Origin

The origin of hockey
Hockey like many sports comes from unusual backgrounds, there have been Egyptian paintings and drawings of people hitting a small ball around with a large stick which could make it one of the oldest sports. However the first modern field hockey club was developed in London - London Wimbledon Hockey Club in 1883 after years of it being played unprofessionally for many years in England. This club caused hockey to spread across the British Empire and to all of Europe.  The USA started to play field hockey in around 1890 but a Field Hockey Association was not invested in until 1930 and many men did not want to join professional teams. Hockey for men first appeared in the Olympics in 1908 where Great Britain dominated the tournament. Only 6 teams entered the first (mentioned above) and then Wales, Germany, Scotland, France and Ireland. The Irish team consisted of a starting 11 which were

• Edward Allman-Smith
• Henry Brown
• Walter Campbell
• William Graham
• Richard Gregg
  
• Edward Holmes (GK)
• Robert Kennedy
• Henry Murphy
• Walter Peterson
• Charles Power
• Frank Robinson

They came second in the tournament losing 8-1 to England in the final and to get there they beat Wales 3-1 in the semi-final. 

India and Pakistan however begin to dominate the hockey world cup and other tournaments once they started the sport.

     sources : hockey, field | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/sports/hockey-field.html#ixzz3Kei0Teq2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_hockey_at_the_1908_Summer_Olympics

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