Hockey is sometimes called field hockey.
It is a team game for men and for women.
There are eleven players in a hockey team.
A match has four 15-minute quarters and a match lasts for 60 minutes.
There is a ten minute break at half time.
Hockey is also known as field hockey in some places.
Hockey is a team game played by men and women, and can be played on grass or on an indoor surface. There are 11 players in a team including the goal keeper or goalie.
Goalkeepers try to stop the ball entering the net ©Getty Images
Each team has a goal, which has net on three sides. Each team member must try to hit a ball into the goal net of the other team. Players use wooden or metal sticks to hit the ball. All players wear a mouthguard and pads for protection on their legs.
Players wear mouth guards and shin padding for protection. Image ©Getty
The goalkeeper wears special clothing for protection
Goalkeepers use their whole body to stop the ball from going into the net. Goalkeepers need to wear more padding to protect their bodies including chest guards, padded shorts, heavily padded hand protectors, groin protectors, neck and arm guards,
Players can only shoot for goal from a shooting circle.The goalkeepers are the only players allowed to kick the ball.
Two umpires makes sure all players keep the rules.
History of hockey
Hockey may have begun many centuries ago in Egypt, where there is a tomb painting dating from about 2015 BC showing two players with curved sticks and a ball.
The ancient Greeks and the Romans played a game similar to hockey, and in England, a hockey-like game called 'bandy ball' was played until 1356, when it was banned by King Edward III because it was too rough and dangerous.
The first hockey rules were drawn up in 1840.
Women’s hockey teams have competed in the Olympic Games since 1920 ©iStock
Men hockey teams competed at the Antwerp Games in 1920. Women’s hockey was first included in 1980 at the Moscow Games.
Since the 2000 Games in Sydney, men have competed in a 12-team tournament and women in a 10-team one.
It’s a good idea to find information from more than one source!
Read about the rules of hockey
https://www.twinkl.com.au/teaching-wiki/hockey
Read about hockey and see a map of the ground
https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Field_hockey
Watch a video about hockey as it is played in the Olympics
©Corbis