Field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
is a moderately popular sport in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It's usually referred to as simply "hockey" and is played in winter, with a season typically starting in March and April. The national governing body,
Hockey Australia
Hockey Australia is an organisation that formed from the merger of the Australian Hockey Association and Women's Hockey Australia in 2000. It is the national body responsible for the promotion, development and administration of field hockey in A ...
has 162,176 registered players as of 2020, with a 48% to 52% split of male to female players. Australia is home to two of the best national hockey teams in the world, with both the men and the women having won the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
,
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
The British navy are often credited as being the first to bring hockey into Australia. In the late 1800s, Australia didn't have a navy and relied on the British to defend their coastlines, this meant that many british games were brought in by the military personnel who were stationed there, one of them being hockey.
The AWHA
The foundation of the Australian Women's Hockey Association (AWHA) in 1910, led to the rapid growth of women's hockey all over Australia. It was linked closely to the All England Women's Hockey Accosiation, with whom the first Australian women's national team played their first match against in 1914, in addition to their first overseas test in 1930. In 1927, the AWHA became a founding member of the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations, alongside Denmark,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, South Africa, the United States and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, which in 1982 merged with the
International Hockey Federation
The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the acronym and initialism, acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are i ...
.
The AHA
In 1925, the Australian Hockey Association (AHA) was founded.
Hockey One
Since 2019, the national level of competition is
Hockey One
The Sultana Bran Hockey One is a field hockey competition organised by Hockey Australia, which replaced the Australian Hockey League.
The competition serves as Australia's premier domestic hockey league, helping unearth future talent for select ...
, which was made from the former Men's and Women's National Hockey League in 1991.
Hockey One is a small league, with only a single men's team and a single women's team from each of the eight states and territories, but it produces excellent results, when measured by the performance of the national squad.
Kookaburras
The
Kookaburras
Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic of its call. The ...
, the men's national team have won 1 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze at the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, as well as 10
World Hockey Cup
The Men's FIH Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1971. It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer O ...
medals, 6
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
gold medals, 30
Hockey Champions Trophy
The Hockey Champions Trophy (HCT) was an international field hockey tournament held by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
History
Founded in 1978 by Pakistan's Air Marshal Nur Khan and the Pakistan Hockey Federation, it featured the wor ...
Hockeyroos
The Australia women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Hockeyroos) are, as of January 2019, ranked third in the world. Having played their first game in 1914, and their first Olympic game in 1984, they are one of Australia's most succes ...
, the women's national team, have won 3 gold Olympic medals in 2000, 1996 and 1988; as well as 4 world cup medals, 2 gold at the Commonwealth games, and 11 champions trophy medals.