The origins of hockey are
difficult to trace. People have been hitting rocks with
sticks since, well, there were people, rocks and sticks. Many
of these stick-and-ball (or rock) games began to be organized
as early as the 10th century. It is interesting to note that
both hockey and golf have their roots in the same ancient
sports. Most notably among these are:
- A Roman game called
paganica, which involved using a bent
stick to drive a soft, feather-stuffed ball.
Evidence suggests that paganica was a
team sport with the ball constantly in motion,
which lends itself more to hockey than golf.
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- A medival sport cambuca
which was similar to paganica, but used a
hard wooden ball. Gloucester Cathedral features a
stained glass window from 1350 featuring a man
hitting a ball with a bent stick- either golf or
field hockey, no one knows. By the way,
Gloucester Cathedral is where the Harry Potter
movies are filmed.
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- Illustrated scrolls
from the early Ming Dynasty depict something
called suigan, or ch'ui wan, described
as "a game in which you hit a ball with a
stick while walking." More than likely, the
Chinese version of the game was more similar to
golf. However, the silk traders of the late
Middle Ages exported the game to Europe, and the
Dutch took up the game from there.
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- The Dutch played a
ball and stick game called het kolven as
early as 1200. In fact, there are illustrations
showing the Dutch playing het kolven on
their frozen canals in the early 15th century,
where it appears to have been a team sport more
akin to hockey. In the summer, it was probably
played in a manner similar to modern golf.
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- Chole has been
played in both France and Belgium since the early
1200's, and still enjoys a large following today.
The game invloves a large egg shaped wooden ball
and heavy metal clubs. It is a team sport with a
goal (hockey) but is based on the number of
strokes (golf).
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- The Native Indians
of North America- most notably in what is now
Canada- were observed to play a game that closely
resembles ice hockey in the mid-1500's.
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So, basically, hockey as we
know it has simply evolved through a variety of influences
over the last 800 years or so. The development
of ball hockey has closely followed that of ice hockey, and,
due to this close relationship, both games developed with
similar rules.
Organized Dek
hockey- or ball hockey as it is known throughout the rest of
the world- is a relatively young sport. The game evolved from
the haphazard street hockey games that every guy over the age
of 40 fondly remembers. Those games simply involved a few
friends, an open area such as a street, parking lot,
playground or tennis court, some rocks or bricks to mark the
goal posts, a tennis ball, old hockey sticks, and the game
was on.
Formally
organized leagues grew independently in several countries.
The Canadians were the first to organize the game in the late
1960s in Toronto, Ontario, with Habitant Arena hosting a
summer program in 1969. There followed the USA in the early
1970s, Austria, The Czech Republic, and Slovakia in the
1980s, and Finland, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland in the
early 1990s.
The oldest
continuously run league is the Mississauga Ball Hockey
Association, which commenced in 1971. The first governing
body was the Canadian Ball Hockey Association which was
founded in 1977 to standardize the game and hold competitions
between the various leagues. After the political changes in
Eastern Europe in 1989, international competitions were held
beginning in 1991, leading to the establishment of the
International Street & Ball Hockey Federation in 1993,
and the bi-annual World Junior and Senior Championships,
which commenced in 1996.
Ball hockey
received its biggest boost in 1970, when Arnold Herka, of
Viceroy Rubber (worlds largest producer of hockey pucks)
developed the first plastic orange balls. He gave the balls
to George Butterwick, who was operating a league in Toronto,
and the game has never looked back.
The idea of
Modular Sports Flooring- the technical term for the Dek-
appears to have been around since the early 1960s. While the
concept was sound, the materials used lacked durability. One
of the most successful of the early pioneers was Dan Kotler,
who started the development of a modular recreation court for
backyard use in the mid 1960's. However, it wasn't until 1974
that advancements in the plastic industry enabled him to
introduce the first Sport Court® Game Court. In 1977, Sports
Illustrated and Newsweek did back to back articles on Sport
Court, Inc. The articles raised the profile of Modular Sports
Flooring, and ball hockey quickly made the move off of the
pavement and onto the Dek.
© copyright 2002, Rich
Rodriguez. All rights reserved.
