Hockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a ball, or a hard round disc called a puck, into the opponent's net or goal, using a stick. The dominant version of hockey in a particular region tends to be known simply as hockey, other forms being more fully qualified.

Field hockey is played with a ball on gravel, grass or sand-based or water-based artificial turfs.

The game is popular among both genders in many countries of the world, particularly in India, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Asia, though in the United States and Canada it is predominately played by women. Its governing body is the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Modern field hockey sticks are constructed of a composite of wood, glass fibre and/or carbon fibre and have a curved hook at the playing end, a flat surface on the playing side and curved surface on the rear side.

There are 4,000 year old drawings in Egypt of a game resembling field hockey being played. While modern field hockey appeared in the mid-18th century in England, primarily in schools, it was not until the first half of the 19th century that it became firmly established, the first club being created in 1849 at Blackheath in south-east London.