Hockey

Hockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a ball or hard round disc, called a puck, into the opponent's net or goal, past the goaltender or goalkeeper (often abbreviated goalie), using a hockey stick.

The dominant version of hockey in a particular region tends to be known simply as hockey, other forms being more fully specified.

The major forms of hockey are:

Field hockey

Field hockey is played with a ball on gravel, grass, or now, most commonly; sand- or water-based artificial turfs.

Field hockey is popular among both sexes in many countries of the world, particularly in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America and among men in south Asia. Hockey is considered to be a national sport in India ^{[citation needed]}.

Modern hockey sticks have a hooked blade and are only curved right.

There are 4,000 year old drawings in Egypt of a game resembling field hockey being played. While modern field hockey appeared in the mid-18th century in England, primarily in schools, it was not until the first half of the 19th century that it became firmly established, the first club being created in 1849 at Blackheath in south-east London.

Ice hockey

Ice hockey is played on ice with a small, 7- to 9-ounce rubber disc called a puck. Ice hockey is played almost exclusively in colder regions in the northern hemisphere, such as Canada, Russia, the U.S., and Scandinavia. The most famous league in North America is the National Hockey League. Ice hockey is also played at the Winter Olympics under rules which are slightly different than those used in the National Hockey League.

There are early representations and reports of hockey-type games being played on ice in the Netherlands, and reports from Canada from the beginning of the nineteenth century, but the modern game was initially organized by students at McGill University, Montreal in 1875 and, by two years later, codified the first set of hockey rules and organized the first teams.

Ice hockey sticks have a long blade that can lie flat on the playing surface when the stick is held upright and can be curved either way as to help a left or right handed player gain an advantage. Having the stick curved gives a player superior puck control over no curve in the blade.

Rink hockey

In southern European countries (such as Spain, Portugal and Italy) and certain South American countries, especially Brazil and Argentina), the dominant form of hockey is rink hockey. In Italy it is spread in the Northern regions, above all in Trentino-South Tyrol, Veneto and Lombardy. Rink hockey sticks have a curled "L" shape, and are about the same size as those in ice hockey. It is played with roller skates. Cities in India, which has a long history of the game on grass, has adapted to playing five-a-side flood-lit tournaments. The game is played on tennis court-sized arenas which are fenced in by a foot-high wooden rink. Since the size of the goal is the same as the normal field hockey version a lot of goals are scored.

Variants of Rink hockey include:

Inline hockey, played with inline skates.
Roller hockey, played on concrete, or (ideally) an indoor or outdoor cement roller rink with a ball or a plastic puck. using inline roller skates, and is often played by ice hockey players for training purposes when ice is not available.

Other forms of hockey

Other games derived from hockey or its predecessors include the following:

Air hockey is played indoors with a puck on an air-cushion table.
Ball Hockey is very similar to ice hockey but you use a ball instead of a puck. You play on a rink with no ice or on the streets.
Bandy is played with a ball on a football-sized ice arena, typically outdoors. It is in many ways field hockey played on ice.
Broomball is played on an ice hockey rink, but with a ball instead of a puck and a "broom" (actually a stick with a small plastic implement on the end) in place of the ice hockey stick. Instead of using skates, special shoes are used that have very soft rubbery soles to maximize grip while running around.
Bubble hockey is played in a plastic sealed table with the 'players' being moved by the use of pushing and turning rods.
Floorball, or Floor hockey, is a form of hockey played in a gymnasium using a plastic puck or hollow ball, and plastic sticks. It is played in sport halls.
Foot hockey is played using a bald tennis ball and using only the feet. It is popular at elementary schools in the winter.
Gym hockey is a form of ice hockey played in a gymnasium. It uses a plastic puck and plastic sticks.
Hurling is an Irish game
Indoor field hockey is an indoor variation of field hockey.
Mini hockey (or knee hockey) is a form of hockey which is played in basements of houses. Players get down on their knees, using a miniature plastic stick, usually about 15 inches (38 cm) long and a small blue ball or a soft, fabric covered mini puck. They shoot into miniature goals as well. This is popular throughout North America, though it has not yet made the jump to Europe.
Ringette is an ice hockey variant that was designed for female players; it uses a straight stick and a rubber ring in place of a puck.
Rinkball is a Scandinavian team sport, played in a ice hockey rink with a ball.
Road hockey is a version of ice hockey played (most typically) on residential streets with or without inline skates, on bare pavement. Games are usually informal with no referee and no set teams. Because the game is played in the middle of the road, it can be interrupted by traffic, at which point someone will yell "car" and players move to the side of the road to allow the vehicle to pass.
Shinny is an informal version of ice hockey.
Shinty is a Scottish Highlands game
Skater hockey is a variant of inline hockey, played with a ball.
Sledge hockey is a form of ice hockey played by the disabled. The players sit on sleds, and push themselves up and down the ice with picks on the butt end of their shortened hockey sticks. The game is played with many of the same rules as regular ice hockey.
Spongee is a cross between ice hockey and broomball and is most popular in Manitoba, Canada. A stick and puck are used as in hockey (the puck is a softer version called a "sponge puck"), and the same soft-soled shoes used in broomball are worn. The rules are basically the same as ice hockey, but one variation has an extra player on the ice called a "rover".
Table hockey is played indoors with a table-top game.
Underwater hockey is played on the bottom of a swimming pool.