Germany as a hockey nation
Hockey is one of the most successful ball sports in Germany.
Footballers like to maintain – especially after the 2014 World Cup victory – that their game is the most popular ball sport in Germany. But in reality, hockey deserves this title: with championship wins in the Olympics, world championships, European championships, the Champions Trophy and major international tournaments, the hockey players have good reason to be proud of their game. This applies to both the men and the women, on artificial turf or on the fast indoor floor. They repeatedly notch up successes when flicking and playing the hard plastic ball. Admittedly, Germany has only 80,000 active hockey players in around 400 clubs (compared with six million footballers in 27,000 club teams). But, alongside the Netherlands, Australia, India and Pakistan, Germany traditionally ranks as one of the world’s most successful hockey nations.
A sport for all ages
Hockey is a fascinating game. It is very popular and has a reputation as being a sport for intellectuals. Hockey is fast, dynamic and technically demanding. Some jokingly say: “If hockey were simple, it would be called football.” Hockey requires a high degree of coordination, feel for the ball and stamina. Despite this, it is a sport for all ages, with everyone wielding their sticks from the peewee league to the over-seventies teams. In field hockey each team has a goalie and ten players, whilst indoor hockey has a goalie and five players. Lay people often do not know that serious injuries in this game are extremely rare. In contrast to other ball sports, hockey is a non-physical game, where it is forbidden to push aside or actively body check opponents. In no other ball sport in Germany is the percentage of women higher. In addition to this, half of the active players are children or young people under 18. Hockey enjoys a long tradition and was already being played in China, Persia and India 5,000 years ago. The first match was played in Germany in 1896, and the 1st Hamburg Hockey Club was the first German club to be founded in 1898. Hockey became an Olympic discipline in 1908.
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