 To National Associations September 2003
Changing Sticks During a
Match
As you may have seen in FIH press releases, action has been taken to curb
the recent growing practice of players temporarily changing their stick to take part in a
match and in particular to take part in a penalty corner or penalty stroke.
This is not in accordance with the spirit of the
game. Hockey is a continuous playing
activity where specialist equipment should not be used on only a few occasions in a match. Changing sticks also interrupts the flow of the
game. We recognise, however, that there are
different designs of stick so our aim is not to deny players the possibility of using a
range of stick types but to expect players to play with their chosen stick throughout the
match.
Accordingly, the Hockey Rules Board made a
recommendation for a Rules change which has been endorsed by the FIH Executive Board.
A new
Rule will be implemented from 1 January 2004 for both outdoor and indoor hockey. It
will specify that a player must not change their stick between the award and completion of
a penalty corner or penalty stroke unless it no longer meets the stick specification (for
example because it has rough or sharp parts because it is broken).
This new Rule will be included in the
Rules Books when published later in the year but we felt it would be useful to provide you
with advance notice.
If anything in this circular requires
clarification please contact:
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