Participation

The EHF Development strategy is built around the philosophy of hockey being as accessible as possible to everyone.

This means the game can be played recreationally within any format.

As development progresses these are the formats of the game that the EHF will help develop from grassroots through to our competitions for clubs and nations.

OLYMPIC HOCKEY: 11 a-side

OVERVIEW

The original and biggest format of hockey and the recognised Olympic Games version. Hockey is an internationally popular sport with millions of participants and fans across the world. Enjoy hockey, master a wide variety of fun skills. One of these skills is striking the ball with power and great accuracy. Hockey has the fastest swing speed out of any sport, even golf or baseball, at 103 mph. Club Hockey in Europe is structured around this format and has the biggest following and league structure than any continent in the world. The ethos in Europe is opponents play hard on the field of play and celebrate with each other as everyone is part of the hockey family.

INDOOR HOCKEY: 6 a-side

OVERVIEW

With full throttle hockey, this is where you’ll find non-stop action at every game. The pitch is smaller than the outdoor pitch. An indoor pitch is similar to a handball or futsal pitch, divided by a center line. The shooting circle is a semicircle measured out 9m from each goal post. Side-boards mark the sidelines, helping to keep the ball on the pitch and allowing players to play against it. The pitch is made of wood or synthetic material. The board surface facing the playing surface is angled slightly to encourage ball to bounce down not up.

HOCKEY 5’S: 5 a-side

OVERVIEW

Players and coaches have embraced this exciting format of hockey, looking to attack and score whenever possible. Hockey has always been known for its fast pace and skill. The sport has seen constant innovation to keep up with the dynamic environment. One such innovation has been the introduction of Hockey5s. The youngest format of the game is accessible in any space. Keep expecting the teams to spring more surprises and showcase their skills. At the top level rebounds are introduced acting as an additional player. Oh, and did we mention you can shoot from the halfway line!

ID HOCKEY: 6 a-side

OVERVIEW

We support the member federations increase this across several ParaHockey formats. While the emphasis is fun, participation and development, there is lot of hockey to be played and titles to be decided every two years at the EuroHockey ID Championships. This format is for ID (Intellectual Disability) Hockey. The FIH and EHF work closely with Special Olympics, Virtus and IPC on grassroots to elite pathways for ID Hockey and the classification systems.

If you need any further explanation or details, please click here to contact the EHF via our contact page.