There is evidence of stick-and-ball games in many of the ancient civilisations in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. There is further proof that these games were present from medieval times in Europe and in 14th century England they were banned for a time to enable the citizens to practise archery for defence purposes. The name of hockey is thought to come from the French word for a shepherd’s crook, hocquet. 

Hockey as a sport developed in England in the mid-nineteenth century with the games of hurling (Irish), shinty (Scottish), and bandy (Welsh) all having reasonable claims to providing some input into its creation. Hockey spread throughout the world as a result of Britain’s colonial exploits and subsequently India and Pakistan (after partition from India in 1947) became strong hockey-playing nations. Women started playing the game towards the close of the nineteenth century. The first hockey international was played between England and Ireland in 1895, with England winning.

Men’s hockey was first played in the Olympics in London in 1908, then at Antwerp 1920, and then again at Amsterdam 1928 after which it became a permanent fixture. Between them, India with seven wins and Pakistan with two wins won every Olympic title from 1928 through to Mexico City 1968. From Amsterdam, until defeat by Pakistan in Rome in 1960, India won 30 straight games and scored almost 200 goals in the process. In the last 32 years, Western European teams, along with Australia, have become the powerhouses in the sport.

There are two hockey competitions, one for men and one for women.

A game consists of two 35-minute periods, with a 10 minute interval for half-time.

For the men’s competition there are 12 teams of 16 players which are placed into two pools of six for the preliminary rounds. Each team plays every other team in that pool. The top two teams in each pool progress to the semifinals. The remaining teams play for classification 5-12.

Winners of the semifinals play for the gold medal, and losers of the semifinal play for the bronze.

For women there are 12 teams which are placed into two pools of six teams. Like the men’s competition, each team plays every other team in that pool. The best two teams of each group progress to the semifinals, and the remaining teams play for classification 5-12. Winners of the semifinals play for the gold medal, and losers of the semifinal play for the bronze.

Australia’s record in Olympic hockey competition is exceptional. Australian men whom first participated in Melbourne in 1956, have finished no lower than sixth, with bronze medals at Tokyo 1964, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, silver medals at Mexico City 1968, Montreal 1976 and Barcelona 1992 and finally the gold medal in Athens in 2004.

Women’s hockey was first played at Moscow 1980 and, like the men’s tournament, was affected by many of the top teams, including Australia, not attending due to the American-led boycott. Whilst Australia did not completely boycott the 1980 Olympics a number of sports, including hockey, decided not to send their teams. As a result, the unexpected winner of the women’s gold medal was Zimbabwe. It was that country’s first Olympic medal. Australian women first competed at Los Angeles 1984 and have won the Olympic title at Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.

Rechelle Hawkes, who was a member of each of the gold medal-winning teams, took the Athlete’s Oath in the Opening Ceremony in Sydney. As a member of the team in Atlanta, Nova Peris-Kneebone became the first Aboriginal to win an Olympic gold medal.

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