ACOG - Hockey - IBM

History of Olympic Hockey

Like many Olympic sports, hockey has ancient roots. The name hockey comes from the French word for shepherd's crook, "hoquet," itself a curved stick. Unlike ice hockey, no left-handed sticks exist. While one cannot picture the Greeks wielding hockey sticks, their emulators, the Romans, played a similar game. Called "paganica," the sport required players to chase a feather-filled ball with a club. The expanse of the Roman Empire put them in touch with the lifestyles of many cultures throughout the world. Ancient drawings in Egypt and Persia also show men chasing a round object with curved sticks.

Much later, 16th century Native Americans in Argentina played a similar game. While it's unclear whether the concept was passed from civilization to civilization, it is clear that there is something timeless about a stick-and-ball sport, which many feel is perfected in the sport of field hockey.

Before 1861, play took place on a large, open field with little offensive or defensive tactics. As players refined the sport and its popularity grew, British organizers determined it was time to regulate its play. In 1886, the Brits created a national Hockey Association. After a decade, the sport went international; first with inter-country competition, then with the help of British servicemen.

The military can take credit for introducing the sport to the country that later set the standard for international play, India. India, and later, after separating over religious differences, its neighbor Pakistan, quickly became the teams to beat. And between the two, a rivalry sprouted that exists to this day.

That rivalry has been dramatized on the Olympic field. Since the sport entered the Olympic Games in 1908, 29 of the 64 medals ever awarded in the sport have gone to India (11), Great Britain (10) and Pakistan (8). Germany, the Netherlands and Australia are next in line.

By 1924, the sport had spread so much that an international organizer was needed, and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) was born. The "Champion's Trophy" and World Cup (introduced in 1970) now determine the world's top players. The creation of the international federation helped the sport gain full Olympic status by 1928.

Women's Hockey

Women's hockey had a more sluggish start due to restrictive attitudes about the participation of women in sports. While it continued to grow along with the men's competition in the 1900s, a disagreement between the FIH and the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations delayed its addition to the Olympic Programme. Although played according to the men's rules, women were restricted by their cumbersome clothing, which included petticoats, corsets and long sleeves. Despite these obstacles, international women's hockey competition took off after 1914. Sixty-six years later, in 1980, it was finally competed at the Olympic level.

It was an ill-fated year. The U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow frustrated many athletes who trained for years to reach them. In sympathy, five of the six countries qualified to compete for the first time in women's Olympic hockey also withdrew. Fearing an embarrassing first year on the Olympic Programme, other countries were encouraged to participate. Zimbabwe, which chose its team just one week before the Games when the Soviet Union and International Olympic Committee volunteered their financial support, took the gold.

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
Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park.