Hockey sur gazon · Niveau 9 : Maître · Sous-niveau 9.1
Ancient Stick-and-Ball Games
10 tests · 100 faits · mis à jour le 30 octobre 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.
Chaque test ci-dessous compte dix questions sur Insporta. La liste sous un test indique ce que les questions vérifient : un fait par question, avec la source dont il est tiré. Lisez-la avant le test, ou revenez-y après une mauvaise réponse.
Test 1Ancient EgyptFaire un test
They are among the oldest images of a stick-and-ball game.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Two figures with bent sticks face a ball.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Egypt's civilisation grew along the Nile.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
An image shows a game, not how it was played.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Tomb walls survived for thousands of years.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Similar games appear in many ancient cultures.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
The bent end is what links them to hockey.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
About 2000 BC, about 500 BC, then the Middle Ages.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Thousands of years separate the first and the last.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Egyptian tombs hold some of the oldest images.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · application
Test 2Ancient GreeceFaire un test
The relief was found in Athens.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
It is kept in a museum in Athens.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
It dates from the late sixth century BC.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The pose looks like a hockey bully.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Two players face off over the ball.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
It is evidence that such games were known then.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Onlookers suggest a social game.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Egypt, Greece, then medieval Ireland.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Face, ball, contest.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The relief was found in Athens.
Source : General field hockey reference · application
Test 3Games of AsiaFaire un test
Beikou has been played for about a thousand years.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
It is one of Asia's oldest stick games.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Inner Mongolia and nearby regions are their home.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Polo spread across Persia and Asia.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The shape of the stick links them.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Communities preserve their old games.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
India won eight Olympic golds.
Source : Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · restitution
Ancient times, about a thousand years ago, then the 1880s.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Army, clubs, then the world stage.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
The Daur have played beikou for centuries.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · application
Test 4Games of the AmericasFaire un test
Spanish writers described chueca in the 16th century.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Mapuche lands are in Chile and Argentina.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Spanish chroniclers wrote about it.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Similar games had grown up far apart.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Lacrosse uses a netted stick.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
A pocket on the stick catches the ball.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Argentina has Olympic and World Cup titles.
Source : Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · restitution
Ancient game, 16th-century writing, 2016 gold.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
16th century, 1860s, 2002.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Chueca is the Mapuche stick game.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · application
Test 5Ireland's hurlingFaire un test
Hurling is one of Ireland's oldest games.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The stick has a broad, flat end.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
It is leather with a raised rim.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Hurling allows handling; hockey does not.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The GAA runs Ireland's Gaelic games.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
It banned some ball games, naming hockey sticks.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Towns often banned rowdy ball games.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
1527, 1895, 2018.
Source : Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · restitution
Hurlers catch, shinty players rarely, hockey players never.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Catching the ball marks hurling out.
Source : General field hockey reference · application
Test 6Scotland's shintyFaire un test
Shinty is played mostly in the Scottish Highlands.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Shinty and hurling sticks share a Gaelic root word.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Shinty sticks are angled on both faces.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Both grew from Gaelic stick games.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Composite rules let the two games meet.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Highland villages have long shinty traditions.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Hockey kept the flat face only.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Scotland, Ireland, then Spain.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Old customs, 1886 rules, then modern technology.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Shinty allows play on both sides of the stick.
Source : General field hockey reference · application
Test 7The word 'hockey'Faire un test
The idea is that the bent stick gave its name.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The word's origin is still debated.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The Statute of Galway named the sticks.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The hook of the stick is the link.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
That is why 'field hockey' is used there.
Source : USA Field Hockey, Field Hockey 101 (2025) · restitution
In most other countries it is just 'hockey'.
Source : USA Field Hockey, Field Hockey 101 (2025) · restitution
The French name comes from its founding in Paris.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
1527, 1886, 1924.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Grass or turf, indoor halls, then ice.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
One theory links 'hockey' to the French 'hoquet'.
Source : General field hockey reference · application
Test 8Bandy and the iceFaire un test
Bandy uses a ball, not a puck.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
The ball links it to field hockey.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Cold winters make bandy a northern game.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
It is played on a large sheet of ice.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Fenland skaters played 'bandy' in winter.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Canada turned ice stick games into modern ice hockey.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
They share an ancestry in stick-and-ball games.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Bandy needs the biggest surface, ice hockey the smallest.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Grass, turf, ice.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
A ball on a big ice field means bandy.
Source : General field hockey reference · application
Test 9Games in English schoolsFaire un test
Schools each had their own version.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Rules were local until clubs agreed common ones.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Common rules were needed for matches between clubs.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Clubs could meet teams from other towns.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Old boys founded many clubs.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Teddington's members were cricketers.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Team games were seen as good for discipline.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
School, club, shared rules.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Schools first, then 1870s clubs, then 1886.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Shared rules came with the clubs.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · application
Test 10From folk game to sportFaire un test
Common rules let anyone play anyone.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
Crowds and wild play upset townspeople.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Safety rules came early.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
The Hockey Association gave England common rules.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
A rules board was set up in 1895.
Source : Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · restitution
Hockey kept amateur values for a long time.
Source : General field hockey reference · restitution
Shared rules let strangers play fairly.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
From local custom to world rules.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · restitution
1886, 1895, 1924.
Source : Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · restitution
Common rules turned folk games into sport.
Source : FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · application
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