Top International Field Hockey Tournaments

Field hockey is not a sport that's only played by females in high school and college. This sport is played internationally by both men and women. After making its international presence over 100 hundred years ago in the 1908 Summer Olympics, more and more nations are participating in this sport.

The most famous international field hockey tournament is the Summer Olympics. Believe it not, while most high schools have field hockey teams with females, this is also a men's sport as well. Field hockey made its debut in 1908 at the Olympic Games in London. It originally was played every other Summer Olympic Games. This game was removed from the Games in 1924 because of a lack of governing structure in Paris. However, when the International Hockey Federation was founded, field hockey was back at the 1928 games. Since then, this sport has been a permanent feature in the games. In 1980, the Olympics had the first women's field hockey competition in Moscow. Unfortunately, North Americans did not compete in these Olympic Games because of the boycott.

Since many nations belong to the International Hockey Federation, not all of these can participate in the Olympics. There are different qualifying tournaments that different nations can compete in to win a spot at the Olympic Games.

The Hockey World Cup, sometimes called the Hockey World Championships, was organized in 1971 by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). Pakistan's air marshal, Nur Khan had conceived this tournament in 1970. It is no coincidence that Pakistan was the champions in the first tournament. Like the Olympics, this competition is held every four years, halfway between the Summer Olympics.

The Hockey Asia Cup, held annually, was organized by the Asian Hockey Federation. Men began playing in this competition in 1982. Women officially began to play in 1985.

The Hockey Champions Trophy, held annually since 1980, allows the world's highest ranking, top six, teams compete in a round robin event. The Australia and Germany have dominated this competition. They each have won nine times. The Netherlands is close behind with eight wins.

The Hockey Champion Challenge was begun in 2001. Played every two years, it allows the worlds teams ranked seventh to twelfth to compete against each other. The winner of this tournament is given a chance to compete in the Hockey Champions Trophy Tournament. This tournament gives smaller nations to compete internationally.

It may be hard to believe, but the United States is not the dominating nation in field hockey. In the Summer Olympic Games and other international field hockey tournaments, the countries who rule field hockey are India, the Netherlands, Australia, Pakistan and Great Britain.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.ord/wiki/Field_hockey