Hockey

When we think hockey, we think Enid Blyton. We see it as essential element of her books, along with midnight feasts, jolly schoolgirls and summer hols, but we never really consider it a modern-day sport. However, hockey is not just for the 1940's fourth former.

No-one can pin point the exact date that hockey began, but historical records show that a form of the game was played in Egypt around 2,000 BC. It wasn't until the mid-nineteenth century that formal rules began to be established. For example, in the 17th and 18th centuries, whole villages used to play against each other. The team could consist of as many as one hundred players and the objective was to hit the ball onto the common ground of the opposing village. One game could go on for days and players often soldiered on with broken limbs.

The first hockey club was established in Blackheath in southeast London in 1840. In an unusual move, the club decided to use a cube of rubber rather than a ball and games were still basically a free-for-all. Teddington, another London club, refined the game. They went with the traditional ball-shaped ball, and introduced rules that banned players from lifting their sticks above their shoulders and using their hands on the ball. They also introduced the striking circle, a semicircle marked 16 yards out from each set of goals, as the only area that a player can score from.

In modern hockey, these rules still exist, although players may not now raise their stick above their waist to strike the ball. There are eleven players on each team, playing on a field approximately the size of a soccer pitch. Like soccer, games are usually low scoring and ball movement is key. However, there is no offside rule and each half lasts for 35 minutes. Players are also allowed to be anywhere on the field at any time, which allows for full field passes.

If you do take up hockey, then you are bound to improve your fitness levels. Players can run several kilometres in a single match. You should also manage to keep your nose and other extremities safe from the swing of an overenthusiastic stick - there are strict rules regulating the type of bodily contact and tackling that is allowed.

If you think your life could use some jollity, then hockey could be the perfect game for you...