All sports (with the possible exceptions of Ultimate Frisbee and soccer) have too many nitpicky rules in my opinion, but field hockey seems to have arbitrary rules by the bucketload (especially compared to ice hockey). For example, you can't hit the ball with the back (rounded) part of your stick, even accidentally. It's nearly always a foul if the ball contacts your foot. In fact it's even a foul if the opposing player shoots it and it bounces off your foot accidentally (people sometimes do this on purpose to try to create a "set piece" opportunity). While in possession of the ball, you can shield it from opposing players, but you can't dribble "backwards" at the same time (ice hockey players do this routinely). If you are a lefty, you are basically out of luck-- there are no left-handed field hockey sticks (or rather they exist, but it's illegal to use them in a game). Still, in spite of all the rules and the weird "hardware", it still seems to be fun for the kids.
Lots of injuries in field hockey; the St Faiths mom who handles first aid is much busier than during the rugby season. It's easy to see why, too-- field hockey balls are absolutely lethal (5.75 ounces, same weight as an ice hockey puck, but harder), and when you have a group of boys flailing around with wooden sticks, sooner or later someone is going to get clobbered.
In ice hockey, most passes and even some shots can be accomplished with "wrist" or "flip" motion of the stick, but in field hockey in order to do anything but a very short pass you have to wind up and whack the ball with a full swing, with predictably random outcomes. Defending against the shot is considerably more difficult, mainly because of the length of the sticks. In ice hockey, if I am directly in front of an opposing player who has the puck, in most cases there isn't enough time for him/her to to get off a full slapshot, since I can simply reach out with my stick and poke the puck away during his/her windup (my stick is long enough). With the shorter field hockey sticks, that type of defensive move is almost impossible-- if the guy in front of you winds up for a shot, you get the out of the way in a hurry (if you know what's good for you).
In terms of strategy, field hockey is actually quite similar to soccer; typically a team will try to bring the ball up the side and then cross into the center, as opposed to driving right down the middle (unless you have a player who is especially good at dribbling). There are both "short corners" and "long corners" (starting point for short corner is on the baseline halfway between the goal and the true corner). Corners are a significant scoring opportunity, since the defense has to clump up into the goal prior to the corner-- they aren't allowed to roam around in the box as in soccer.
This last weekend St Faiths hosted a field hockey tournament, which was a fun experience for Ethan. Ethan scored a goal (treat for him, since they usually play him back on defense, where he doesn't get a lot of shots), and the team came in second overall, which was a very good result. Here are some photos. Ethan driving with the ball:
One of Ethan's teammates winding up for a pass/shot (take cover!):
Team photo at the end of the tournament:
Unlike rugby, which is rather hard to practice on your own, field hockey is (unfortunately) easier to fool around with at home. Ethan likes to keep his hockey stick & ball in the living room and practice dribbling around the coffee table; this has caused a fair amount of parental nervousness (particularly when you are in the kitchen cooking and you hear a "whap" from the living room).
Meanwhile: I still have not had a chance to take any photos of Lydia playing sports this year (once again proving the rule that the older kid gets tons of photographic coverage while the younger one languishes). I am hopeful for next week, however, since Lydia has told me that there is going to be a house "netball" match. Another weird British sport to learn...
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