About Hockey
Hockey is believed to date from the earliest civilisations, and is possibly one of the oldest sports in the world. As far back as 500BC! Today many countries have extensive club competitions for junior and senior players.
Probably one of the most appealling facts about the sport, is that hockey is played by all ages. Starting with Minkey for primary school children, progressing to half-field hockey, junior hockey, and the full game, which can be played through to veterans years.
At the junior level, both clubs and schools embrace Hockey Australia's modified programs such as Hook in2 Hockey. These offer an excellent pathway for children and adolescents to learn and enjoy hockey.
With participation Australia wide, Hockey is the only major sport to have a national competition with teams represented by each state and territory. Also to it's credit, the sport has doubled the number of participants in just the past 3 years!
The Australian Club Hockey season is played all year round, traditionally running during the autumn and winter months, from approximately March/April to September/October. Other competitions and indoor competitions often run during the spring and summer months from approximately October/November to February/March.
A match between two teams consists of two halves; Seniors play 35 minute halves with time on, Juniors play 30 minutes halves with no time on and u9 play 25 minute halves with no time on. At half-time the teams take a 5 minute break before changing direction and defending the opposite end.
Each team is comprised of 11 players, usually 5 forwards, 3 halfbacks, 2 fullbacks, and 1 goalkeeper and up to 5 substitutes.
In many areas of Australia hockey is played on grass fields. Synthetic playing surfaces are now installed in all states and territories with over 160 fields nationwide. There are three main types of synthetic playing surface;
- Sand-based surfaces – fields filled and/or dressed with sand,
- Water-based surfaces – fields filled and/or dressed with water,
- Hybrid surfaces – the newest type of surface that is filled and/or dressed with less sand than a sand based surface but plays more like a water based surface without actually requiring to be watered.
