About Field Hockey

One of the world's most popular games, field hockey is also one of the world's oldest competitive team sports.

Evidence of games played with a ball and stick date back over 4,000 years to the Nile Valley Egypt, and similar games were played by civilizations ranging from the Greeks and Romans to the Ethiopians and Aztecs.

The modern game of field hockey evolved in England during the 19th century and led to the creation of the sport's international federation, the Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH) in 1924.

After Constance Applebee introduced the sport to the United States in 1901, the United States Field Hockey Association was formed in 1922.

The Olympic Games included men's field hockey on the official program for the first time in 1908, and women's field hockey earned a spot on the program in 1980.

Hockey's most coveted international prize, the World Cup is held every four years with 12 men's and 12 women's teams competing for the title of World Champion. The first men's World Cup was played in 1971 with the women's event added in 1974.