Field Hockey · Level 9: Master · Sub-level 9.1
Ancient Stick-and-Ball Games
10 tests · 100 facts · updated 31 October 2026 · markdown
Stick-and-ball games are far older than modern hockey. Egyptian tomb walls, which survived for thousands of years, carry some of the oldest images of such a game: two figures with bent sticks facing a ball, dated about 2000 BC. A relief found in Athens, now kept in a museum there, dates from the late sixth century BC and shows two players facing off over a ball in a pose that looks like a hockey bully. An image shows a game, not how it was played, but it is evidence that such games were known then.
Similar games grew up far apart. Beikou, played by the Daur of Inner Mongolia, has been played for about a thousand years, and polo spread across Persia and Asia. In the Americas, Spanish writers described chueca, the Mapuche stick game of Chile and Argentina, in the 16th century. Ireland's hurling and Scotland's shinty both grew from Gaelic stick games; hurlers may catch the ball, hockey players never. The Statute of Galway of 1527 named the sticks, and the origin of the word 'hockey' is still debated. In English schools each had its own version, and rules stayed local until clubs agreed common ones. The Hockey Association followed in 1886.
The facts below cover ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, the games of Asia and the Americas, hurling, shinty, the word 'hockey', bandy and the ice, games in English schools, and how common rules turned folk games into 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
They are among the oldest images of a stick-and-ball game.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
The scenes look like a face-off over a ball, which is why historians link them to hockey, though the rules are unknown.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
The river's yearly floods fed farming, so Egyptian towns and tombs clustered along its banks.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
An image shows a game, not how it was played.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Tomb walls survived for thousands of years.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Similar games appear in many ancient cultures.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
A stick bent at the tip can hook and steer a ball, as in hockey, so the drawings are read as an early version.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
About 2000 BC, about 500 BC, then the Middle Ages.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Thousands of years separate the first and the last.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Egyptian tombs hold some of the oldest images.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied
Test 2Ancient GreeceTake a test
The relief was found in Athens.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
It is kept in a museum in Athens.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
It dates from the late sixth century BC.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The pose looks like a hockey bully.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
In a bully, two players tap sticks and then contest the ball, just as the figures in the relief seem to.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
It is evidence that such games were known then.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Onlookers suggest a social game.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Egypt, Greece, then medieval Ireland.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
A bully starts with the two players facing each other, the ball placed between them, and then both try to win it.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The relief was found in Athens.
Source: General field hockey reference · applied
Test 3Games of AsiaTake a test
Beikou has been played for about a thousand years.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
It is one of Asia's oldest stick games.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Inner Mongolia and nearby regions are their home.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Polo spread across Persia and Asia.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Both are played by two sides hitting a ball with sticks that curve at the end.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Communities preserve their old games.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
India won eight Olympic golds.
Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall
Ancient times, about a thousand years ago, then the 1880s.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
British soldiers introduced hockey to India in the 19th century, clubs grew up in Calcutta, and Olympic gold followed in 1928.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
The Daur have played beikou for centuries.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied
Test 4Games of the AmericasTake a test
Spanish writers described chueca in the 16th century.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Mapuche lands are in Chile and Argentina.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Spanish chroniclers wrote about it.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Similar games had grown up far apart.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Lacrosse uses a netted stick.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
A pocket on the stick catches the ball.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Argentina has Olympic and World Cup titles.
Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall
Ancient game, 16th-century writing, 2016 gold.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
16th century, 1860s, 2002.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The Mapuche of southern Chile played chueca, which Spanish chroniclers described in the 16th century.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied
Test 5Ireland's hurlingTake a test
Hurling is one of Ireland's oldest games.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The stick has a broad, flat end.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
It is leather with a raised rim.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Hurling allows handling; hockey does not.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The GAA runs Ireland's Gaelic games.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
It banned some ball games, naming hockey sticks.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Towns often banned rowdy ball games.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
1527, 1895, 2018.
Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall
Hurlers catch, shinty players rarely, hockey players never.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Catching the ball marks hurling out.
Source: General field hockey reference · applied
Test 6Scotland's shintyTake a test
Shinty is played mostly in the Scottish Highlands.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Shinty and hurling sticks share a Gaelic root word.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Shinty sticks are angled on both faces.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Both grew from Gaelic stick games.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Composite rules let the two games meet.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Highland villages have long shinty traditions.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Hockey kept the flat face only.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Moving south from the Scottish Highlands you cross to Ireland and then on to Spain, where field hockey is strong.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Old customs, 1886 rules, then modern technology.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Hitting the ball in the air with either face of the stick is typical of shinty, played in the Scottish Highlands.
Source: General field hockey reference · applied
Test 7The word 'hockey'Take a test
The idea is that the bent stick gave its name.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The word's origin is still debated.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The Statute of Galway named the sticks.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The word is thought to come from a hooked shape, matching the bent end of the sticks used in the game.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
That is why 'field hockey' is used there.
Source: USA Field Hockey, Field Hockey 101 (2025) · recall
In most other countries it is just 'hockey'.
Source: USA Field Hockey, Field Hockey 101 (2025) · recall
The French name comes from its founding in Paris.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
1527, 1886, 1924.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Grass or turf, indoor halls, then ice.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
One theory links 'hockey' to the French 'hoquet'.
Source: General field hockey reference · applied
Test 8Bandy and the iceTake a test
Bandy uses a ball, not a puck.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
The ball links it to field hockey.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Cold winters make bandy a northern game.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
It is played on a large sheet of ice.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Fenland skaters played 'bandy' in winter.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Canada turned ice stick games into modern ice hockey.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
They share an ancestry in stick-and-ball games.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Bandy needs the biggest surface, ice hockey the smallest.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Grass, turf, ice.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Bandy is played on a very large ice surface with a ball rather than a puck, unlike ice hockey.
Source: General field hockey reference · applied
Test 9Games in English schoolsTake a test
Schools each had their own version.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Rules were local until clubs agreed common ones.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Common rules were needed for matches between clubs.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Clubs could meet teams from other towns.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Former pupils carried the version they had learned at school into the clubs they joined and founded after leaving.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Teddington's members were cricketers.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Team games were seen as good for discipline.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Each school had its own version, former pupils then formed clubs, and clubs had to agree common rules to play each other.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Schools first, then 1870s clubs, then 1886.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Shared rules came with the clubs.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied
Test 10From folk game to sportTake a test
Common rules let anyone play anyone.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
Crowds and wild play upset townspeople.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Raised sticks risked injury, so early rules limited how high a player could swing or lift the stick.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
The Hockey Association gave England common rules.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
A rules board was set up in 1895.
Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall
Hockey kept amateur values for a long time.
Source: General field hockey reference · recall
Shared rules let strangers play fairly.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
A game grows from local folk custom to rules shared by clubs, then a national body, then a board for international matches.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · recall
1886, 1895, 1924.
Source: Official results (Olympedia, FIH), see FIELD_HOCKEY_VERIFIED_FACTS.md · recall
Common rules turned folk games into sport.
Source: FIH, The history of FIH & hockey · applied
Questions people ask
- What is the oldest evidence of a hockey-like game?
- Egyptian tomb walls hold some of the oldest images of a stick-and-ball game, with two figures holding bent sticks facing a ball. They date from about 2000 BC.
- What does the Athens relief show?
- It shows two players facing off over a ball in a pose that looks like a hockey bully. It dates from the late sixth century BC and is evidence that such games were known then.
- What are beikou and chueca?
- Beikou is an Asian stick game that the Daur of Inner Mongolia have played for about a thousand years. Chueca is the Mapuche stick game of Chile and Argentina, described by Spanish writers in the 16th century.
- How does hurling differ from hockey?
- Hurling is one of Ireland's oldest games and uses a stick with a broad, flat end and a leather ball with a raised rim. Hurling allows handling and catching the ball, while hockey does not.
- How does shinty differ from hockey?
- Shinty is played mostly in the Scottish Highlands, and its sticks are angled on both faces so play is allowed on both sides of the stick. Hockey kept the flat face only.
- Where does the word 'hockey' come from?
- Its origin is still debated. One idea is that the bent stick gave the sport its name, and one theory links it to the French 'hoquet'. The Statute of Galway of 1527 is an early text that named such sticks.
- Why is it called field hockey in some countries?
- 'Field hockey' is the name used in the United States, while in most other countries it is just 'hockey' (USA Field Hockey, 2025).
- How did folk games become a sport?
- Schools each had their own version, and rules were local until clubs agreed common ones for matches between clubs. Teddington's members were cricketers, and England's Hockey Association of 1886 gave the game common rules.
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