Did you know?
Every field hockey stick is made for right-handed play. Left-handed sticks are not allowed! So left-handed players learn to use the same sticks as everyone else.
India celebrates National Sports Day on 29 August every year. It is the birthday of Major Dhyan Chand, the 'hockey wizard', who was born in 1905.
India's men's team won Olympic hockey bronze medals at both Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Before Tokyo, India had waited 41 years for an Olympic hockey medal!
Try this: Newspaper Dribble
Scrunch up some newspaper into a ball and wrap it with tape. Roll up another newspaper tightly to make a stick. Place four slippers in a line, one big step apart. Dribble (move the ball with small taps) in and out of the slippers and back again. Time yourself and try to beat your score! Play in an open space, away from glass.
Go further: Why Is the Pitch Wet?
Big hockey matches are no longer played on real grass. They are played on artificial turf (man-made grass). Many of these pitches are watered before play. A wet surface lets the ball move faster and more smoothly, and it is gentler on players' skin when they fall. But watering uses a lot of water, so hockey's world body now wants new pitches that need much less of it.