History Hockey is one of the many sports derived from pre historic man's delight in stick and ball

games. It is a game played between two teams on a field with curved sticks and a small hard ball. Its birth place was Asia and authorities credit Persia with having devised it about 2000BC. Modern hockey was created in England. The true ancestor of hockey was Irish hurling. The first hockeyclub was formed in Blackheath in 1861. The first international match was played in 1895 between England and Ireland. In 1908 hockey was included in the modern Olympic Games. The most extra ordinary aspect of its evolution is that a game once so rough and unruly was adopted by women. Hockey became popular in India when the British Regiments played the game in India and introduced it in the British Indian Regiments who quickly picked up the game. The first hockey club was formed in Calcutta in 1885-86 followed by Bombay and Punjab. The Bengal Hockey was the first Hockey Association in India founded in 1908. With the popularity of the game, associations were formed in different states like Bombay, Bihar, Orissa and Delhi. In Olympic games India played hockey for the first time in 1928 held in Amsterdam and won the title. India lifted the Olympic Hockey Crown for five time in a row. India's first Olympic entry in hockey culminating in victory gave the Indian Hockey Federation a name and reputation. Dhyan Chand, Allen, Norris, Pinniger, Yusuf Gateley and Cullen were some of the brilliant hockey players. Women in India have also been taken up to hockey. Women's hockey has been included in the Asiad 82. Their standard of play is fairly good. A series of coaching camps has helped the players attain a commendable standard.

England introduced both cricket and hockey to India. While it took 20 years and 15 matches before India beat England in cricket for the first time (1952 test in Chennai), it took 37 years and 22 matches before England beat India in hockey for the first time (Britain 2 - India 1, 1985 Champions Trophy in Perth). As long as England ruled India, they never played a match with the Indian hockey team. For a period of time, India's men's field hockey team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympiads between 1928 and 1980, including six successive gold medals from 19281956.

India's medal performance at the Olympics

Leading in Hockey

Sport
Field hockey

Gold
8

Silver
1

Bronze
2

Total
11

Shooting

Athletics

Wrestling

Weightlifting

Tennis

Boxing

Total

20

India has won a grand total of 8 Olympic gold medals in hockey in no other sport has India won even an Olympic silver medal, let alone the gold. India holds the records for the largest victory margin in an Olympic final (India 8 - Germany 1 in the 1936 Olympic final), the largest victory margin in a pool match (India 24 - USA 1 in the 1932 Olympics), and the largest number of consecutive victories (30 wins on the trot from 1928 to 1960)

India has not done very well in the elite Champions Trophy. In the 25 times that this event has been held, India has qualified for this premier event only 9 times, has never won the title, and has finished last twice. India has lost more than 50% of its matches played in the Champions Trophy.

In men's hockey, India are currently title-holders of the Junior Asia Cup (2004), Asia Cup (2003), Afro-Asian Games (2003), Junior World Cup (2001) and the Sub-Junior Asia Cup (2001). In women's hockey, India are currently title-holders of the Asia Cup (2004), Afro-Asian Games (2003), Commonwealth Games (2002) and the SubJunior Asia Cup (2000)

HISTORY OF HOCKEY The roots of hockey are buried deep in antiquity. Historical records show that a crude form of hockey was played in Egypt 4,000 years ago, and in Ethiopia around 1,000 BC. Various museums offer evidence that a form of the game was played by Romans and Greeks, and by the Aztec Indians in South America several centuries before Columbus landed in the New World. The modern game of hockey evolved in England in the mid-18th century, primarily around schools. The first Olympic Hockey Competition for men was held in London in 1908 with England, Ireland and Scotland competing separately. After having made its first appearance in the 1908 Games, hockey was subsequently dropped from the 1912 Stockholm Games, and reappeared in 1920 in Antwerp before being omitted again in Paris in 1924. The Paris organisers refused to include hockey on the basis that the sport had no International Federation. Hockey had made its first steps toward an international federation when in 1909 the Hockey Association in England and the Belgium Hockey Association agreed to mutually recognise each other to regulate international hockey relations. The French Association followed soon after, but this was not considered sufficient. Hockey took its most important step forward in 1924 when the International Hockey Federation, the world governing body for the sport, was founded in Paris under the initiative of Frenchman, Paul Lautey. Mr. Lautey, who would become the first President of the FIH, was motivated to action following hockey's omission from the program of the 1924 Paris games. The growth of the International Hockey Federation from its early beginnings has been most impressive. Denmark joined in 1925, the Dutch men in 1926, Turkey in 1927, and in 1928 the year of the Amsterdam Olympics Germany, Poland, Portugal and India joined. India's addition marked the membership of the first nonEuropean country. By 1964, there were already 50 countries affiliated with the FIH, as well as three continental associations Africa, Pan America and Asia and in 1974, there were 71 members. Today, the International Hockey Federation consists of five Continental associations Europe and Oceania have since joined and 127 member associations. Today, the work of the International Hockey Federation is accomplished through the efforts of the FIH President, Honorary Secretary General and Treasurer, working together with an Executive Board, 13 Committees, and the professional staff in its Lausanne headquarters.

Indian Hockey Team Berlin (1936)

1975 Hockey World Cup Kuala Lumpur