Hockey first appeared on the Olympic program at the 1908 London Games and again in 1920 at Antwerp. The sport was again featured on the program at Amsterdam in 1928 and has been an Olympic sport ever since. Women's hockey became a fixture on the Olympic program in Moscow in 1980.

Originally considered far too dangerous for female participation, field hockey quickly became popular with women whose previous introduction to sport included the "socially acceptable" outdoor activities of croquette and lawn tennis. With more and more women becoming active in the sport, the liberating game of field hockey earned the dubious title as the only team sport considered proper for women.

By 1887, the first women’s hockey club appeared in East Mosley, England, and was quickly followed by the creation of the All England Women’s Hockey Association in 1889 . The sport spread across the Atlantic in 1901 when English physical education instructor Constance Applebee introduced the sport to the U.S. while attending a seminar at Harvard.

Appalled at the parlor games passing for exercise among young American women, Applebee borrowed some sticks and a ball and staged the first hockey exhibition in the United States behind the Harvard gymnasium. The game received an enthusiastic response, and Applebee quickly spread the sport to some of the region's most prestigious women's schools.

By the early 1920’s, several colleges and clubs sponsored field hockey teams for women. The U.S. women’s touring field hockey team participated in its first international competition in 1920, and two years later the United States Field Hockey Association was founded for the purpose of promoting and generating enthusiasm for the sport.

With the increasing popularity of the sport, and through the pioneering efforts of the Association's early touring teams, the U.S. continued its rise to international prominence. In 1975, the U.S. appeared in the first I.F.W.H.A. World Championship of women's hockey in Edinburgh, Scotland (10th), and five years later earned an invitation to the first women's Olympic Games tournament in Moscow. The U.S. boycott of the 1980 Games prevented the team from competing in Moscow. Under legendary coach Vonnie Gros, the USA captured the bronze medal four years later at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The team would continue its Olympic tradition with appearances in Seoul in 1988 and Atlanta in 1996.

After the FIH conducted the first women's World Cup in 1975, the U.S. team began an impressive string of successive trips to the prestigious tournament in 1983. The U.S. would qualify for each of the ensuing World Cup tournaments including a bronze medal finish in Dublin in 1994.

With similar humble beginnings, men’s field hockey began in the United States with the first official match between the Westchester Field Hockey Club (Rye NY) and the Germantown Cricket Club (near Philadelphia) in 1928. That same year, the Field Hockey Association of America was formed, and in 1930, the FHAA became the fourteenth member of hockey's international federation, the Federation International de Hockey (FIH). Today, the FIH features over 100 member nations. Henry Greer,considered the founder of men's hockey in the United States, served as president of the FHAA from 1930 to 1959 and served as player-coach on the 1932 U.S. Olympic team.

Bolstered by its new international membership, the U.S. Men’s team competed in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. The three-team tournament saw the United States earn the bronze medal after losing to silver medalist Japan, 9-2, and gold medal winner India, 24-1.

The U.S. men went on to compete in other Olympic Games in 1936, 1948, 1956, 1984 and 1996. A lack of funds and political challenges kept the team from competing in 1952. With the inclusion of hockey in the Pan Am Games in 1967 and Olympic qualification dependent on success in Pan Am event, the FHAA faced mounting obstacles in returning to the Games.

In April of 1993, the FHAA and the USFHA, at the urging of the United States Olympic Committee, merged to form one national governing body for both women’s and men’s field hockey. The USFHA currently seeks to foster and develop the amateur sport of field hockey by providing participation opportunities for players, coaches, officials, and administrators and preparing teams to represent the United States in international competitions.

Today, nearly 14,000 players, coaches, officials and fans enjoy the benefits of U.S. Field Hockey Association membership. With programs ranging from elite teams and futures identification to club hockey and grassroots development, today's U.S. Field Hockey continues to raise public awareness and promote the sport as a lifetime activity. The U.S. Field Hockey Association provides players, coaches, officials and administrators educational and participation opportunities while supplying support and resources essential to the development and enjoyment of the game.

Even if its just a ball and stick.

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

Indian and Pakistani national teams have traditionally dominated men's hockey, 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 while Pakistan won the 1994 world cup. 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 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, field hockey is widely regarded as a women's sport, but there are some men's leagues as well.

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.

One player from each team is designated the "goalkeeper". The Goalkeeper is permitted to deflect or stop the ball with any part of his or her body or stick (the same stick rules apply to goalies as to outfield players) whilst within their defensive circle (the arc or "D"). They are also allowed to propel the ball away using their kickers or their leg guards whilst within their defensive circle, but a ball propelled with the hand is considered a foul. The Goalkeeper may also act as a field player outside of the "D" but is only allowed to take part in play within the half of the field their team is defending.

If a player commits one of the many fouls (kicking the ball, obstruction, lifting in a dangerous area, back side of the stick, etc.) inside their defensive shooting circle, or commits a deliberate or particularly serious foul outside the circle but within their defensive quarter of the field, then a complicated and indirect penalty shot is taken, called a "penalty corner". A deliberate breach by defenders within the circle, or a rule breach that directly prevents a goal being scored, results in the award of a "penalty stroke", approximately equivalent to a penalty kick in football (soccer).

The match is officiated by two umpires. Traditionally each umpire generally controls half of the field, divided roughly diagonally, although now experiments are being made where either umpire can make any decision anywhere on the field.

The teams' object is to play the ball into their "shooting circle" and, from there, hit, push or flick the ball into the goal. The team with more goals after two 35-minute halves wins the game.

At the highest level, hockey is a fast-moving, highly skilled sport, with players using fast moves with the stick, quick accurate passing, and hard hits, in attempts to keep possession and move the ball towards the goal. While physically tackling and otherwise obstructing players is not permitted, collisions are common, and the speed at which the ball travels along the ground (and sometimes through the air, which is legal if it is not judged dangerous by the umpire) requires the use of padded shin guards to prevent injury. Some of the tactics used resemble football (soccer), but with greater speed - the best players maneuver and score almost quicker than the eye can see.