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Field Hockey · Level 9: Master · Sub-level 9.1

Ancient Stick-and-Ball Games

10 tests · 100 facts · updated 30 October 2026 · markdown

Before modern hockey: stick-and-ball games in ancient Egypt and Greece, in Asia and the Americas, Ireland's hurling and Scotland's shinty, where the word 'hockey' may come from, bandy and the ice, games in English schools and how folk games became a sport.

Each test below is ten questions on Insporta. The list under a test is what the questions check: one fact per question, with the source it was written from. Read it before the test, or come back from a wrong answer.

Test 1Ancient EgyptTake a test

  1. They are among the oldest images of a stick-and-ball game.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  2. Two figures with bent sticks face a ball.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  3. Egypt's civilisation grew along the Nile.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  4. An image shows a game, not how it was played.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. Tomb walls survived for thousands of years.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  6. Similar games appear in many ancient cultures.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  7. The bent end is what links them to hockey.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  8. About 2000 BC, about 500 BC, then the Middle Ages.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  9. Thousands of years separate the first and the last.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  10. Egyptian tombs hold some of the oldest images.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied

Test 2Ancient GreeceTake a test

  1. The relief was found in Athens.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  2. It is kept in a museum in Athens.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  3. It dates from the late sixth century BC.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  4. The pose looks like a hockey bully.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. Two players face off over the ball.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  6. It is evidence that such games were known then.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  7. Onlookers suggest a social game.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  8. Egypt, Greece, then medieval Ireland.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  9. Face, ball, contest.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  10. The relief was found in Athens.

    Source: General field hockey reference · applied

Test 3Games of AsiaTake a test

  1. Beikou has been played for about a thousand years.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  2. It is one of Asia's oldest stick games.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  3. Inner Mongolia and nearby regions are their home.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  4. Polo spread across Persia and Asia.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. The shape of the stick links them.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  6. Communities preserve their old games.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  7. India won eight Olympic golds.

    Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall

  8. Ancient times, about a thousand years ago, then the 1880s.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  9. Army, clubs, then the world stage.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  10. The Daur have played beikou for centuries.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied

Test 4Games of the AmericasTake a test

  1. Spanish writers described chueca in the 16th century.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  2. Mapuche lands are in Chile and Argentina.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  3. Spanish chroniclers wrote about it.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  4. Similar games had grown up far apart.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. Lacrosse uses a netted stick.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  6. A pocket on the stick catches the ball.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  7. Argentina has Olympic and World Cup titles.

    Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall

  8. Ancient game, 16th-century writing, 2016 gold.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  9. 16th century, 1860s, 2002.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  10. Chueca is the Mapuche stick game.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied

Test 5Ireland's hurlingTake a test

  1. Hurling is one of Ireland's oldest games.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  2. The stick has a broad, flat end.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  3. It is leather with a raised rim.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  4. Hurling allows handling; hockey does not.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. The GAA runs Ireland's Gaelic games.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  6. It banned some ball games, naming hockey sticks.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  7. Towns often banned rowdy ball games.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  8. 1527, 1895, 2018.

    Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall

  9. Hurlers catch, shinty players rarely, hockey players never.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  10. Catching the ball marks hurling out.

    Source: General field hockey reference · applied

Test 6Scotland's shintyTake a test

  1. Shinty is played mostly in the Scottish Highlands.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  2. Shinty and hurling sticks share a Gaelic root word.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  3. Shinty sticks are angled on both faces.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  4. Both grew from Gaelic stick games.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. Composite rules let the two games meet.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  6. Highland villages have long shinty traditions.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  7. Hockey kept the flat face only.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  8. Scotland, Ireland, then Spain.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  9. Old customs, 1886 rules, then modern technology.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  10. Shinty allows play on both sides of the stick.

    Source: General field hockey reference · applied

Test 7The word 'hockey'Take a test

  1. The idea is that the bent stick gave its name.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  2. The word's origin is still debated.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  3. The Statute of Galway named the sticks.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  4. The hook of the stick is the link.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. That is why 'field hockey' is used there.

    Source: USA Field Hockey, Field Hockey 101 (2025) · recall

  6. In most other countries it is just 'hockey'.

    Source: USA Field Hockey, Field Hockey 101 (2025) · recall

  7. The French name comes from its founding in Paris.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  8. 1527, 1886, 1924.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  9. Grass or turf, indoor halls, then ice.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  10. One theory links 'hockey' to the French 'hoquet'.

    Source: General field hockey reference · applied

Test 8Bandy and the iceTake a test

  1. Bandy uses a ball, not a puck.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  2. The ball links it to field hockey.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  3. Cold winters make bandy a northern game.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  4. It is played on a large sheet of ice.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. Fenland skaters played 'bandy' in winter.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  6. Canada turned ice stick games into modern ice hockey.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  7. They share an ancestry in stick-and-ball games.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  8. Bandy needs the biggest surface, ice hockey the smallest.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  9. Grass, turf, ice.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  10. A ball on a big ice field means bandy.

    Source: General field hockey reference · applied

Test 9Games in English schoolsTake a test

  1. Schools each had their own version.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  2. Rules were local until clubs agreed common ones.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  3. Common rules were needed for matches between clubs.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  4. Clubs could meet teams from other towns.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  5. Old boys founded many clubs.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  6. Teddington's members were cricketers.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  7. Team games were seen as good for discipline.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  8. School, club, shared rules.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  9. Schools first, then 1870s clubs, then 1886.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  10. Shared rules came with the clubs.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied

Test 10From folk game to sportTake a test

  1. Common rules let anyone play anyone.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  2. Crowds and wild play upset townspeople.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  3. Safety rules came early.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  4. The Hockey Association gave England common rules.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  5. A rules board was set up in 1895.

    Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall

  6. Hockey kept amateur values for a long time.

    Source: General field hockey reference · recall

  7. Shared rules let strangers play fairly.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  8. From local custom to world rules.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall

  9. 1886, 1895, 1924.

    Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall

  10. Common rules turned folk games into sport.

    Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied

Sources

KNHB/SAHA Field Hockey Activity Guide, USA Field Hockey 101, NFHCA notes, FIH history and official results; original questions authored, nothing reproduced. Numbered rules belong to the Rules category (Field Hockey - Rules of Hockey).

  • General field hockey reference59
  • FIH, The history of FIH & hockey34
  • Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md5
  • USA Field Hockey, Field Hockey 101 (2025)2