Is Hockey The National Game Of India ?

HOCKEY :-
Hockey is a sport where two teams play against each other by endeavouring to move a ball or puck (which means a disk made of vulcanized rubber) into the challenger's goal by using a hockey stick. Each team consist of 11 players. It is cleaved into 1 goalkeeper and 10 outfield players. The outfield players will consists of defenders, midfielders and attackers.

History :-

The word Hockey is of unknown origin. One presumption is that it is a derivative of a Middle French word “hoquet” (a shepherd’s stave). Another presumption derives from the known use of cork bungs (stoppers) in place of wooden balls to play the game. “hock” ale, also called “hockey” are the stoppers came from the barrels containing it. However games which are played with curved sticks and a ball is found in the way back history.

Types :-

In many places or countries of the world, hockey refers to field hockey, while in Canada, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, hockey refers to ice hockey. There are many types of Hockey played in different countries with different names. They are :-

• Field Hockey
• Ice Hockey
• Bandy Hockey
• Ice sledge Hockey
• Roller Hockey (Inline)
• Roller Hockey (quad)
• Street Hockey
In all these types or forms of Hockey the most played game is Field Hockey namely in India and in other countries.

Hockey is not the National Game of India. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports said in reply to an Right to Information (RTI) query filed by a ten(10)-year-old girl named Aishwarya Parashar in order to get certified copies of orders related to the declaration of National Anthem, Song, Animal, Sport, Bird, Flower and the country’s symbol. It also said that India doesn’t recognize any particular sport as National Game.

However the India national field hockey team was the first non-European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation. The team won its first Olympic gold medal in 1928 and until 1960, the Indian men's team remained unbeaten in the Olympics, winning six gold medals in a row. India also won the 1975 World Cup. India is the most successful team ever in the Olympics, having won eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

Of late, India considered Hockey as the National Game of India but it is came to known that Hockey is not the national game of India.