A game of field hockey in progress

Field hockey is a popular sport for men and women in many countries around the world. In most countries, especially those in which ice hockey is not very prominent, it is simply known as hockey.

Field hockey has several regular and prestigious international tournaments for both men and women. These events include the Olympic Games, the quadrennial World Hockey Cups, the annual Champions Trophies, and World Cups for juniors.

Pakistani and Indian national teams dominated men's hockey until the early 1980's, winning four of the first five world cups, but have become less prominent recently, with The Netherlands, Germany and Australia gaining importance in the late 1980s. Other strong hockey playing nations include Spain, Argentina and South Korea. The Netherlands was the predominant international women's team before hockey was added to Olympic events. In the early 1990s Australia emerged as the strongest women's country, though retirement of a number of key players has weakened the team. Other important women's teams are China, Korea, Argentina and Germany.

Many countries have extensive club competitions for both junior and senior players. Despite the large numbers of participants, club hockey is not a particularly large spectator sport and few players can afford to play professionally.

In the United States and Canada field hockey is widely regarded as a girls' and women's sport, but there are some men's leagues as well.

A college-level field hockey player

In those countries where winter conditions prevent play on outdoor fields, field hockey is played indoors during the off-season. This indoor variant, known as indoor field hockey differs from its outdoor parent in a number of respects. For example, the players may not raise the ball outside the shooting circle, nor hit it.