Schedule of Hockey Events

Hockey, which is derived from a French word 'hocquet', meaning 'shepherd's crook' involves momentum, endurance and powerful hand-eye coordination. At the London 2012 Olympic Games, hockey events will take place at the new Riverbank Arena in Olympic Park from Sunday 29 July to Saturday 11 August 2012. There will be two medal events and 384 athletes will participate (192 men, 192 women; 12 teams in each event). The hockey matches will be played on water-based synthetic-turf pitches (instead of grass), which allow the ball to roll more feely and quickly. Hockey came into picture in Olympics at the London 1908 Games and the first women's Olympic Hockey Game was played in Moscow 1980 Games. Hockey is played on a 100 x 60 yard outdoor pitch. India's Dhyan Chand is a much acclaimed hockey player who had a captivating control in handling the hockey stick. Dhyan Chand won three straight Olympic titles for India before the war and scored 33 goals in the process!

Schedule of Hockey Events in London Olympics 2012

Composition Of Teams
A hockey team consists of eleven players (plus five substitutes) competing at any given time. The hockey pitch measures 91.4m by 55m. Hockey sticks are hook-shaped that enable advancing a hard ball towards their opponents' goal, which measures 3.66m wide and 2.14m high. Every team also has a goalkeeper on the field. Hockey players who go off-field due to injury or for any other reason (except substitution) can re-enter the field only within the pre-defined regions of the field.

The Matches
Every match will consist of two periods of 35 minutes and an interval of five minutes. In both the men and women's competition, 12 teams will be divided into two pools of six, with each team playing every other team in their pool. The top two teams from the groups will enter the semi-finals, with the winners competing for the gold, and the losers for the bronze.

Scoring Method
The team scoring the most goals will be the winner. A goal is achieved, when an attacker plays the ball within the circle. But at the same time, the ball should not pass through outside the circle before passing completely over the goal-line. A penalty stroke also results in a score!