Hockey is one of those popular games that the people, across the world, are acquainted with for back hundreds of years, or you can say that it is the oldest competitive team game that people played since ancient era. However the conformed source of the game is still unknown, but historians have bagged a lot of pieces of about 4000 year old drawings in the tomb at Beni-Hasen in the Nile Valley (Egypt). The pictures show about the same game, in which people are depicted playing with Hockey sticks. Despite having some such showings, noo ne has any firm conformation about the discovery of Hockey. The game is played with an 80 –95 cm long curved stick at bottom called ‘Hockey’ and a hard plastic ball usually covering a cork core. The game ‘Hockey’ is a team game, each team plays in with eleven player including a goal- keeper or a goalie; Its uniform consists of cleats, jersey, shorts or skirts and shin-guards. Sliding to the 21th century, the game has gone globally more popular and many other countries have started having interest in and playing it. A hockey stick is often made of a special kind of wood named Hickory or Mulberry. Ever since the game was introduced to people, and wherever it was played by a number of different cultures from Indian to Aztecs; Greeks to Romans and Ethiopians, it received so many changes of rules through successive centuries.

Fact 1: Across the world, there are 11 kinds of hockey games played in different ways across the world. They all are known as: Bandy, Broomball, Field Hockey, Floorball, Ice Hockey, Inline Hockey, Rink Bandy, Rink Hockey, Roller Hockey, Underwater Ice Hockey and Underwater Hockey or Octopush. But the very famous format of the game is Field Hockey of all and commonly referred to casually as Hockey; though Ice Hockey also has a rich history behind and a huge list of fans everywhere.

Fact 2: There are sixteen players in a hockey squad; and only eleven players of sixteen come out on the field to play, whereas rest of the players are substitutes, who remain on the sideline until any of them is called to the field for anyone of the squad on the field. However it is not necessary to call any substitute player, but they can be called any time to replace anyone. Mainly, a goalie can be kept in to exchange an extra attacking player on the field.

Fact 3: The modern game of Field Hockey was flourished in the Isles of two centuries back Britain. The modern Hockey was started in England mid of the 1800 century; whereas the first field Hockey and Football club was ‘the Blackheath’ was formed in 1861 in London.

Fact 4: The first international field hockey match was played in 1895 between Ireland and Wales, in which Ireland defeated Wales by 3 to 0.

Fact 5: The first time field Hockey was included in Summer Olympics in 1908 and then in 1920 the second time; though it was dropped in the very next Olympics games.

First 6: In Its first Olympic games in 1908, There were only three teams participated for the medal in hockey game : Ireland, England and Wales.

Fact 7: The International Hockey Federation, commonly known as ‘FIH’ was founded by Paul Leautey on 7th January of 1924 in Paris, who became the first president of the federation. The first seven founding members to join the federation were Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain and Switzerland.

Fact 8: The international events that FIH organize are listed below:

1. Hockey World Cup

2. Women’s Hockey World Cup

3. Hockey Junior World Cup

4. Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup

5. Olympic Games in cooperation with IOC

6. Hockey World League

7. Hockey Champions Trophy

8. Hockey Champions Challenge 1

9. Hockey Champion Challenge 2

Fact 9: Sohail Abbas, former Captain, is the most successful goal scorer all of time in the history of field Hockey. The man, who has scored 348 international goals, is the only person to hit 300 individual goals in international Matches.

Fact 10: The first field hockey world cup was organized by FIH in 1971. The first women Hockey world cup was started 1974.

Fact 11: Pakistan has been the most successful squad having won the world title four times; both Netherlands and Australia three times; Germany two times and India won the only world cup title in 1975.