Rules

Hi, today I will be teaching you the rules for Field Hockey.  Field Hockey games begin with a coin toss by the referee.  The home team gets to pick either heads or tails.  The team that wins the toss gets its choice of either possession of the ball at the start of the game or the side of the field it would like to defend.  Each team puts 11 players on the field at a time, ten regular players and one goalie.  Five substitution players remain on the sideline.  In rare circumstances, a team will choose to pull its goalie off the field in exchange for an extra field player.  The players on the sideline can be used as substitutes for any of the players on the field at any given time.  The number of substitutions made is up to the referee.  Positions in field hockey are not absolute.  Generally, though, teams arrange players into defense, midfield, and attack.  Most teams choose to have a goalie, but a goalie is not required.  Many teams include a single sweeper who acts as a last line of defense in front of the goalie.  The minimum number of players needed for a game to be considered a regulation game is nine, including the goalie.  Depending on the division and/or league, however, this number can vary. Field players are not allowed to use their feet, or any other body part, to control the ball.  If the ball hits a player’s foot, the umpire will either award the other team a free hit or let the game continue if the other team gains an advantage.  Only the goalkeeper is allowed to use her hands, feet, and body to stop or strike the ball.  The ball is allowed to be lifted in the air as long as the referee does not consider the play to be “dangerous.”  The general rule is that the ball should not be lifted above the knee within five meters of another player. An exception to this rule is when the ball is raised by using a scooping or long-pushing action of the stick, or when there are no players in the same proximity as the ball.  The ball cannot be hit into the air unless it is a direct shot on goal.  There are three different ways to score a goal in field hockey, a field goal, penalty corner, or a penalty stroke.  An umpire can give a card to any player who has commits a repeated offense.  There are three types of cards, green card is a warning for the player to stop whatever she is doing, yellow card temporarily suspends the player for a minimum of five minutes of playing time, and finally a red card permanently suspends the player from the game.  The whistle is the umpire’s tool to enforce the rules of the game. The umpire blows the whistle to start the first and second half of the game, start a bully,call a foul, start and end a penalty stroke, indicate a goal, re-start a match after it’s been stopped, stop a match to substitute players into the game, and to stop the match for an injury.