Hockey at Teso College Aloet

Field hockey is a team sport played by two teams using curved sticks, 36 to 38 inches long, and a small hard round ball about 2.8 inches in diameter. Each team may only field 11 members at a time, including the goalkeeper, but may have five substitutes. Coaches may make unlimited personnel changes during a game. The hockey field is about 100 yd by 60 yd in size, with goals at either end that are 7 ft high and 12 ft wide. The ‘shooting circle‘ is a half-circle 16 yd in diameter surrounding the goal.

The object of the game is to score points (‘goals‘) by striking the ball into the opposing team‘s goal by hitting it with your stick. A goal is considered to have been scored when it is knocked into the goal after having been touched within the shooting circle by the stick of a member of the attacking team. The game lasts for two periods of 35 minutes each, and the team that has scored the most goals at the end of that time wins. Free hits and penalty strokes may also be awarded in cases of offenses committed by the teams.

Goalkeepers are the only players who are allowed to touch the ball with any part of their body during the game. Players move the ball by ‘dribbling‘ (hitting it back and forth with their stick while running behind it) and by passing it to other players.