many of these early games absorbed the physical aggression of what the Mi'kmaq in Nova Scotia calleddehuntshigwa'es (lacrosse). Shinney was played on the St. Lawrence River at Montreal and Quebec City, and in Kingston, Ontario[12] andOttawa, Ontario. The number of players was often large. To this day, shinney

(derived from "shinty") is a popular Canadian[15] term for an informal type of hockey, either ice or street hockey.

Thomas Chandler Haliburton, in The Attache: Second Series (published in 1844), reminisced about boys from King's College School inWindsor, Nova Scotia playing "hurly on the long pond on the ice" when he was a student there in 1810 and earlier.[13][14] Based on Haliburton's account, claims were made that modern hockey was invented in Windsor, Nova Scotia, by King's College students and named after an individual ("Colonel Hockey's game").[16] Others claim that the origins of hockey come from games played in the area of Dartmouth and Halifax in Nova Scotia.

Initial development[edit]

The early Quebec Skating Rink, representative of early rinks

Hockey at McGill University, Montreal, 1901

While the game's origins lie elsewhere, Montreal is at the center of the development of the sport of contemporary ice hockey. On March 3, 1875, the first organized indoor game was played at Montreal's Victoria Skating Rink between two nine­player teams, including James Creighton and several McGill University students. Instead of a ball or bung, the game featured a "flat circular piece of wood"[17] (to keep it in the rink and to protect spectators). The goal posts were 8 feet (2.4 m) apart[17] (today's goals are six feet wide).

In 1876, the first game played in Montreal was reportedly "conducted under the 'Hockey Association' rules";[18] the Hockey Association was England's field hockey organization. In 1877,The Gazette (Montreal) published a list of seven rules, six of which were largely based on

six of the Hockey Association's twelve rules, with only minor differences (even the word "ball" was kept); the one added rule explained how disputes should be settled.[19] The McGill University Hockey Club, the first ice hockey club, was founded in 1877[20] (followed by the Montreal Victorias, organized in 1881).[21] In 1880, the number of players per side was reduced from nine to seven.[7]

The number of teams grew, enough to hold the first "world championship" of ice hockey at Montreal's annual Winter Carnival in 1883. The McGill team won the tournament and was awarded the "Carnival Cup."[22] The game was divided into thirty­minute halves. The positions were now named: left and right wing, centre, rover, point and cover­point, andgoaltender. In 1886, the teams competing at the Winter Carnival organized the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC), and played a season comprising "challenges" to the existing champion.[23]

The original Stanley Cup in the Hockey Hall of Fame

In Europe, it is believed that in 1885 the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club was formed to play the first Ice Hockey Varsity Match against traditional rival Cambridge in St. Moritz, Switzerland; however, this is undocumented. The match was won by the Oxford Dark Blues, 6–0;[24][25] the first photographs and team lists date from 1895.[26] This rivalry continues, claiming to be the oldest hockey rivalry in history; a similar claim is made about the rivalry between Queen's University and Royal Military College of Kingston, Ontario. Since 1986, considered the 100th anniversary of the rivalry, teams of the two colleges play for the Carr­Harris Cup.[27]

In 1888, the Governor General of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston (whose sons and daughter were hockey enthusiasts), first attended the Montreal Winter Carnival tournament and was impressed with the game. In 1892, realizing that there was no recognition for the best team in Canada (although a number of leagues had championship trophies), he purchased a silver bowl for use as a trophy. The Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup (which later became known as the Stanley Cup) was first awarded in 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club, champions of the AHAC; it continues to be awarded annually to the National Hockey League's championship team.[28] Stanley's son Arthur helped organize the Ontario Hockey Association, and Stanley's daughter Isobel was one of the first women to play ice hockey.

By 1893, there were almost a hundred teams in Montreal alone; in addition, there were leagues throughout Canada. Winnipeg hockey players used cricket pads to better protect the goaltender's legs; they also introduced the "scoop" shot, or what is now known as the wrist shot. Goal nets became a standard feature of the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) in 1900. Left and right defence began to replace the point and cover­point positions in the OHA in 1906.[29]

In the United States, "ice polo", played with a ball rather than a puck, was popular during this period; however, by 1893 Yale University and Johns Hopkins University held their first ice hockey matches.[30] American financier Malcolm Greene Chace is credited with being the father of

hockey in the United States.[31] In 1892, as an amateur tennis player, Chace visited Niagara Falls, New York for a tennis match, where he met some Canadian hockey players. Soon afterwards, Chace put together a team of men from Yale, Brown, and Harvard, and toured across Canada as captain of this team.[31] The first collegiate hockey match in the United States was played between Yale University and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Yale, led by captain Chace, beat Hopkins 2­1.[32] In 1896, the first ice hockey league in the U.S. was formed. The U.S. Amateur Hockey League was founded in New York City, shortly after the opening of the artificial­ice St. Nicholas Rink.

The Ottawa Hockey Club "Silver Seven" (the original Ottawa Senators), 1905 Stanley Cup champions

Lord Stanley's five sons were instrumental in bringing ice hockey to Europe, defeating a court team (which included the future Edward VIIand George V) at Buckingham Palace in 1895.[33] By 1903, a five­team league had been founded. The Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace was founded in 1908 to govern international competition, and the first European championship was won by Great Britain in 1910. During the mid­20th century, the Ligue became the International Ice Hockey Federation.[34] Ice hockey became more popular than bandy in most of Europe after hockey became an Olympic sport, but bandy did not. Athletes in Europe who had played bandy, switched to ice hockey in the 1920s to be able to compete in the Olympics. On the other hand, ice hockey was not played at all in the Soviet Union until the 1950s.

Matthews Arena in Boston, in use since 1910

As the popularity of ice hockey as a spectator sport grew, earlier rinks were replaced by larger rinks. Most of the early indoor ice rinks have been demolished; Montreal's Victoria Rink, built in

1862, was demolished in 1925.[37] Many older rinks succumbed to fire, such as Denman Arena,Dey's Arena, Quebec Skating Rink and Montreal Arena, a hazard of the buildings' wood construction. The Stannus Street Rink in Windsor, Nova Scotia (built in 1897) may be the oldest still in existence; however, it is no longer used for ice hockey. The Aberdeen Pavilion (built in 1898) in Ottawa was used for ice hockey in 1904 and is the oldest existing facility that has hosted Stanley Cup games.

The oldest indoor ice hockey arena still in use today for ice hockey is Boston's Matthews Arena, which was built in 1910. It has been modified extensively several times in its history and is used today by Northeastern University for ice hockey and other sports. It was the original home rink of the Boston Bruins professional team,[38] itself the oldest United States­based team in the NHL, starting play in the league in today's Matthews Arena on December 1, 1924. Madison Square Garden in New York City, built in 1968, is the oldest continuously­operating arena in the NHL.[39]

Professional era[edit]

Oxford University vs. Switzerland, 1922; future Canadian prime minister Lester Pearson is at right front

Professional hockey has existed since the early 20th century. By 1902, the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League was the first to employ professionals. The league joined with teams in Michigan and Ontario to form the first fully professional league—the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL)—in 1904. The WPHL and IPHL hired players from Canada; in response, Canadian leagues began to pay players (who played with amateurs). The IPHL, cut off from its largest source of players, disbanded in 1907. By then, several professional hockey leagues were operating in Canada (with leagues in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec).

In 1910, the National Hockey Association (NHA) was formed in Montreal. The NHA would further refine the rules: dropping the rover position, dividing the game into three 20­minute periods and introducing minor and major penalties. After re­organizing as the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1917, the league expanded into the United States, starting with the Boston Bruins in 1924.

Professional hockey leagues developed later in Europe, since bandy was still popular, but amateur leagues leading to national championships were in place. One of the first was the Swiss National League A, founded in 1916. Today, professional leagues have been introduced in most countries of Europe. Top European leagues include the Kontinental Hockey League, the Czech Extraliga, the Finnish Liiga and the Swedish Hockey League.

Game[edit]

Typical layout of an ice hockey rink surface

While the general characteristics of the game stay the same wherever it is played, the exact rules depend on the particular code of play being used. The two most important codes are those of the IIHF and the NHL.[41] Both of the codes, and others, originated from Canadian rules of ice hockey of the early 20th Century.

Ice hockey is played on a hockey rink. During normal play, there are six players per side on the ice at any time, one of them being the goaltender, each of whom is on ice skates. The objective of the game is to score goals by shooting a hard vulcanized rubber disc, the puck, into the opponent's goal net, which is placed at the opposite end of the rink. The players use their sticks to pass or shoot the puck.

Within certain restrictions, players may redirect the puck with any part of their body. Players may not hold the puck in their hand and are prohibited from using their hands to pass the puck to their teammates, unless they are in the defensive zone. Players are also prohibited from kicking the puck into the opponent's goal, though intentional redirections off the skate are permitted. Players may not intentionally bat the puck into the net with their hands.

Hockey is an "off­side" game, meaning that forward passes are allowed, unlike in rugby. Before the 1930s hockey was an on­side game, meaning that only backward passes were allowed. Those rules favoured individual stick­handling as a key means of driving the puck forward. With the arrival of offside rules, the forward pass transformed hockey into a truly team sport, where individual performance diminished in importance relative to team play, which could now be coordinated over the entire surface of the ice as opposed to merely rearward players.[42]

Between the five players on the ice, they are typically divided into three forwards and two defensemen. The forward positions consist of a centre and two wingers: a left wing and a right wing. Forwards often play together as units or lines, with the same three forwards always playing together. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair generally divided between left and right. Left and right side wingers or defencemen are generally positioned as such, based on the side on which they carry their stick. A substitution of an entire unit at once is called a line change. Teams typically employ alternate sets of forward lines and defensive pairings when shorthanded or on a power play. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. When players are substituted during play, it is called changing on the fly. A new NHL rule added in the 2005–2006 season prevents a team from changing their line after they ice the puck.

The boards surrounding the ice help keep the puck in play and they can also be used as tools to play the puck. Players are permitted to "bodycheck" opponents into the boards as a means of stopping progress. The referees, linesmen and the outsides of the goal are "in play" and do not cause a stoppage of the game when the puck or players are influenced (by either bouncing or colliding) into them. Play can be stopped if the goal is knocked out of position. Play often proceeds for minutes without interruption. When play is stopped, it is

restarted with a "faceoff". Two players "face" each other and an official drops the puck to the ice, where the two players attempt to gain control of the puck. Markings on the ice indicate the locations for the faceoff and guide the positioning of players.

The three major rules of play in ice hockey that limit the movement of the puck: "offside", "icing", and the puck going out of play. A player is "offside" if he enters his opponent's zone before the puck itself. Under many situations, a player may not "ice the puck", shoot the puck all the way across both the centre line and the opponent's goal line. The puck goes "out of play" whenever it goes past the perimeter of the ice rink (onto the player benches, over the "glass," or onto the protective netting above the glass) and a stoppage of play is called by the officials using whistles. It also does not matter if the puck comes back onto the ice surface from those areas as the puck is considered dead once it leaves the perimeter of the rink.

Under IIHF rules, each team may carry a maximum of 20 players and two goaltenders on their roster. NHL rules restrict the total number of players per game to 18, plus two goaltenders. In the NHL, the players are usually divided into four lines of three forwards, and into three pairs of defenceman. On occasion, teams may elect to substitute an extra defenceman for a forward; this seventh defenceman might sometimes play on the fourth line as a forward.

Periods and overtime[edit] A professional game consists of three periods of twenty minutes, the clock running only when the puck is in play. The teams change ends for the second period, again for the third period, and again at the start of each overtime played (playoffs only; same ends as the odd periods otherwise). Recreational leagues and children's leagues often play shorter games, generally with three shorter periods of play.

Various procedures are used if a game is tied. In tournament play, as well as in the NHL playoffs, North Americans favour sudden death overtime, in which the teams continue to play twenty­minute periods until a goal is scored. Up until the 1999–2000 season regular season NHL games were settled with a single five­minute sudden death period with five players (plus a goalie) per side, with both teams awarded one point in the standings in the event of a tie. With a goal, the winning team would be awarded two points and the losing team none (just as if they had lost in regulation).

From 1999–2000 until 2003–04, the National Hockey League decided ties by playing a single five­minute sudden death overtime period with each team having four players (plus a goalie) per side to "open­up" the game. In the event of a tie, each team would still receive one point in the standings but in the event of a victory the winning team would be awarded two points in the standings and the losing team one point. The idea was to discourage teams from playing for a tie, since previously some teams might have preferred a tie and 1 point to risking a loss and zero points. The only exception to this rule is if a team opts to pull their goalie in exchange for an extra skater during overtime and is subsequently scored upon (an 'empty net' goal), in which case the losing team receives no points for the overtime loss. Starting in the 2015­16 season, the single five­minute sudden death overtime session will consist of three players plus a goalie.[43]

International play and several North American professional leagues, including the NHL (in the regular season), now use an overtime period identical to that from 99–00 – 03–04 followed by a penalty shootout. If the score remains tied after an extra overtime period, the subsequent shootout consists of three players from each team taking penalty shots. After these six total shots, the team with the most goals is awarded the victory. If the score is still tied, the shootout then proceeds to a sudden death format. Regardless of the number of goals scored during the shootout by either team, the final score recorded will award the

winning team one more goal than the score at the end of regulation time. In the NHL if a game is decided in overtime or by a shootout the winning team is awarded two points in the standings and the losing team is awarded one point. Ties no longer occur in the NHL.

The overtime mode for the NHL playoffs differ from the regular season. In the playoffs there are no shootouts nor ties. If a game is tied after regulation an additional 20 minutes of 5 on 5 sudden death overtime will be added. In case of a tied game after the overtime, multiple 20­minute overtimes will be played until a team scores, which wins them the match.

Penalties

Altercations often occur near the goal after a stoppage of play, since defensive players are highly concerned with protecting their goaltender.

In ice hockey, infractions of the rules lead to play stoppages whereby the play is restarted at a face off. Some infractions result in the imposition of a penalty to a player or team. In the simplest case, the offending player is sent to the "penalty box" and their team has to play with one fewer player on the ice for a designated amount of time Minor penalties last for two minutes, major penalties last for five minutes, and a double minorpenalty is two consecutive penalties of two minutes duration. A single minor penalty may be extended by a further two minutes for causing visible injury to the victimized player. This is usually when blood is drawn during high sticking. Players may be also assessed personal extended penalties or game expulsions for misconduct in addition to the penalty or penalties their team must serve. The team that has been given a penalty is said to be playing "short­handed" while the opposing team is on a "power play."

A two­minute minor penalty is often charged for lesser infractions such as "tripping", "elbowing", "roughing", "high­sticking", "delay of the game", "too many players on the ice", "boarding", illegal equipment, "charging" (leaping into an opponent or body­checking him after taking more than two strides), "holding", holding the stick (grabbing an opponent's stick), "interference", "hooking", "slashing", "kneeing", "unsportsmanlike conduct" (arguing a penalty call with referee, extremely vulgar or inappropriate verbal comments), "butt­ending" (striking an opponent with the knob of the stick—a very rare penalty), "spearing", or "cross­checking". As of the 2005–2006 season, a minor penalty is also assessed for "diving", where a player embellishes or simulates an offence. More egregious fouls may be penalized by a four­minute double­minor penalty, particularly those that injure the victimized player. These penalties end either when the time runs out or when the other team scores during the power play. In the case of a goal scored during the first two minutes of a double­minor, the penalty clock is set down to two minutes upon a score, effectively expiring the first minor penalty. Five­minute major penalties are called for especially violent instances of most minor infractions that result in intentional injury to an opponent, or when a "minor" penalty results in visible injury (such as bleeding), as well as for fighting. Major penalties are always served in full; they do not terminate on a goal scored by the other team. Major penalties

assessed for fighting are typically offsetting, meaning neither team is short­handed and the players exit the penalty box upon a stoppage of play following the expiration of their respective penalties. The foul of "boarding" (defined as "check[ing] an opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to be thrown violently in the boards")[44] is penalized either by a minor or major penalty at the discretion of the referee, based on the violent state of the hit. A minor or major penalty for boarding is often assessed when a player checks an opponent from behind and into the boards.

Some varieties of penalties do not always require the offending team to play a man short. Concurrent five­minute major penalties in the NHL usually result from fighting. In the case of two players being assessed five­minute fighting majors, both the players serve five minutes without their team incurring a loss of player (both teams still have a full complement of players on the ice). This differs with two players from opposing sides getting minor penalties, at the same time or at any intersecting moment, resulting from more common infractions. In this case, both teams will have only four skating players (not counting the goaltender) until one or both penalties expire (if one penalty expires before the other, the opposing team gets a power play for the remainder of the time); this applies regardless of current pending penalties. However, in the NHL, a team always has at least three skaters on the ice. Thus, ten­minute misconduct penalties are served in full by the penalized player, but his team may immediately substitute another player on the iceunless a minor or major penalty is assessed in conjunction with the misconduct (a two­and­ten or five­and­ten). In this case, the team designates another player to serve the minor or major; both players go to the penalty box, but only the designee may not be replaced, and he is released upon the expiration of the two or five minutes, at which point the ten­minute misconduct begins. In addition, game misconducts are assessed for deliberate intent to inflict severe injury on an opponent (at the officials' discretion), or for a major penalty for a stick infraction or repeated major penalties. The offending player is ejected from the game and must immediately leave the playing surface (he does not sit in the penalty box); meanwhile, if an additional minor or major penalty is assessed, a designated player must serve out of that segment of the penalty in the box (similar to the above­mentioned "two­and­ten"). In some rare cases, a player may receive up to nineteen minutes in penalties for one string of plays. This could involve receiving a four­minute double minor penalty, getting in a fight with an opposing player who retaliates, and then receiving a game misconduct after the fight. In this case, the player is ejected and two teammates must serve the double­minor and major penalties.

A "penalty shot" is awarded to a player when the illegal actions of another player stop a clear scoring opportunity, most commonly when the player is on a "breakaway". A penalty shot allows the obstructed player to pick up the puck on the centre red­line and attempt to score on the goalie with no other players on the ice, to compensate for the earlier missed scoring opportunity. A penalty shot is also awarded for a defender other than the goaltender covering the puck in the goal crease, a goaltender intentionally displacing his own goal posts during a breakaway to avoid a goal, a defender intentionally displacing his own goal posts when there is less than two minutes to play in regulation time or at any point during overtime, or a player or coach intentionally throwing a stick or other object at the puck or the puck carrier and the throwing action disrupts a shot or pass play.

An ice hockey referee is responsible for assessing most penalties during a game.

Officials also stop play for puck movement violations, such as using one's hands to pass the puck in the offensive end, but no players are penalized for these offences. The sole exceptions are deliberately falling on or gathering the puck to the body, carrying the puck in the hand, and shooting the puck out of play in one's defensive zone (all penalized two minutes for delay of game).

In the NHL, a unique penalty applies to the goalies. The goalies now are forbidden to play the puck in the "corners" of the rink near their own net. This will result in a two­minute penalty against the goalie's team. The area immediately behind the net (marked by two red lines on either side of the net) is the only area behind the net where the goalie can play the puck.

An additional rule that has never been a penalty, but was an infraction in the NHL before recent rules changes, is the "two­line offside pass." Prior to the 2005–06 NHL season, play was stopped when a pass from inside a team's defending zone crossed the centre line, with a face­off held in the defending zone of the offending team. Now, the centre line is no longer used in the NHL to determine a two­line pass infraction, a change that the IIHF had adopted in 1998. Players are now able to pass to teammates who are more than the blue and centre ice red line away.

The NHL has taken steps to speed up the game of hockey and create a game of finesse, by retreating from the past where illegal hits, fights, and "clutching and grabbing" among players were commonplace. Rules are now more strictly enforced, resulting in more penalties, which in turn provides more protection to the players and facilitates more goals being scored. The governing body for United States amateur hockey has implemented many new rules to reduce the number of stick­on­body occurrences, as well as other detrimental and illegal facets of the game ("zero tolerance").

In men's hockey, but not in women's, a player may use his hip or shoulder to hit another player if the player has the puck or is the last to have touched it. This use of the hip and shoulder is called "body checking." Not all physical contact is legal — in particular, hits from behind, hits to the head and most types of forceful stick­on­body contact are illegal.

A delayed penalty call occurs when a penalty offense is committed by the team that does not have possession of the puck. In this circumstance the team with possession of the puck is

allowed to complete the play; that is, play continues until a goal is scored, a player on the opposing team gains control of the puck, or the team in possession commits an infraction or penalty of their own. Because the team on which the penalty was called cannot control the puck without stopping play, it is impossible for them to score a goal. In these cases the team in possession of the puck can pull the goalie for an extra attacker without fear of being scored on. However, it is possible for the controlling team to mishandle the puck into their own net. If a delayed penalty is signaled and the team in possession scores, the penalty is still assessed to the offending player, but not served. In 2012, this rule was changed by the NCAA for college level hockey in the United States. In college games, the penalty is still enforced even if the team in possession scores.[45]

Officials

A typical game of hockey is governed by two to four officials on the ice, charged with enforcing the rules of the game. There are typically two linesmen who are mainly responsible for calling "offside" and "icing" violations, breaking up fights, and conducting faceoffs,[46] and one or two referees,[47] who call goals and all other penalties. Linesmen can, however, report to the referee(s) that a penalty should be assessed against an offending player in some situations.[48] The restrictions on this practice vary depending on the governing rules. On­ice officials are assisted by off­ice officials who act as goal judges, time keepers, and official scorers.

The most widespread system in use today is the "three­man system," that uses one referee and two linesmen. Another less commonly used system is the two referee and one linesman system. This system is very close to the regular three­man system except for a few procedure changes. With the first being the National Hockey League, a number of leagues have started to implement the "four­official system," where an additional referee is added to aid in the calling of penalties normally difficult to assess by one single referee. The system is now used in every NHL game, at IIHF World Championships, the Olympics and in many professional and high­level amateur leagues in North America and Europe.

Officials are selected by the league they work for. Amateur hockey leagues use guidelines established by national organizing bodies as a basis for choosing their officiating staffs. In North America, the national organizing bodies Hockey Canada and USA Hockey approve officials according to their experience level as well as their ability to pass rules knowledge and skating ability tests. Hockey Canada has officiating levels I through VI.[49] USA Hockey has officiating levels 1 through 4.[50]

Equipment[edit]

Goaltenders use more protective equipment than other players.

Since ice hockey is a full contact sport in men's hockey, body checks are allowed so injuries are a common occurrence. Protective equipment is mandatory and is enforced in all competitive situations. This includes a helmet (cage worn if certain age), shoulder pads, elbow pads, mouth guard, protective gloves, heavily padded shorts (also known as hockey pants) or a girdle, athletic cup (also known as a jock, for males; and jill, for females), shin pads, skates, and (optionally) a neck protector.

Goaltenders use different equipment. With hockey pucks approaching them at speeds of up to 100 mph they must wear equipment with more protection. Goaltenders wear specialty goalie skates, (these skates are built more for movement side to side rather than forwards and backwards) a jock or jill, large leg pads, (there are size restrictions in certain leagues) blocking glove, catching glove, a chest protector, a goalie mask, and a large jersey. Goaltender's equipment has continually become larger and larger leading to fewer goals in each game and many official rule changes.[51]

Ice hockey skates are optimized for physical acceleration, speed and maneuverability. This includes rapid starts, stops, turns, and changes in skating direction. In addition, they must be rigid and tough to protect the skater's feet from contact with other skaters, sticks, pucks, the boards, and the ice itself. Rigidity also improves the overall maneuverability of the skate. Blade length, thickness (width), and curvature (rocker/radius (front to back) and radius of hollow (across the blade width) are quite different from speed or figure skates. Hockey players usually adjust these parameters based on their skill level, position, and body type. Most skate's width are about an 1/8 of an inch thick.

The ice hockey stick consists of a long, relatively wide, and slightly curved flat blade, attached to a shaft. The curve itself has a big impact on its performance. A deep curve

allows for lifting the puck easier while a shallow curve allows for easier backhands. The flex of the stick also impacts the performance. Typically, a less flexible stick is meant for a stronger player since the player is looking for the right balanced flex that allows the stick to flex easily while still having a strong "whip­back" which sends the puck flying at high speeds. It is quite distinct from sticks in other sports games and most suited to hitting and controlling the flat puck. Its unique shape contributed to the early development of the game.

Injury[edit] Ice hockey is a full contact sport and carries a high risk of injury. Players are moving at speeds around approximately 20 – 30 mph and quite a bit of the game revolves around the physical contact between the players. Skate blades, hockey sticks, shoulders, hips, and hockey pucks all contribute. The types of injuries associated with hockey include: lacerations, concussions, contusions, ligament tears, broken bones, hyperextensions, and muscle strains. Women's ice hockey players can have contact but are not allowed to body check. There are many injuries in women's ice hockey too. Some common injuries are concussions, broken bones, hyperextensions, and muscle strains.

Head injuries[edit] According to the Hughston Health Alert, "Lacerations to the head, scalp, and face are the most frequent types of injury [in hockey]." (Schmidt 6) Even a shallow cut to the head results in a loss of a large amount of blood. Not only are lacerations common, "it is estimated that direct trauma accounts for 80% of all [hockey] injuries. Most of these injuries are caused by player contact, falls and contact with a puck, high stick and occasionally, a skate blade." (Schmidt 3) One of the causes of head injury is checking from behind. Due to the danger of delivering a check from behind, many leagues, including the NHL have made this a major and game misconduct penalty (called "boarding"). Another type of check that accounts for many of the player­to­player contact concussions is a check to the head resulting in a misconduct penalty (called "head contact"). A check to the head can be defined as delivering a hit while the receiving player's head is down and their waist is bent and the aggressor is targeting the opponent player's head. The most dangerous result of a head injury in hockey can be classified as a concussion. Most concussions occur during player­to­player contact rather than when a player is checked into the boards. Checks to the head have accounted for nearly 50% of concussions that players in the National Hockey League have suffered. Concussions that players suffer may go unreported because there is no obvious physical signs if a player is not knocked unconscious. This can prove to be dangerous if a player decides to return to play without receiving proper medical attention. Studies show that, ice hockey causes 44.3% of all traumatic brain injuries among Canadian kids.[52] In severe cases, the traumatic brain injuries are capable of resulting in death. Occurrences of death from these injuries are rare, but occur all too much in a variety of sports.

Tactics[edit]

Winning the faceoff can be the key to some strategies. A game betweenSaginaw and Plymouth's Ontario Hockey League teams.

Checking

An important defensive tactic is checking—attempting to take the puck from an opponent or to remove the opponent from play. Stick checking, sweep checking, and poke checking are legal uses of the stick to obtain possession of the puck. The neutral zone trap is designed to isolate the puck carrier in the neutral zone preventing him from entering the offensive zone. Body checking is using one's shoulder or hip to strike an opponent who has the puck or who is the last to have touched it (the last person to have touched the puck is still legally "in possession" of it, although a penalty is generally called if he is checked more than two seconds after his last touch). Often the term checking is used to refer to body checking, with its true definition generally only propagated among fans of the game.

Offensive tactics[edit]

Peter Bondra of the Atlanta Thrashers shoots the puck and scores against Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers during the 2005–06 NHL season

Offensive tactics include improving a team's position on the ice by advancing the puck out of one's zone towards the opponent's zone, progressively by gaining lines, first your own blue line, then the red line and finally the opponent's blue line. NHL rules instated for the 2006 season redefined the offside rule to make the two­line pass legal; a player may pass the puck from behind his own blue line, past both that blue line and the centre red line, to a player on the near side of the opponents' blue line. Offensive tactics are designed ultimately to score a goal by taking a shot. When a player purposely directs the puck towards the opponent's goal, he or she is said to "shoot" the puck.

A deflection is a shot that redirects a shot or a pass towards the goal from another player, by allowing the puck to strike the stick and carom towards the goal. A one­timer is a shot struck directly off a pass, without receiving the pass and shooting in two separate actions.Headmanning the puck, also known as breaking out, is the tactic of rapidly passing to the player farthest down the ice. Loafing, also known as cherry­picking, is when a player, usually a forward, skates behind an attacking team, instead of playing defense, in an attempt to create an easy scoring chance.

A team that is losing by one or two goals in the last few minutes of play will often elect to pull the goalie; that is, remove the goaltender and replace him or her with an extra attacker on the ice in the hope of gaining enough advantage to score a goal. However, it is an act of desperation, as it sometimes leads to the opposing team extending their lead by scoring a goal in the empty net.

One of the most important strategies for a team is their forecheck. Forechecking is the act of attacking the opposition in their defensive zone. Forechecking is an important part of the dump and chase strategy (i.e. shooting the puck into the offensive zone and then chasing after it). Each team will use their own unique system but the main ones are: 2–1–2, 1–2–2, and 1–4. The 2–1–2 is the most basic forecheck system where two forwards will go in deep and pressure the opposition's defencemen, the third forward stays high and the two defencemen stay at the blueline. The 1–2–2 is a bit more conservative system where one forward pressures the puck carrier and the other two forwards cover the oppositions' wingers, with the two defencemen staying at the blueline. The 1–4 is the most defensive forecheck system, referred to as the neutral zone trap, where one forward will apply pressure to the puck carrier around the oppositions' blueline and the other 4 players stand basically in a line by their blueline in hopes the opposition will skate into one of them. Another strategy is the left wing lock, which has two forwards pressure the puck and the left wing and the two defencemen stay at the blueline.

There are many other little tactics used in the game of hockey. Cycling moves the puck along the boards in the offensive zone to create a scoring chance by making defenders tired or moving them out of position. Pinching is when a defencemen pressures the opposition's winger in the offensive zone when they are breaking out, attempting to stop their attack and keep the puck in the offensive zone. A saucer pass is a pass used when an opposition's stick or body is in the passing lane. It is the act of raising the puck over the obstruction and having it land on a teammate's stick.

A deke, short for "decoy," is a feint with the body or stick to fool a defender or the goalie. Many modern players, such as Pavel Datsyuk, Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane, have picked up the skill of "dangling," which is fancier deking and requires more stick handling skills.

Fights

Although fighting is officially prohibited in the rules, it is both a target of criticism and a considerable draw for the sport. At the professional level in North America fights are unofficially condoned. Enforcers and other players fight to demoralize the opposing players while exciting their own, as well as settling personal scores. A fight will also break out if one of the team's skilled players gets hit hard or someone gets hit by what the team perceives as a dirty hit. The amateur game penalizes fisticuffs more harshly, as a player who receives a fighting major is also assessed at least a 10­minute misconduct penalty (NCAA and some Junior leagues) or a game misconduct penalty and suspension (high school and younger, as well as some casual adult leagues).[53] Crowds seem to like fighting in ice hockey and cheer when fighting erupts.[54]

Women's ice hockey[edit]

Drawing of a female ice hockey player, from Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game(1899)

Ice hockey is one of the fastest growing women's sports in the world, with the number of participants increasing 350 percent in the last 10 years.[55] In 2011, Canada had 85,827 women players,[56] United States had 65,609,[57] Finland 4,760,[58] Sweden 3,075[59] and Switzerland 1,172.[60] While there are not as many organized leagues for women as there are for men, there exist leagues of all levels, including the Canadian Women's Hockey League, Western Women's Hockey League, Mid­Atlantic Women's Hockey League, and various European leagues; as well as university teams, national and Olympic teams, and recreational teams. The IIHF holds a IIHF World Women's Championship tournament annually except in Olympic years.[61]

A women's ice hockey team in 1921

The chief difference between women's and men's hockey is that body checking is not allowed in women's hockey. After the 1990 Women's World Championship, body checking was eliminated in women's hockey. In current IIHF women's competition, body checking is either a minor or major penalty, decided at the referee's discretion.[62] In addition, players in women's competition are required to wear protective full­face masks.[62]

In Canada, to some extent ringette serves as the female counterpart to ice hockey, in the sense that in many families, the boys play hockey while the girls play ringette.

History

Women are known to have played the game in the 19th century. Several games were recorded in the 1890s in Ottawa, Canada. The women of Lord Stanley's family were known to participate in the game of ice hockey on the outdoor ice rink at Rideau Hall, the residence of Canada's Governor­General.

The game developed at first without an organizing body. A tournament in 1902 between Montreal and Trois­Rivieres was billed as the first championship tournament. Several tournaments, such as at the Banff Winter Carnival, were held in the early 20th Century and numerous women's teams such as the Seattle Vamps and Vancouver Amazons existed. Organizations started to develop in the 1920s, such as the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association, and later, the Dominion Women's Amateur Hockey Association. Starting in the 1960s, the game spread to universities. Today, the game is played from youth through adult leagues, and in the universities of North America and internationally. There are two major women's hockey leagues, the National Women's Hockey League with teams in the United States which is a professional league and the Canadian Women's Hockey League with teams in Canada and the United States, which is semi­professional and is developing toward becoming a fully professional league.

The first women's world championship tournament, albeit unofficial, was held in 1987 in Toronto, Canada. This was followed by the first IIHF World Championship in 1990 in Ottawa. Women's ice hockey was added as a medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The United States won the gold, Canada won the silver and Finland won the bronze medal.[63]

The United States Hockey League (USHL) welcomed the first female professional hockey player in 1969–70, when the Marquette Iron Rangers signed Karen Koch.[64] One woman, Manon Rhéaume, has played in the NHL, as a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning in pre­season games against the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins. In 2003,Hayley Wickenheiser played with the Kirkkonummi Salamat in the Finnish men's Suomi­sarja league. Several women have competed in North American minor leagues, including Rhéaume, goaltenders Kelly Dyer and Erin Whitten and defenceman Angela Ruggiero.

Leagues and championships[edit] National teams[edit]

Finland vs Russia in the Winter Olympics 2006 in Turin.

Ice hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924 (and was played at the summer games in 1920). Canada won six of the first seven gold medals to 1952, the exception occurring in 1936 when Great Britain won. The USSR won all but two gold medals from1956 to 1988 as well as a final time as the Unified Team at the 1992 Albertville Olympics. The United States won their first gold medal in1960. On the way to winning the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics amateur US college players defeated the heavily favoured Soviet squad – an event known as the "Miracle on Ice" in the United States. Restrictions on professional players were fully dropped at the 1998 games in Nagano. The Games saw the full participation of players from the NHL, which suspended operations during the Games and has done so in subsequent Games. The 2010 games in Vancouver were the first played in an NHL city since the inclusion of NHL players. The 2010 games were the first played on NHL­sized ice rinks, which are narrower than the IIHF standard.

Ice Hockey World Championships 2010 in Germany

National teams representing the member federations of the IIHF compete annually in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. Teams are selected from the available players by the individual federations, without restriction on amateur or professional status. Since it is held in the spring, the tournament coincides with the annual NHL Stanley Cup playoffs and many of the top players are hence not available to participate in the tournament. Many of the NHL players who do play in the IIHF tournament come from teams eliminated before the playoffs or in the first round, and federations often hold open spots until the tournament to

allow for players to join the tournament after their club team is eliminated. For many years, the tournament was an amateur­only tournament, but this restriction was removed, beginning in the 1970s. Players are not paid to play in the tournament, but insurance and expenses are covered from the tournament revenues.

The 1972 Summit Series and 1974 Summit Series, two series pitting the best Canadian and Soviet players without IIHF restrictions were major successes, and established a rivalry between Canada and the USSR. In the spirit of best­versus­best without restrictions on amateur or professional status, the series were followed by five Canada Cup tournaments, played in North America. Two NHL versus USSR series were also held: the 1979 Challenge Cup and Rendez­vous '87. The Canada Cup tournament later became the World Cup of Hockey, played in 1996 and 2004. The United States won in 1996 and Canada won in 2004.

Since the initial women's world championships in 1990, there have been fifteen tournaments.[61] Women's hockey has been played at the Olympics since 1998.[63] The 2006 Winter Olympic final between Canada and Sweden marked the only time the women's world championship or Olympic final did not involve both Canada and the United States.

Other ice hockey tournaments featuring national teams include the World U20 Championship, the World U18 Championships, the World U­17 Hockey Challenge, the World Junior A Challenge, the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, the World Women's U18 Championships and the 4 Nations Cup. The annual Euro Hockey Tour, an unofficial European championship between the national men's teams of the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden have been played since 1996–97.

International leagues[edit]

KHL match

The National Hockey League and specifically the Stanley Cup trophy, is the oldest still operating international competition, featuring clubs from the United States and Canada. The league has 30 teams, seven in Canada and twenty­three in the United States.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) is an ice hockey league in Eurasia. The league is the successor to the Russian Super League and the Soviet League, the history of which dates back to the 1940s. The KHL was launched in 2008 with clubs from the post­Soviet states. The league expanded beyond the former Soviet countries, beginning in the 2011–12 season, with clubs in Croatia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The number of teams has since increased to 28 from eight different countries.

The Asia League Ice Hockey, an international ice hockey league featuring clubs from China, Japan and South Korea, is the successor to the Japan Ice Hockey League.

The Austrian Hockey League, called the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (English: Erste Bank Hockey League) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest­level ice hockey league in Austria. The roots of the EBEL league go back to 1923 and changed to its current form in 1965. Starting in the 2005/06 season, non­Austrian teams were invited to compete for the "EBEL Champion" title. The league has subsequently added clubs from Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, reaching twelve teams in 2012.

Beginning in the 2014–15 season, the Champions Hockey League was launched, a league consisting of first­tier teams from several European countries, running parallelly with the teams domestic leagues.

There are also several annual tournaments for clubs, held outside of league play. Pre­season tournaments include the European Trophy, Tampere Cup and the Pajulahti Cup. One of the oldest international ice hockey competition for clubs is the Spengler Cup, held every year in Davos, Switzerland, between Christmas and New Year's Day. It was first awarded in 1923 to the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club. The Memorial Cup, a competition for junior­level (age 20 and under) clubs is held annually from a pool of junior championship teams in Canada and the United States.

International club competitions organized by the IIHF include the Continental Cup, the Victoria Cup and the European Women's Champions Cup. The World Junior Club Cup is an annual tournament of junior ice hockey clubs representing each of the top junior leagues.

Leagues

Several countries in Europe have their own top professional senior leagues. Many future KHL and NHL players start their professional careers in these leagues.

Country League Notes

Czech Republic Czech Extraliga

Denmark Metal Ligaen

Finland Liiga Known as SM­Liiga until 2013

France Ligue Magnus

Germany Deutsche Eishockey Liga

Italy Elite.A Known as Serie A until 2013

Norway GET­ligaen

Slovakia Slovak Extraliga

Sweden Swedish Hockey League Known as Elitserien until 2013

Switzerland National League A

Ukraine Professional Hockey League Successor to Ukrainian Hockey Championship

United Kingdom Elite Ice Hockey League Teams in all of the home nations: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

In North America, the American Hockey League (AHL), sometimes referred to as "The A,"[65] is the primary developmental professional league for players aspiring to enter the NHL. It comprises 30 teams from the United States and Canada. It is run as a "farm league" to the NHL, with the vast majority of AHL players under contract to an NHL team. TheECHL (called the East Coast Hockey League before the 2003–04 season) is a mid­level minor league in the United States with a few players under contract to NHL or AHL teams. The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a developmental minor league in the United States with no NHL affiliations. Most undrafted players get their start in the ECHL or SPHL.

The Australian Ice Hockey League and New Zealand Ice Hockey League are represented by nine and five teams respectively. As of 2012, the two top teams of the previous season from each league compete in the Trans­Tasman Champions League.

Several countries have leagues for players of junior­age, under the age of 20. The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella organization comprising three major junior leagues: the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. It attracts players from Canada, the United States and Europe. There are also junior leagues in the United States and Russia, and several of the national professional leagues in Europe also have developmental leagues.

Pond hockey

Pond hockey is a form of ice hockey played generally as pick­up hockey on lakes, ponds and artificial outdoor rinks during the winter. Pond hockey is commonly referred to in hockey circles as shinny. Its rules differ from traditional hockey because there is no hitting and very little shooting, placing a greater emphasis on skating, puckhandling and passing abilities. Since 2002, the World Pond Hockey Championship has been played on Roulston Lake in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, Canada.[66] Since 2006, the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships have been played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Canadian National Pond Hockey Championships have been played in Huntsville, Ontario.

Ice hockey in popular culture

Ice hockey is the official winter sport of Canada. Ice hockey, partially because of its popularity as a major professional sport, has been a source of inspiration for numerous films, television episodes and songs in North American popular culture.

Attendance records

The record for a Stanley Cup playoff game is 28,183, set on April 23, 1996, at the Thunderdome during a Tampa Bay Lightning – Philadelphia Flyers game.[67]

A record was set on December 11, 2010, when the University of Michigan's men's ice hockey team faced cross­state rival Michigan State in an event billed as "The Big Chill at the Big House." The game was played at Michigan's (American) football venue, Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, with a capacity of 109,901 as of the 2010 football season. When UM stopped sales to the public on May 6, 2010, with plans to reserve remaining tickets for students, over 100,000 tickets had been sold for the event.[68] Ultimately, a crowd announced by UM as 113,411, the largest in the stadium's history (including football), saw the homestanding Wolverines win 5–0. Guinness World Records, using a count of ticketed fans who actually entered the stadium instead of UM's figure of tickets sold, announced a final figure of 104,173.[69][70]

The record was approached but not broken at the 2014 NHL Winter Classic, which also held at Michigan Stadium, with the Detroit Red Wings as the home team and the Toronto Maple Leafs as the opposing team with an announced crowd of 105,491.

Number of registered players by country[edit] Number of registered hockey players, including male, female and junior, provided by the respective countries' federations. Note that this list only includes the 36 of 74 IIHFmember countries with more than 1,000 registered players as of October 2015.[71][72]

Country Players % of population

Canada 721,204 2.012%

United States 533,172 0.166%

Czech Republic

109,103 1.035%

Russia 99,172 0.069%

Finland 75,871 1.382%

Sweden 60,089 0.612%

Germany 25,201 0.031%

Switzerland 23,296 0.284%

France 20,656 0.031%

Japan 19,287 0.015%

Austria 11,754 0.136%

Slovakia 11,518 0.213%

United Kingdom

10,896 0.017%

Norway 6,629 0.128%

Ukraine 6,181 0.014%

Italy 5,851 0.010%

Latvia 5,841 0.292%

Kazakhstan 4,892 0.028%

Belarus 4,851 0.051%

Hungary 4,622 0.047%

Denmark 4,295 0.076%

Australia 4,264 0.018%

Netherlands 2,888 0.017%

Poland 2,575 0.007%

Belgium 2,571 0.023%

South Korea 2,207 0.004%

Mexico 2,020 0.002%

Hong Kong 1,631 0.023%

North Korea 1,575 0.006%

Lithuania 1,403 0.048%

Turkey 1,300 0.002%

New Zealand 1,277 0.028%

China 1,225 0.000%

India 1,104 0.000%

Romania 1,075 0.005%

Argentina 1,010 0.002%

A group of boys picking teams for a game of shinny, Sarnia, Ontario, 1908

Shinny (also shinney, pick­up hockey, pond hockey, or "outdoor puck") is an informal type of hockey played on ice. It is also used as another term for street hockey. There are no formal rules or specific positions, and generally, there are no goaltenders. The goal areas at each end may be marked by nets, or simply by objects, such as stones or blocks of snow. Body checking and lifting or "roofing/reefing/raising the puck" (shooting the puck or ball so it rises above the ice) are often forbidden because the players are not wearing protective equipment. Shinny is a game that all levels of hockey enthusiasts can play because it requires no rink, requires no skills except ability to hold a stick and at the very least to try to touch the puck or ball when it goes by. Shinny may be completely non­competitive and recreational ­ scoring irrelevant ­ or competitive and scores kept. In his book Country on Ice, Doug Beardsley claims that most Canadian hockey professional players have played some form of shinny in their youth.

Team formation[edit] There is a common ritual for choosing teams, which has each player "throwing" their hockey stick into a pile at centre ice, or the middle area between two nets. If there are not enough people on the rink who are not playing an organized game, one player may approach another player and ask, "Wanna get a game goin', bud?", or simply toss his own stick into the middle. Once people follow suit and enough sticks are in the pile, someone divides the pile into two smaller piles, perhaps strategically assigning sticks to one side or another. Players then pick up their own sticks, the teams having been formed. If there are too many players for the size of playing area, three teams may be created, with one team waiting to play the winner. Otherwise, the two teams can put the extra players on the "bench," allowing for players to rest between shifts. Very often teams are formed with intent to divide the group into approximately equal levels of skills among the players. Players joining after play has started are usually told "which way they are going" (which net they should shoot towards) based upon the score of the game and their skill level. Some games continue for many hours with a variety of players participating for as long as they want.

History and name origin

Shinny, generally believed to be a precursor to ice hockey, was informal enough in its formative years that the pucks and sticks were often makeshift. During the Great Depression, for example, northern boys used tree branches or broomhandles as sticks, a tin can, a piece of wood, and even a frozen road apple (farm animal dropping) as a puck. Any object about the right size might serve as a puck. The name is derived from the Scottish game shinty and indeed shinny was a common name for one of shinty's many regional variations in Scotland. Shinny, a primarily Canadian term,[2] is usually called scrimmage, pick­up hockey, drop­in hockey, or RAT Hockey in the United States.

Institutionalized usage[edit] In some municipalities around the world where the climate permits, part of a city's taxes may go to the formal set­up and maintenance of skating rinks designed specifically for shinny. In some cities, such as Montreal; Quebec; and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, numerous rinks are erected and are maintained by civil servants throughout the winter as long as the weather allows their usage to continue.[citation needed]

The City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, known for both its hockey fan reputation and fresh waves of new immigrants, hosts free or low­cost shinny sessions and also has programs for adults to learn how to shinny on city rinks. The programs, expanded in 2011, include parent/child shinny and two levels of beginner, and are supervised by city­paid coaches.

Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. The term "Roller Hockey" is often used interchangeably to refer to two variant forms chiefly differentiated by the type of skates and sticks used. There is traditional "Roller hockey" (Quad hockey, Rink hockey), played with quad skates, and "Inline hockey", played with inline skates. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide. A minor variant of roller hockey is called skater hockey, played on both quad and inline skates.

Similarities and differences between Quad Hockey and Inline Hockey[edit] Roller Hockey is played on both Quad skates and Inline skates, have different rules and equipment, and involve different types of skating but share the category and name of Roller Hockey. Roller hockey (Quad) is played using traditional quad roller skates, affording greater maneuverability to the player ­ this results in games filled with fancy footwork, tight maneuvering, and is more similar to football or basketball. The stick is more or less the same as in bandy and shinty. Roller Hockey (Inline) bears close resemblance to ice hockey and is played on Inline skates, uses an ice hockey stick and includes a lot of fast "racing back and forth" action. Inline hockey goalies use a glove called a catcher to catch shots made on goal, and a flat, usually square, mitt called a blocker which is used to deflect shots on goal. The Quad hockey goalie uses a flat batting glove that provides rebound characteristics when blocking a shot on goal.

Quad hockey

Rink hockey ­ Hardball hockey ­ Hoquei em Patins

Quad hockey is a variation of roller hockey. Roller Hockey is the overarching name for a rollersport that has existed long before inline skates were "re­invented" in the 70s (They were actually invented before quads, in the 1760s). Roller Hockey has been played on quad skates, in sixty countries worldwide and so has many names worldwide. Sometimes the sport is called Quad Hockey, Hóquei em Patins (PT), Rolhockey (NL), Rollhockey(DE), International Style Ball hockey, Rink Hockey (FR), Hockey Su Pista (IT), Hoquei sobre Patins (CA), Hockey sobre Patines (ES),Rulleskøjtehockey (DA), Rullbandy (S), Rulluisuhoki (ET) and Hardball hockey (US), depending on which region of the world it is played. Roller hockey was a demonstration rollersport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Inline hockey

Inline Hockey is played on inline skates

Inline hockey is a variation of roller hockey very similar to ice hockey, from which it is derived. It is referred to by many names worldwide, includingBall Hockey, Inline hockey, Roller Hockey, Longstick hockey, Deck hockey, Road hockey, Street hockey and Skater hockey depending on which region of the world in which it is played.

Like ice hockey, Inline hockey is a contact sport therefore body checking isn't penalized. It is similar to ice hockey in that teamwork, skill and aggressiveness are needed. Excepting the use of inline roller skates in lieu of ice skates, the equipment of inline roller hockey is similar to that of ice hockey.

The game is 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. When played more

informally, the game often takes place on a smooth asphalt surface outdoors. The game is played in three 15­minute periods or if it is higher standard it's played 20­minutes in each of the three periods. The game rules differ from ice hockey in a few simple ways: there is no icing and it is played in a 4 on 4 player format instead of 5 on 5.

Generally speaking, only competitive level Inline hockey is strictly bound by the governing body's rules. Recreational hockey leagues may make modifications to certain aspects of the rules to suit local requirements (size of rink, length of periods and penalties). Roller hockey is a growing sport in Britain with teams cropping up all over the country[citation needed]. The fact that it can be played on any dry surface means that you can play it in almost any leisure center.

Tournaments and competitive Roller Hockey[edit] Most competitive youth hockey teams play in tournaments. The tournaments vary depending on location, but a typical bracket system is usually used. Teams travel to different locations around their state, sometimes even going out of state. There are inner state tournaments and out of state tournaments. There are even national tournaments competitive teams compete for.

The FIRS (Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports) and the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) are two main international associations that organize the biggest roller hockey world championship. Over twenty national teams participate in these two events.

In skater hockey, the sport is governed in Europe by the International Inline­Skater hockey Federation.

A game of field hockey

Highestgoverning body

International Hockey Federation

Nicknames Hockey, grass hockey

First played 19th century, England

Characteristics

Contact Limited

Team members 11 field players

Type outdoor and indoor

Equipment Hockey ball, hockey stick, mouthguard, shinguards

Presence

Olympic 1908, 1920, 1928–present

Field hockey, or simply 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.[1] 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 or fiber glass to hit a round, hard, rubber like ball. The length of the stick depends on the player's individual height.[2] There are no left hand sticks in field hockey, but only one side of the stick is allowed to be used. Goalies have a different kind of stick. Theirs has another curve on the end of the stick. The uniform consists of shin­guards, cleats, skirts (usually referred to as kilts) or shorts, a mouth guard and a jersey. At the turn of the 21st century, the game is played globally, with particular popularity throughout western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and Australasia as well as the American South and Northeast (such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania) as well as Southern Africa. Hockey is the national sport of Pakistan, and is sometimes assumed to be India's national sport as well, although officially India does not have a national sport.[3] 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. The team that 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 and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the competition's format. The governing body of hockey is the International Hockey Federation (IHF), 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 therules 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 5­a­side variant, with a field which is reduced to approximately 40 m × 20 m (131 ft × 66 ft). 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.

History

Relief of 510 B.C. depicting hockey players, in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens

There is a depiction of a hockey­like game from 510 BC in Ancient Greece when the game may have been called "Κερητίζειν" ("kerētízein") because it was played with a horn ("κέρας" in Greek) and a ball­like object.[5] In East Asia, a similar game was entertained, using a carved wooden stick and ball prior to 300 BC. In Inner Mongolia, China, the Daur people have been playing Beikou a game with some similarities to field hockey for about 1,000 years.[6] The word 'hockey' itself was recorded in 1363 when Edward III of England issued the proclamation: "[M]oreover we ordain that you prohibit under penalty of imprisonment all and sundry from such stone, wood and iron throwing; handball, football, or hockey; coursing and cock­fighting, or other such idle games."[7]

The modern game grew from English public schools in the early 19th century. The first club was in 1849 at Blackheath in south­eastLondon, but the modern rules grew out of a version played by Middlesex cricket clubs for winter sport[citation needed]. Teddington Hockey Club formed the modern game by introducing the striking circle and changing the ball to a sphere from a rubber cube.[8] The Hockey Association was founded in 1886. The first international took place in 1895 (Ireland 3, Wales 0) and the International Rules Board was founded in 1900. Field hockey was played at the Summer Olympics in 1908 and 1920. It was dropped in 1924, leading to the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Hockey sur Gazon (FIH) as an international governing body by seven continental European nations, and hockey was reinstated in 1928. Men's hockey united under the FIH in 1970. The two oldest trophies are the Irish Senior Cup, which dates back to 1894, and the Irish Junior Cup, a 2nd XI only competition instituted in 1895.[9] In India, the Beighton Cup and the Aga Khan tournament commenced within ten years. Entering the Olympics in 1928, India won all five games without conceding a goal and won from 1932 until 1956 and then in 1964 and 1980. Pakistan won in 1960, 1968 and 1984.

A game of hockey being played between Germany and Scotland at the 1908 London Olympics

In the early 1970s, artificial turf began to be used. Synthetic pitches changed most aspects of field hockey, gaining speed. New tactics and techniques such as the Indian dribble developed, followed by new rules to take account. Indian history says that similar game like hockey was played in 17th century in Punjab state of India under name 'Khido Khundi' khido is a woolen ball and khundi is stick. The switch to synthetic surfaces ended Indian and Pakistani domination because artificial turf was too expensive—in comparison to the wealthier European countries—and since the 1970s Australia, the Netherlands and Germany have dominated at the Olympics. Women's field hockey was first played at British universities and schools. The first club, the Molesey Ladies, was founded in 1887[citation needed]. The first national association was the Irish Ladies Hockey Union in 1894[citation needed], and though rebuffed by the Hockey Association, women's field hockey grew rapidly around the world. This led to the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA) in 1927, though this did not include many continental European countries where women played as sections of men's associations and were affiliated to the FIH. The IFWHA held conferences every three years, and tournaments associated with these were the primary IFWHA competitions. These tournaments were non­competitive until 1975. By the early 1970s, there were 22 associations with women's sections in the FIH and 36 associations in the IFWHA. Discussions started about a common rule book. The FIH introduced competitive tournaments in 1974, forcing the acceptance of the principle of competitive field hockey by the IFWHA in 1973. It took until 1982 for the two bodies to merge, but this allowed the introduction of women's field hockey to the Olympic games from 1980 where, as in the men's game, The Netherlands, Germany, and Australia have been consistently strong. Argentina has emerged as a team to be reckoned with since 2000, winning the world championship in 2002 and 2010 and medals at the last three Olympics. Outside North America, participation is now fairly evenly balanced between men and women. For example, in England, England Hockey reports that as of the 2008–09 season there were 2488 registered men's teams, 1969 women's teams, 1042 boys' teams, 966 girls' teams and 274 mixed teams.[10] In 2006 the Irish Hockey Association reported that the gender split among its players was approximately 65% female and 35% male.[11] In its 2008 census, Hockey Australia reported 40,534 male club players and 41,542 female.[12] However, in the United States of America, there are few field hockey clubs, most play taking place between high school or college sides, almost entirely of females. The strength of college field hockey reflects the impact ofTitle IX which mandated that colleges should fund men's and women's sports programmes comparably. The game's roots in the English public girls' school mean that the game is associated in the UK with active or overachieving middle class and upper class women. For example, in Nineteen Eighty­Four, George Orwell's novel set in a totalitarian London, main character Winston Smith initially dislikes Julia, the woman he comes to love, because of "the atmosphere of hockey­fields and cold baths and community hikes and general clean­mindedness which she managed to carry about with her."[13]

Field of play

Diagram of a hockey field

Most hockey field dimensions were originally fixed using whole numbers of imperial measures. Nevertheless, metric measurements are now the official dimensions as laid down by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in the "Rules of Hockey". The pitch is a 91.4 m × 55 m (100.0 yd × 60.1 yd) rectangular field. At each end is a goal 2.14 m (7 ft) high and 3.66 m (12 ft) wide, as well as lines across the field 22.90 m (25 yd) from each end­line (generally referred to as the 23­metre lines or the 25­yard lines) and in the center of the field. A spot 0.15 m (6 in) in diameter, called the penalty spot or stroke mark, is placed with its centre 6.40 m (7 yd) from the centre of each goal. The shooting circle is 15 m (16 yd) from the base line.

Playing Surface[edit] Historically the game developed on natural grass turf. In the early 1970s, "synthetic grass" fields began to be used for hockey, with the first Olympic Games on this surface being held at the 1976 Montreal edition. Synthetic pitches are now mandatory for all international tournaments and for most national competitions. While hockey is still played on traditional grass fields at some local levels and lesser national divisions, it has been replaced by synthetic surfaces almost everywhere in the western world. There are three main types of artificial hockey surface:[14][15][16]

Unfilled or water­based ­ artificial fibres that are densely packed for stabilisation, requires irrigation or watering to avoid pitch wear

Dressed or sand­dressed ­ artificial fibres can be less densely packed and sand supports the fibres for part of the pile depth

Filled or sand­filled ­ artificial fibres can be longer and less densely packed and sand supports the fibres for 100% of the pile depth

Since the 1970s, sand­based pitches have been favoured as they dramatically speed up the game. However, in recent years there has been a massive increase in the number of "water­based" artificial turfs. Water­based synthetic turfs enable the ball to be transferred more quickly than on sand­based surfaces. It is this characteristic that has made them the surface of choice for international and national league competitions. Water­based surfaces are also less abrasive than sand­based surfaces and reduce the level of injury to players when they come into contact with the surface. The FIH are now[when?] proposing that new surfaces being laid should be of a hybrid variety which require less watering. This is due to the negative ecological effects of the high water requirements of water­based synthetic fields. It has also been stated that the decision to make artificial surfaces mandatory greatly favoured more affluent countries who could afford these new pitches.[17]

Rules and play[edit] The game is played between two teams of whom eleven are permitted to be on the pitch at any one time. The remaining players may be substituted in any combination. There is an unlimited amount of times a team can sub in and out. Substitutions are permitted at any point in the game, apart from between the award and end of a penalty corner; two exceptions to this rule is for injury or suspension of the defending goalkeeper, which is not allowed when playing with a field keep, or a player can exit the field, but you must wait until after the inserter touches the ball to put somebody back in. Players are permitted to play the ball with the flat of the 'face side' and with the edges of the head and handle of the field hockey stick with the exception that, for reasons of safety, the ball may not be struck 'hard' with a forehand edge stroke, because of the difficulty of controlling the height and direction of the ball from that stroke. The flat side is always on the "natural" side for a right­handed person swinging the stick at the ball from right to left. Left­handed sticks are rare, but available; however they are pointless as the rules forbid their use in a game. To make a strike at the ball with a left to right swing the player must present the flat of the 'face' of the stick to the ball by 'reversing' the stick head, i.e. by turning the handle through approximately 180°(while a reverse edge hit would turn the stick head through approximately 90° from the position of an upright forehand stoke with the 'face' of the stick head). Edge hitting of the ball underwent a two­year "experimental period", twice the usual length of an "experimental trial" and is still a matter of some controversy within the sport. Ric Charlesworth, the former Australian coach, has been a strong critic of the unrestricted use of the reverse edge hit. The 'hard' forehand edge hit was banned after similar concerns were expressed about the ability of players to direct the ball accurately, but the reverse edge hit does appear to be more predictable and controllable than its counterpart. Other rules include; no foot to ball contact, no use of hands, no obstructing other players, no high back swing, and no third party. If a player is dribbling the ball and either loses control and kicks the ball or another player interferes that player is not permitted to gain control and continue dribbling. The rules do not allow the person who kicked the ball to gain advantage from the kick, so the ball will automatically be passed on to the opposing team. Conversely, if no advantage is gained from kicking the ball, play should continue. Players may not obstruct another's chance of hitting the ball in any way. No shoving/using your body/stick to prevent advancement in the other team. Penalty for this is the opposing team receives the ball and if the problem continues, the player can be carded. While a player is taking a free hit or starting a corner the back swing of their hit cannot be too high for this is considered dangerous. Finally there may not be three players touching the ball at one time. Two players from opposing teams can battle for the ball, however if another player interferes it is considered third party and the ball automatically goes to the team who only had one player involved in the third party.

Positions[edit]

A Virginia Cavaliers field player passing the ball

" hockey positions are discussed, notions of fluidity are very common. Each team can be fielded with a maximum of 11 players and will typically arrange themselves into forwards, midfielders, and defensive players (fullbacks) with players frequently moving between theses lines with the flow of play. Each team may also play with:" * a goalkeeper who wears a different color shirt and full protective equipment comprising at least headgear, leg guards and kickers; this player is referred to in the rules as a goalkeeper; or

* a field player with goalkeeping privileges wearing a different color shirt and who may wear protective headgear (but not leg guards and kickers or other goalkeeping protective equipment) when inside their defending 23m area; they must wear protective headgear when defending a penalty corner or stroke; this player is referred to in the rules as a player with goalkeeping privileges; or

* Only field players; no player has goalkeeping privileges or wears a different color shirt; no player may wear protective headgear except a face mask when defending a penalty corner or stroke.[4]

Formations[edit] As hockey has a very dynamic style of play, it is difficult to simplify positions to the static formations which are common in association football. Although positions will typically be categorized as either fullback, halfback, midfield/inner or striker, it is important for players to have an understanding of every position on the field. For example, it is not uncommon to see a halfback overlap and end up in either attacking position, with the midfield and strikers being responsible for re­adjusting to fill the space they left. Movement between lines like this is particularly common across all positions. This fluid Australian culture of hockey has been responsible for developing an international trend towards players occupying spaces on the field, not having assigned positions. Although they may have particular spaces on the field which they are more comfortable and effective as players, they are responsible for occupying the space nearest them. This fluid approach to hockey and player movement, has made it easy for teams to transition between formations such as; "3 at the back", "2 centre halves", "5 at the back" and more.

Goal keepers[edit] When the ball is inside the circle they are defending and they have their stick in their hand, goalkeepers wearing full protective equipment are permitted to use their stick, feet, kickers or leg guards to propel the ball and to use their stick, feet, kickers, leg guards or any other part of their body to stop the ball or deflect it in any direction including over the back­line. Similarly, field players are permitted to use their stick. They are not allowed to use their feet and legs to propel the ball, stop the ball or deflect it in any direction including over the back­line. However, neither goalkeepers, or players with goalkeeping privileges are permitted to conduct themselves in a manner which is dangerous to other players by taking advantage of the protective equipment they wear.[4]

Neither goalkeepers or players with goalkeeping privileges may lie on the ball, however, they are permitted to use arms, hands and any other part of their body to push the ball away. Lying on the ball

deliberately will result into a penalty stroke, whereas if an umpire deems a goalkeeper has lay on the ball accidentally (e.g. it gets stuck in their protective equipment), a penalty corner is awarded. * The action above is permitted only as part of a goal saving action or to move the ball away from the possibility of a goal scoring action by opponents. It does not permit a goalkeeper or player with goalkeeping privileges to propel the ball forcefully with arms, hands or body so that it travels a long distance

When the ball is outside the circle they are defending, goalkeepers or players with goalkeeping privileges are only permitted to play the ball with their stick. Further, a goalkeeper, or player with goalkeeping privileges whom is wearing a helmet must not take part in the match outside the 23m area they are defending, except when taking a penalty stroke. A goalkeeper must wear protective headgear at all times, except when taking a penalty stroke.

General play[edit] For the purposes of the rules, all players on the team in possession of the ball are attackers, and those on the team without the ball are defenders, yet throughout the game being played you are always"defending" your goal and "attacking" the opposite goal.[18]

Sideline hit in a match Standard Athletic Club vs. British School of Paris (1996)

The match is officiated by two field umpires. Traditionally each umpire generally controls half of the field, divided roughly diagonally. These umpires are often assisted by a technical bench including a timekeeper and record keeper. Prior to the start of the game, a coin is tossed and the winning captain can choose a starting end or whether to start with the ball. The game consists of two halves of 35 minutes with a 5­minute break at half time before changing ends. At the start of each period, as well as after goals are scored, play is started with a pass from the centre of the field. All players must start in their defensive half (apart from the player making the pass), but the ball may be played in any direction along the floor. Each team starts with the ball in one half, and the team that conceded the goal has possession for the restart. Teams trade sides at halftime. Field players may only play the ball with the face of the stick. If the back side of the stick is used, it is a penalty and the other team will get the ball back. Tackling is permitted as long as the tackler does not make contact with the attacker or the other persons stick before playing the ball (contact after the tackle may also be penalized if the tackle was made from a position where contact was inevitable). Further, the player with the ball may not deliberately use his body to push a defender out of the way. Field players may not play the ball with their feet, but if the ball accidentally hits the feet, and the player gains no benefit from the contact, then the contact is not penalized. Although there has been a change in the wording of this rule from 1 January 2007, the current FIH umpires' briefing instructs umpires not to change the way they interpret this rule.[19]

Obstruction typically occurs in three circumstances – when a defender comes between the player with possession and the ball in order to prevent them tackling; when a defender's stick comes between the attacker's stick and the ball or makes contact with the attacker's stick or body; and also when blocking the opposition's attempt to tackle a teammate with the ball (calledthird party obstruction).

When the ball passes completely over the sidelines (on the sideline is still in), it is returned to play with a sideline hit, taken by a member of the team whose players were not the last to touch the ball before crossing the sideline. The ball must be placed on the sideline, with the hit taken from as near the place the ball went out of play as possible. If it crosses the back line after last touched by an attacker, a 15 m (16 yd) hit. A 15 m hit is also awarded for offenses committed by the attacking side within 15 m of the end of the pitch they are attacking.

Set plays[edit] Set plays are often utilized for specific situations such as a penalty corner or free hit. For instance, many teams have penalty corner variations that they can use to beat the defensive team. The coach may have plays that sends the ball between two defenders and let the player attack the opposing teams goal. There are no set plays unless your team has them.

Free hits[edit] Free hits are awarded when offences are committed outside the scoring circles (the term 'free hit' is standard usage but the ball need not be hit). The ball may be hit, pushed or lifted in any direction by the team offended against. The ball can be lifted from a free hit but not by hitting, you must flick or scoop to lift from a free hit. (In previous rules versions hits in the area outside the circle in open play have been permitted but lifting one direction from a free hit prohibited). Opponents must move 5 m (5.5 yd) from the ball when a free hit is awarded. A free hit must be taken from within playing distance of the place of the offence for which it was awarded and the ball must be stationary when the free­hit is taken. As mentioned above, a 15 m hit is awarded if an attacking player commits a foul forward of that line, or if the ball passes over the back line off an attacker. These free hits are taken in line with where the foul was committed (taking a line parallel with the sideline between where the offence was committed, or the ball went out of play). When an attacking free hit is awarded within 5 m of the circle everyone including the person taking the penalty must be five metres from the circle and everyone apart from the person taking the free hit must be five metres away from the ball. When taking an attacking free hit the ball may not be hit straight into the circle if you are within your attacking 23 metre area (25 yard area). It must travel 5 metres before going in.

2009 experimental changes[edit] In February 2009 the FIH introduced, as a "Mandatory Experiment" for international competition, an updated version of free hit rule. The changes allows a player taking a free hit to pass the ball to themselves. Importantly, this is not a "play on" situation, but to the untrained eye it may appear to be. The player must play the ball any distance in two separate motions, before continuing as if it were a play­on situation. They may raise an aerial or overhead immediately as the second action, or any other stroke permitted by the rules of field hockey. At the high school level, this is called a self­pass and was adopted in Pennsylvania in 2010 as a legal technique for putting the ball in play. Also, all players (from both teams) must be at least 5 m from any free hit awarded to the attack within the 23 m area. Additionally, no free hits to the attack are permitted within 5m of the circle, so if a free hit is awarded inside this area it must be dragged back outside this zone. The ball may not travel directly into the circle from a free hit to the attack within the 23 m area without first being touched by another player or being dribbled at least 5 m by a player making a "self­pass". These experimental rules apply to all free hit situations, including sideline and corner hits. National Associations may also choose to introduce these rules for their domestic competitions.

Corner[edit] A corner is awarded if the ball goes over the back line after last being touched by a defender, provided they do not play it over the back line deliberately, in which case a penalty corner is awarded. Corners are played by the attacking team and involve a free hit on the sideline 5 m from the corner of the field closest to where the ball went out of play, this rule, however, was changed in 2015. The ball is taken up to the 23 metre line, in line with where it went out, the rest of the rules for a long corner stayed the same. These restarts are also known as long corners (as opposed to short corner which is an alternative name for the penalty corner). The defense must wait until the offender passes the ball in. The offender has to pull the ball out of the circle before trying to make a goal.

Penalty corner[edit] The short or penalty corner is awarded:

A group of five defenders, including the goalkeeper, prepare on the back line for a short corner.

1. for an offence by a defender in the circle which does not prevent the probable scoring of a goal

2. for an intentional offence in the circle by a defender against an opponent who does not have possession of the ball or an opportunity to play the ball

3. for an intentional offence by a defender outside the circle but within the 23­metre area they are defending

4. for intentionally playing the ball over the back­line by a defender 5. when the ball becomes lodged in a player's clothing or equipment while in the circle they

are defending Short corners begin with five defenders (usually including the keeper) positioned behind the back line and at least 10 yards from the nearest goal post.[20] All other players in the defending team must be beyond the centre line, that is not in their 'own' half of the pitch, until the ball is in play. Attacking players begin the play standing outside the scoring circle, except for one attacker who starts the corner by playing the ball from a mark 10 m either side of the goal (the circle has a 14.63 m radius). This player puts the ball into play by pushing or hitting the ball to the other attackers outside the circle; the ball must pass outside the circle and then put back into the circle before the attackers may make a shot at the goal from which a goal can be scored. FIH rules do not forbid a shot at goal before the ball leaves the circle after being 'inserted', nor is a shot at the goal from outside the circle prohibited, but a goal cannot be scored at all if the ball has not gone out of the circle and cannot be scored from a shot from outside the circle if it is not again played by an attacking player before it enters the goal. For safety reasons, the first shot of a penalty corner must not exceed 460 mm high (the height of the "backboard" of the goal) at the point it crosses the goal line if it is hit. However, if the ball is deemed to be below backboard height, the ball can be subsequently deflected above this height by another player (defender or attacker), providing that this deflection does not lead to danger. Note that the "Slap" stroke (a sweeping motion towards the ball, where the stick is kept on or close to the ground when striking the ball) is classed as a hit, and so the first shot at goal must be below backboard height for this type of shot also. If the first shot at goal in a short corner situation is a push, flick or scoop, in particular the drag flick (which has become popular at international and national league standards), the shot is permitted to rise above the height of the backboard, as long as the shot is not deemed dangerous to any opponent. This form of shooting was developed because it is not height restricted in the same way as the first hit shot at the goal and players with good technique are able to drag­flick with as much power as many others can hit a ball.

Penalty stroke A penalty stroke is awarded when a defender commits a foul in the circle (accidental or otherwise) that prevents a probable goal or commits a deliberate foul in the circle or if defenders repeatedly run from the back line too early at a penalty corner. The penalty stroke is taken by a single attacker in the circle, against the goalkeeper, from a spot 6.4 m from goal. The ball is played only once at goal by the attacker using a push, flick or scoop stroke. If the shot is saved, play is restarted with a 15 m hit to the defenders. When a goal is scored, play is restarted in the normal way.

Dangerous play and raised balls[edit]

According to the current Rules of Hockey 2013[21] issued by the FIH there are only two criteria for a dangerously played ball. The first is legitimate evasive action by an opponent (what constitutes legitimate evasive action is an umpiring judgment). The second is specific to the rule concerning a shot at goal at a penalty corner but is generally, if somewhat inconsistently, applied throughout the game and in all parts of the pitch: it is that a ball lifted above knee height and at an opponent who is within 5m of the ball is certainly dangerous. The velocity of the ball is not mentioned in the rules concerning a dangerously played ball. A ball that hits a player above the knee may on some occasions not be penalized, this is in the umpire's discretion. A jab tackle for example, might accidentally lift the ball above knee height into an opponent from close range but at such low velocity as not to be, in the opinion of the umpire, dangerous play. In the same way a high velocity hit at very close range into an opponent, but below knee height, could be considered to be dangerous or reckless play in the view of the umpire, especially when safer alternatives are open to the striker of the ball. A ball that has been lifted high so that it will fall among close opponents may be deemed to be potentially dangerous and play may be stopped for that reason. A lifted ball that is falling to a player in clear space may be made potentially dangerous by the actions of an opponent closing to within 5m of the receiver before the ball has been controlled to ground – a rule which is often only loosely applied; the distance allowed is often only what might be described as playing distance, 2–3 m, and opponents tend to be permitted to close on the ball as soon as the receiver plays it: these unofficial variations are often based on the umpire's perception of the skill of the players i.e. on the level of the game, in order to maintain game flow, which umpires are in general in both Rules and Briefing instructed to do, by not penalising when it is unnecessary to do so, this is also a matter in the umpire's discretion. The term "falling ball" is important in what may be termed encroaching offences. It is generally only considered an offence to encroach on an opponent receiving a lifted ball that has been lifted to above head height (although the height is not specified in rule) and is falling. So, for example, a lifted shot at the goal which is still rising as it crosses the goal line (or would have been rising as it crossed the goal line) can be legitimately followed up by any of the attacking team looking for a rebound. In general even potentially dangerous play is not penalised if an opponent is not disadvantage by it or, obviously, not injured by it so that he cannot continue. A personal penalty, that is a caution or a suspension, rather than a team penalty, such as a free ball or a penalty corner, may be (many would say should be or even must be, but again this is in the umpire's discretion) issued to the guilty party after an advantage allowed by the umpire has been played out in any situation where an offence has occurred, including dangerous play (but once advantage has been allowed the umpire cannot then call play back and award a team penalty). It is not an offence to lift the ball over an opponent's stick (or body on the ground), provided that it is done with consideration for the safety of the opponent and not dangerously. For example, a skillful attacker may lift the ball over a defenders stick or prone body and run past them, however if the attacker lifts the ball into or at the defender's body, this would almost certainly be regarded as dangerous. It is not against the rules to bounce the ball on the stick and even to run with it while doing so, as long as that does not lead to a potentially dangerous conflict with an opponent who is attempting to make a tackle. For example, two players trying to play at the ball in the air at the same time, would probably be considered a dangerous situation and it is likely that the player who first put the ball up or who was so 'carrying' it would be penalised. Dangerous play rules also apply to the usage of the stick when approaching the ball, making a stroke at it (replacing what was at one time referred to as the "sticks" rule, which once forbade the raising of any part of the stick above the shoulder during any play. This last restriction has been removed but the stick should still not be used in a way that endangers an opponent) or attempting to tackle, (fouls relating to tripping, impeding and obstruction). The use of the stick to strike an opponent will usually be much more severely dealt with by the umpires than offences such as barging, impeding and obstruction with the body, although these are also dealt with firmly, especially when these fouls are intentional: field hockey is a non­contact sport. Players may not play or attempt to play at the ball above their shoulders unless trying to save a shot that could go into the goal, in which case they are permitted to stop the ball or deflect it safely away. A swing, as in a hit, at a high shot at the goal (or even wide of the goal) will probably be considered dangerous play if at opponents within 5 m and such a stroke would be contrary to rule in these circumstances anyway.

Within the English National League it is now a legal action to take a ball above shoulder height if completed using a controlled action.

Warnings and suspensions The penalty cards

green card (warning with 2 min suspension)

yellow card ( suspension of 5 / 10 mins depending on intensity of foul)

red card (permanent suspension)

Hockey uses a three­tier penalty card system of warnings and suspensions:

A Penn State player receives a green card.

A green card is fairly similar to an association­football yellow card: the player does not have to leave the pitch (although at international standard the player has to leave the field for two minutes), but any further infractions will result in a yellow or red card.

A yellow card is an official suspension similar to the penalty box in ice hockey. The duration is decided by the umpire issuing the card and the player must go to a pre­defined area of the pitch as chosen by the umpires at the beginning of the match. Most umpires will opt for a minimum of five minutes' duration without substitution; the maximum time is at the discretion of the umpire, depending on the seriousness of the offence, for example the second yellow to the same player or the first for danger might be given ten minutes. It is possible to yellow­card a player for the entirety of a game. (In some modes, including indoor, shorter periods of suspension are applied, dependent on local rules).

A red card, just like in association football, is a permanent exclusion from the rest of the game, without substitution, and it usually results in the player being banned for a certain period of time or number of matches (this is governed by local playing conditions, rather than the rules of field hockey). The player must also leave the pitch and surrounding area.

In addition to their colours, field hockey penalty cards are often shaped differently, so they can be recognized easily. Green cards are normally triangular, yellow cards rectangular and red cards circular. Unlike football, a player may receive more than one green or yellow card. However, they cannot receive the same card for the same offence (for example two yellows for dangerous play), and the second must always be a more serious card. In the case of a second yellow card for a different breach of the rules (for example a yellow for deliberate foot, and a second later in the game for dangerous play) the temporary suspension would be expected to be of considerably longer duration than the first. However, local playing conditions may mandate that cards are awarded only progressively, and not allow any second awards. Referees may also advance a free­hit by up to 10 m for dissent or other misconduct after a penalty has been awarded; or, if the free­hit would have been in the attacking 23 m area, upgrade the penalty to a penalty corner.

Scoring[edit] The teams' object is to play the ball into their attacking circle and, from there, hit, push or flick the ball into the goal, scoring a goal. The team with more goals after four 15­minute quarters wins the game. The playing time may be shortened, particularly when younger players are involved, or for some tournament play.

Tie breaking In many competitions (such as regular club competition, or in pool games in FIH international tournaments such as the Olympics or the World Cup), a tied result stands and the overall competition standings are adjusted accordingly. Since March 2013, when tie­breaking is required, the official FIH Tournament Regulations mandate since March 2013 to no longer have extra time and go directly into a penalty shoot­out when a classification match ends in a tie.[22] However, many associations follow the previous procedure consisting of two periods of 7.5 minutes of "golden goal" extra time during which the game ends as soon as one team scores.

Rule change procedure[edit] The FIH implemented a two­year rules cycle with the 2007–08 edition of the rules, with the intention that the rules be reviewed on a biennial basis. The 2009 rulebook was officially released in early March 2009 (effective 1 May 2009), however the FIH published the major changes in February. The current rule book is effective from 1 January 2015. The FIH has adopted a policy of including major changes to the rules as "Mandatory Experiments", showing that they must be played at international level, but are treated as experimental and will be reviewed before the next rulebook is published and either changed, approved as permanent rules, or deleted. Recent examples of such experiments include a fixed 2­minute suspension for a green card and a (limited) ability to request video umpiring decisions.

Local rules[edit]

There are sometimes minor variations in rules from competition to competition; for instance, the duration of matches is often varied for junior competitions or for carnivals. Different national associations also have slightly differing rules on player equipment. The new Euro Hockey League has made major alterations to the rules to aid television viewers, such as splitting the game into four quarters, and to try to improve player behaviour, such as a two­minute suspension for green cards—the latter was also used in the 2010 World Cup. In the United States, the NCAA has its own rules for inter­collegiate competitions; high school associations similarly play to different rules, usually using the rules published by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). This article assumes FIH rules unless otherwise stated. USA Field Hockey produces an annual summary of the differences.[23]

In the United States, the games at the junior high level consist of two 25­minute halves, while the high school level consists of two 30­minute halves. Many private American schools play 25­minute halves, and some have adopted FIH rules rather than NFHS rules. Players are required to wear mouth guards and shin guards in order to play the game. Also, there is a newer rule requiring certain types of sticks be used. In recent years, the NFHS rules have moved closer to FIH, but in 2011 a new rule requiring protective eyewear was introduced for the 2011 Fall season. The 'cage style' goggles favored by US high school lacrosse and permitted in high school field hockey is not permitted under FIH rules.[24]

Equipment[edit] Field hockey stick Each player carries a "stick" that normally measures between 80–95 cm (31–38") long; shorter or longer sticks are available. Sticks were traditionally made of wood, but are now often made also with fibreglass, kevlar and/or carbon fibre composites. Metal is forbidden from use in field hockey sticks, due to the risk of injury from sharp edges if the stick were to break. The stick has a rounded handle, has a J­shaped hook at the bottom, and is flattened on the left side (when looking down the handle with the hook facing upwards). All sticks are right handed. Left handed sticks are not permitted. There was traditionally a slight curve (called the bow, or rake) from the top to bottom of the face side of the stick and another on the 'heel' edge to the top of the handle (usually made according to the angle at which the handle part was inserted into the splice of the head part of the stick), which assisted in the positioning of the stick head in relation to the ball and made striking the ball easier and more accurate. The hook at the bottom of the stick was only recently the tight curve (Indian style) that we have nowadays. The older 'English' sticks had a longer bend, making it very hard to use the stick on the reverse. For this reason players now use the tight curved sticks. The handle makes up the about the top third of the stick. It is wrapped in a grip similar to that used on tennis racket. The grip may be made of a variety of materials, including chamois leather, which many players think improves grip in the wet. It was recently discovered that increasing the depth of the face bow made it easier to get high speeds from the dragflick and made the stroke easier to execute. At first, after this feature was introduced, the Hockey Rules Board placed a limit of 50 mm on the maximum depth of bow over the length of the stick but experience quickly demonstrated this to be excessive. New rules now limit this curve to under 25 mm so as to limit the power with which the ball can be flicked.

Field hockey ball[edit]

Standard field hockey balls are hard spherical balls, made of plastic (sometimes over a cork core), and are usually white, although they can be any colour as long as they contrast with the playing surface. The balls have a circumference of 224–235 mm (8.8–9.3 in) and a mass of 156–163 g (5.5–5.7 oz). The ball is often covered with indentations to reduce aquaplaning that can cause an inconsistent ball speed on wet surfaces.

Goalkeeping equipment[edit]

A goalkeeper makes a glove save. Equipment worn here is typical gear for a field hockey goalkeeper.

The 2007 rulebook has seen major changes regarding goalkeepers. A fully equipped goalkeeper must wear a helmet, leg guards and kickers. Usually the field hockey goalkeepers must wear extensive additional protective equipment including chest guards, padded shorts, heavily padded hand protectors, groin protectors, neck guards, arm guards, and like all players, they must carry a stick. A goalie may not cross the 23 m line, the sole exception to this being if the goalkeeper is to take a penalty stroke at the other end of the field, when the clock is stopped. The goalkeeper can also remove their helmet for this action. However, if the goalkeeper elects to wear only a helmet (and a different colored shirt), they may cross the 23 m line if they have removed their helmet (and placed it safely off the field of play). If play returns to the circle without them having opportunity to replace the helmet, this player still has "goalkeeping privileges", that is, they are not limited to using their stick to play the ball whilst it is in the circle, and the helmet must be worn whilst defending penalty corners and penalty strokes but the best thing to do would be to wear it at all times. While goaltenders are allowed to use their feet and hands to clear the ball, they too are only allowed to use one side of their stick. Slide tackling is permitted as long as it is with the intention of clearing the ball, not aimed at a player. It is now also even possible for teams to have a full eleven outfield players and no goalkeeper at all. No player may wear a helmet or other goalkeeping equipment, neither will any player be able to play the ball with any other part of the body than with their stick. This may be used to offer a tactical advantage, or to allow for play to commence if no goalkeeper or kit is available.

Tactics The basic tactic in field hockey, as in association football and many other team games, is to outnumber the opponent in a particular area of the field at a moment in time. When in possession of the ball this temporary numerical superiority can be used to pass the ball around opponents so that they cannot effect a tackle because they cannot get within playing reach of the ball and to further use this numerical advantage to gain time and create clear space for making scoring shots on the opponent's goal. When not in possession of the ball numerical superiority is used to isolate and channel an opponent in possession and 'mark out' any passing options so that an interception or a tackle may be made to gain

possession. Highly skillful players can sometimes get the better of more than one opponent and retain the ball and successfully pass or shoot but this tends to use more energy than quick early passing. Every player has a role depending on their relationship to the ball if the team communicates throughout the play of the game. There will be players on the ball (offensively ­ ball carriers; defensively ­ pressure, support players, and movement players. The main methods by which the ball is moved around the field by players are a) passing b) pushing the ball and running with it controlled to the front or right of the body and c)"dribbling"; where the player controls the ball with the stick and moves in various directions with it to elude opponents. To make a pass the ball may be propelled with a pushing stroke, where the player uses their wrists to push the stick head through the ball while the stick head is in contact with it; the "flick" or "scoop", similar to the push but with an additional arm and leg and rotational actions to lift the ball off the ground; and the "hit", where a swing at ball is taken and contact with it is often made very forcefully, causing the ball to be propelled at velocities in excess of 70 mph (110 km/h). In order to produce a powerful hit, usually for travel over long distances or shooting at the goal, the stick is raised higher and swung with maximum power at the ball, a stroke sometimes known as a "drive". Tackles are made by placing the stick into the path of the ball or playing the stick head or shaft directly at the ball. To increase the effectiveness of the tackle, players will often place the entire stick close to the ground horizontally, thus representing a wider barrier. To avoid the tackle, the ball carrier will either pass the ball to a teammate using any of the push, flick, or hit strokes, or attempt to maneuver or "drag" the ball around the tackle, trying to deceive the tackler. In recent years, the penalty corner has gained importance as a goal scoring opportunity. Particularly with the technical development of the drag flick. Tactics at penalty corners to set up time for a shot with a drag flick or a hit shot at the goal involve various complex plays, including multiple passes before a deflections towards the goal is made but the most common method of shooting is the direct flick or hit at the goal. At the highest level, field hockey is a fast­moving, highly skilled sport, with players using fast moves with the stick, quick accurate passing, and hard hits, in attempts to keep possession and move the ball towards the goal. Tackling with physical contact and otherwise physically obstructing players is not permitted, Some of the tactics used resemble football (soccer), but with greater ball speed. With the 2009 changes to the rules regarding free hits in the attacking 23m area, the common tactic of hitting the ball hard into the circle was forbidden. Although at higher levels this was considered tactically risky and low­percentage at creating scoring opportunities, it was used with some effect to 'win' penalty corners by forcing the ball onto a defender's foot or to deflect high (and dangerously) off a defender's stick. The FIH felt it was a dangerous practice that could easily lead to raised deflections and injuries in the circle, which is often crowded at a free­hit situation, and outlawed it.

International competition The biggest two field hockey tournaments are the Olympic Games tournament, and the Hockey World Cup, which is also held every 4 years. Apart from this, there is the Champions Trophyheld each year for the six top­ranked teams. Field hockey has also been played at the Commonwealth Games since 1998. Amongst the men, India lead in Olympic competition, having won 8 golds (6 successive in row). Amongst the women, Australia and Netherlands have 3 Olympic golds while Netherlands has clinched the World Cup 6 times. The Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament and Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Hockey Tournament is for the junior team but both ournament held annually in Malaysia, is becoming a prominent field hockey tournament where teams from around the world participate to win the cup. Pakistan dominated men's hockey until the early 1980s, winning four of the first five world cups, but have become less prominent with the ascendancy of the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Spain since the late 1980s, as grass playing surfaces were replaced with artificial turf (which conferred increased importance on athleticism). Other notable men's nations include Argentina, England (who combine with other British "Home Nations" to form the Great Britain side at Olympic events) and South Korea. Despite their recent drop in international rankings, Pakistan still holds the record of four World Cup wins. Netherlands, Australia and Argentina are the most successful national teams among women. The Netherlands was the predominant women's team before field hockey was added to Olympic events. In the early 1990s, Australia emerged as the strongest women's country although retirement of a number of

players weakened the team. Argentina improved its play on the 2000s, heading IFH rankings in 2003, 2010 and 2013. Other prominent women's teams are China, South Korea, Germany and South Africa. As of June 2013 Germany's men's team and the Netherlands' women's teams lead the FIH world rankings.[citation needed]

This is a list of the major International field hockey tournaments, in chronological order. Tournaments included are:

Olympic Games ­ held every four years. World Cup ­ held every four years, in between the Olympics. Champions Trophy ­ currently held every year, for the top 8 ranked nations. Champions Challenge ­ held every year for teams ranked 9th­16th in the world. Champions Challenge II ­ held every year for teams ranked 17th­24th in the world.

Although invitational or not open to all countries, the following are also considered international tournaments:

Commonwealth Games – held every four years between members of the Commonwealth of Nations

Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament ­ held annually in Malaysia, an invitational tournament.

Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Hockey Tournament ­held annually for athletes aged under­21 in Malaysia, an invitational tournament.

Variants Hockey 5s[edit] As the name suggests, Hockey 5s is a hockey variant which features five players on each team (which must include a goalkeeper). The field of play is 55 m long and 41.70 m wide—this is approximately half the size of a regular pitch. Few additional markings are needed as there is no penalty circle nor penalty corners; shots can be taken from anywhere on the pitch. Penalty strokes are replaced by a "challenge" which is like the one­on­one method used in a penalty shoot­out. The duration of the match is three 12­minute periods with an interval of two minutes between periods. The rules are simpler and it is intended that the game is faster, creating more shots on goal with less play in midfield, and more attractive to spectators.[25]

An Asian qualification tournament for two places at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games was the first time an FIH event used the Hockey 5s format. Hockey 5s was also used for the Youth Olympic hockey tournament, and at the Pacific Games in 2015.