ACOG - Hockey - IBM

Spectator's Guide to Olympic Hockey

In many sports, players move a ball down a field with a stick, but none is quite like hockey. The sport, commonly known in the United States as field hockey, is actually more similar to Olympic football in style and tactics than its indoor counterpart, though the watered down fields are almost as fast as ice. Eleven-person teams traditionally use five forwards, three midfielders, two defenders and a goalkeeper to move the ball downfield to its ultimate goal.

Goals may be scored only from within the shooting circle. However, a great many goals are made from penalty corners and penalty strokes. Penalty strokes are like free kicks in Olympic football, awarded for unintentional fouls within the circle that intercepted a sure goal or deliberate fouls by defenders inside the circle. One-on-one against the goalie, the penalty striker must use psychological tactics as well as physical prowess to succeed.

Teams also practice penalty corner set plays, awarded when the defense makes intentional fouls within the 25-yard line but outside the circle, or when the defense makes unintentional fouls inside the circle. Hit from a point on the back line to a kneeling teammate who stops the ball just outside the circle, the ball then must be low enough to hit the 18-inch high backboard of the goal. Even with up to five players between him or her and the ball, the goalie better be ready. Despite heavy padding, it's hard not to blanch at the sight of a harder-than-a-baseball object hurling at 70 – 90 mph straight at you.

Unlike other sports, protecting the ball with a player's body is not allowed in hockey, unless you're wearing the different-colored jersey of a goalie. All players must have an equal opportunity to gain control as the ball is dribbled or passed down the field.

Players point out that "equal opportunity" is subjective. Home teams such as the women from Spain in 1992 and South Korea in 1988 medaled contrary to expectations. Some say they gain invaluable practice time on the actual playing field. The first artificial grass pitch was used in 1976, and in hockey, each synthetic surface plays a little differently. At the Olympic level, experience on a surface can be all the edge it takes to win.

The games are usually low-scoring and heavy on the defense: ball control makes a team. Despite the low scores, the action is fast, with players passing to quickly move the ball up and down the field. It's the forwards' job to score with the help of the strategists — the midfielders — who rely on their field awareness to lend a hand to offense or defense. The defenders, or backs, protect the goalie and work to delay the goal.

Competition Format

Ranking

At the completion of each match in pool play competition, points are awarded to each team based on the outcome of the match: 2 points to the winning team, 1 point to each team in the event of a tie, and no points to the losing team.

In each pool, the men's and women's teams are ranked daily according to the number of points each has accumulated. If teams have the same number of points they are ranked on goal difference ("goals for" minus "goals against"). A positive goal difference always take precedence over a negative one.

The Tournament

The men's competition consists of two pools of six teams each competing in pool play before advancing to semifinal and medal-round matches. The top two teams from each men's pool play for first through fourth places, where the first-place finisher in pool A plays the second-place finisher in pool B and the first-place finisher in pool B plays the second-place finisher in pool A. The winners of those men's matches play for the gold medal and the losing teams play for the bronze medal. The third and fourth place finishers play for 5th through 8th place, and the fifth and sixth place finishers play for 9-12.

In the women's competition, the top eight teams in the world come to Atlanta with hopes of winning the gold medal. The eight-team pool competes in pool play competition, progressing to medal round matches. Medal matches will be played based on the ranking of the teams after pool matches, where the first-ranked team plays against the second-ranked team for the gold medal. And the third-ranked team from the women's pools competes against the fourth-ranked team for the bronze medal. All other women's teams will be ranked according to the number of points each has accumulated in pool matches.

This is an official publication of The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Jennifer Knight and Dianna Drayson.


Olympic Factoid
The Mother Nature was kind to Olympic athletes and spectators. The average high temperature during the Games was 89 degrees with an average low of 72 degrees. Highest temperature registered (20 July) - 99 degrees. Lowest high temperature registered is 79 degrees (28 July).