Hockey with a ball

Sports games in which the ball was played with sticks originated in antiquity. On the pyramid located in the Egyptian village of Beni Hassan, the construction of which dates from about the 20th century BC , two people with sticks are depicted, which they crossed over a round object (ball or ring) ^{[5] [6]} . Games in which a small ball was driven with a stick were known in Ancient Japan (“kachi” and “dakiu”), the Aztec empire (“cheuka”), Ancient Greece , Ancient Rome ^{[5] [6]} .

The first ones mentioning the games on ice of frozen reservoirs, in which with the help of clubs it was necessary to hit a specific target, belong to the Middle Ages . In the X - XI century , the first mention of games with clubs on the ice in Ancient Russia . Russian chronicles tell of ice fun, in which several people chase a round object with sticks, usually a vegetable ^[7] . In different regions, the game was called by different names: “sticking”, “sticks on ice”, “paddock”, “yule”, “chasing”, “shuffling”, “cauldron”, etc. ^{[7] [8] [9]} . A fan of hockey was Peter I , in which the players began to use the iron skates brought in by the tsar from Holland ^[9] . Since the IX century in Icelandic chronicles there is a mention of the “Knuttaker” ^[10] . In the British Isles, a whole series of club and ball competitions appeared - bendy for the British, bendo for the Welsh, shinti for the Scots, and curling for the Irish; in the summer, games were held on grass, in winter on ice ^{[6] [10]} . Ice club games were also popular in the Netherlands ^[10] .

Ball hockey, in the modern sense of sports discipline, begins to form in the UK in the first half of the 19th century ^[11] . In the 1850-1870s, some English football clubs ( Sheffield United , Nottingham Forest , etc.) cultivated bendy along with football. Gradually, individual bandy clubs also appear. In 1891, the United Kingdom created the National Bandy Association (the first such association in the world), which develops the official rules of the game ^[11] . The British in the late XIX - early XX centuries contributed to the development of hockey in European countries - Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and others. English specialists working at industrial enterprises in Russia organized football and hockey clubs, which had a significant impact on the formation of ball hockey in Russia as a sport kind ^{[7] [11] [12]} . In 1888, a Petersburg student Peter Moskvin founded the St. Petersburg Club of Sports Fans (Sport Club), in 1897 he developed the first rules for ball hockey in Russia ^[12] . On March 8 ( March 20, according to the new style) , in 1898, in St. Petersburg, on the North Skating Rink on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, the first ball hockey match was held according to the approved rules - this day is considered the official birthday of Russian hockey ^[13] .

The culmination of the development of ball hockey at the turn of the century was the European Hockey Championship held in Davos, Switzerland in 1913. However, the outbreak of World War I stopped the development of this sport for a long time.

A forced five-year break, mutual hatred, the collapse of a number of states - all this led to the fact that after the World War the "English" bandy, popular in Europe, practically ceased to exist. In the early twenties, the remaining national federations were either dissolved (as in Denmark in 1924) or adopted the rules of “Canadian hockey” (as in Hungary in 1922). Only the Austrians continued to play bandy regularly, but only then until the end of the twenties. Contrary to this trend, between the world wars the bandy flourished in the Baltic states, when regular championships were held in Estonia and Latvia until the mid-thirties. Only in Scandinavia ( Sweden , Norway , Finland ) and the USSR did bandy not interrupt its history. By the middle of the 20th century, these four countries remained the only ones in which this sport developed and remained popular. However, the rules applied, on the one hand in Scandinavia, and on the other hand in the USSR, differed to a certain extent (the main differences were the size of the gate, the presence of sides and the permission of riding gears). These differences hindered the popularization of bendy in other countries, despite the efforts of all four countries: Norway, for example, in 1952 insisted on the inclusion of bendy in the Oslo Winter Olympics as an indicative sport. In 1955, through the efforts of all four countries, the rules of bandy were unified, after which in the same year the first international meeting on the new rules between the national teams of the USSR and Sweden took place. Since the creation of the International Ice Hockey Federation , world championships have been held regularly since 1957. The coordinated work of the four countries, aimed at ensuring the stability and regularity of international bandy games, has yielded results. In 1963, Bendy was revived in Holland , in 1988 - in Hungary . A great achievement of the International Ice Hockey Federation was the penetration of a bandy into the Canadian Hockey camp: regular games have been held in the USA since 1981, and in Canada since 1986. With the collapse of the USSR, Kazakhstan , Belarus , Estonia , Latvia and Kyrgyzstan were drawn into the orbit of the international bandy. Penetration into Asia has not been exhausted only by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; since 2006, the national team of Mongolia , and then Japan and China, has participated in the championships.

Since 2004, women’s world hockey championships have been held . In 2011, ball hockey was presented at the Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan.

World Championships among youth teams are also held. In 2013, the Russian team became the champion.

In 2019, ball hockey was included in the program of the XXIX Winter Universiade 2019 .

In March 2012, the Swedish Bandy Hall of Fame was opened for the first time in the history of hockey in the Swedish city of Uppsala ^{[14] [15]} .

Ball hockey as a sports discipline appeared in the UK ^[11] - a country known as the ancestor of football . Apparently, for this reason, the first set of rules, published in 1891 by the British National Bandy Association, was heavily influenced by football ^[11] . In turn, ice hockey , which appeared largely due to ball hockey, inherited many features from it.

The most curious are those aspects of ball hockey in which some elements are similar to football, while others are similar to ice hockey. For example, the size of a field for hockey with a ball is similar to a football field, but it is flooded with ice; players use clubs and chase a small ball with these clubs; as punishment for the players, their removal for a certain playing time is used, but the purpose of punishment is reflected by showing the player a card of the corresponding color (white for 5 minutes and blue for 10 minutes); as part of each team, eleven players enter the field, including the goalkeeper, but these players can be replaced almost at any time and an unlimited number of times. Recent rule changes have affected the ability to take a timeout during the game and the impossibility of replacing players when assigning a corner kick.

Nevertheless, in hockey with the ball there are more features related to it precisely with football . This, in particular, is the standard duration of the match (two halves of 45 minutes each), and when additional time is required, then 2 halves of 15 minutes each, but the game goes like in hockey with the puck until the first goal scored, a developed system of standard provisions (corner, penalty and free kicks), “offside”, a ban on playing with hands for all field players and a ban on playing with a goalkeeper's hands outside the penalty area.

Due to the large size of the playing field, ball hockey is much slower than with ice hockey. The relatively low pace of the game requires both teams more sophisticated tactical planning and more complex game combinations. Despite the fact that in rare cases there are clashes between players, the game itself is almost completely absent the rough power struggle inherent in ice hockey.

Field

In 1922 , the first championship of the RSFSR was held. In 1927 , the first team of the RSFSR was formed. In 1928 , the first USSR championship was held, in which the teams of the Union republics, Moscow and Leningrad participated. In 1936 , the first USSR Championship among club teams was held. Since 1937 , games were held for the USSR Cup.

The development of modern ball hockey in Russia is carried out under the leadership of the Russian Ball Hockey Federation . The Federation includes 47 republican, provincial and regional federations and branches of ball hockey ^[16] . The Federation holds competitions of the Russian Championship in the major and first leagues, the Cup of Russia , as well as championships for women, veterans, juniors and youths, children's tournaments for the Prizes of the Wicker Ball club, mini-hockey tournaments (Rink Bandy), and the whole a number of other competitions ^[17] .

In the top and first leagues of the championship of Russia played ^{[ when? ]} 63 teams from 26 federal subjects representing 6 federal districts ^[18] and one foreign team - “Akzhayyk” from Kazakhstan Uralsk.

By 2017, a crisis erupted in ball hockey in Russia - over 10 years the number of teams in the Russian championship fell from 22 to 12, the average attendance of matches fell almost three times, a number of Russian championship clubs are in conflict with the leadership of the ball hockey federation.

The indicator of the popularity of ball hockey in the world can be considered the fact that in the recent world championships held annually, the organizer of which is the International Ice Hockey Federation , 17-18 teams from Europe , North America and Asia have been participating for several years. The oldest participants in this tournament are Russia ( USSR ), Sweden and Finland , who have participated in all championships since 1957. From the second championship, the Norwegian team also participates in tournaments. Since 1985, they regularly send their team to the world championships in the United States of America . Since 1991, the national teams of the Netherlands , Canada and Hungary have been playing in the championships, since 1995 - the team of Kazakhstan , since 2001 - Belarus , since 2003 - Estonia , since 2006 - Mongolia , since 2007 - Latvia , since 2012 - Kyrgyzstan and Japan , since 2013 - Ukraine , since 2014 - Germany and Somalia , since 2015 - China , since 2016 - the Czech Republic , since 2018 - Slovakia .

The results of recent world championships suggest that in the world of hockey with the ball a kind of "ranking table" has been formed. The strongest teams are Russian and Swedish. Under certain circumstances, they can compete with the Finnish team, which already has the title of world champion. These teams, as well as the five-time bronze team of Kazakhstan and the Norwegian team, form the "Big Five" of the strongest teams in the world. The right to play at the World Cup in a prestigious group consisting of six national teams. For the last few years, the national teams of Belarus and the USA have been contesting each other. Of the remaining national teams, the Canadian national team was considered the strongest, but when in 2007 this team was unable to arrive at the championship for financial reasons, its place in the championship and in the “ranking table” was taken by a young and ambitious team in Latvia. The teams of Holland, Hungary, Estonia and Mongolia can not seriously confront other teams yet, but the matches held by them with each other are always very principled and interesting.

In addition to countries whose national teams participate in world championships, India , Italy , Poland , Australia , Ireland , Serbia and Switzerland are also represented in the International Ice Hockey Federation. In 2008, Lithuania , Armenia and Argentina became members of the federation, and in 2010 - England and China , in 2012 - Afghanistan , in 2013 - Germany, in 2014 - Denmark, in 2017 - Colombia.

In addition to tournaments of national teams, ball hockey also hosts international tournaments among club teams. The most prestigious of them is the annual World Cup hockey , held annually in Sweden . The European Cup is also important. A number of commercial tournaments are also being held, the most famous of which is the Champions Cup.

• Ball Hockey Rules
• World Bandy History
• Floorball
• Rootball
• International Hockey Federation

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