Hockey is the national sport of India. It is a popular sport in many countries apart from India. The game has many rules attached to it and people have to follow them in order to have a fair deal. But the basic rules generally remain the same at all places. Talking about our country, India has so far won six gold medals in the Olympics and many other consecutive matches.

There are many variations of this game like Ice Hockey, Field Hockey, Street Hockey, etc. This game is always played with a stick and a ball. This is an ancient game that is being played in India for years now. Before 1272 BC, Hockey was played just in Ireland while during 600 BC it was played by ancient Greece.

Every game has some pieces of equipment attached to it. Similarly, to avoid any sort of injury, the types of equipment used in this game are helmets, shoulder pads, neck guards, jockstraps, elbow pads, a hockey stick, and a puck or a ball.

There are two teams that play against each other. Each team consists of 11 players. The aim of this game is to hit maximum goals into the opponent’s team goal post. This game is more like football. When any incorrect step is taken, then that accounts for penalties. The team that scores more goals wins the match. The hockey field is rectangular in shape and has a fixed dimension. Earlier the whole game used to be for 70 minutes, divided into two equal halves. But recently, the time has been reduced to 60 minutes which are successfully divided into three equal quarters of 20 minutes each.

The game starts with a face-off at the center of the field and the players have to fight to gain control over the ball.