Thursday, July 16, 2009

Field Hockey

Once again we all needed to try out a sport during the winter. My friends Anneke and Olivia both play field hockey so Maddie and I decided to try it out! In field hockey you need Shin Guards so Anneke's mom Jill Mayhead gave Maddie and I each a pair to use! You also need long back socks and a mouth guard so that if you get hit the mouth your teeth won’t fall out! Damon had an extra pair of socks that he did not need so he gave those to Maddie and Mom went out and bought me some new socks.

If you want an idea of field hockey it's a mix between ice hockey and soccer! In field hockey you use a little round ball and of course you use sticks. The difference between Field Hockey sticks and Ice Hockey sticks is that in Field Hockey you can't use both sides of your stick so it takes a bit to get use to that fact. The main thing in Field Hockey is to get the ball away from the other team and score.

I like field hockey a lot more than Net Ball because you’re a bit more active in hockey. If you’re a forward, like I normally play, there is a whole strip of the field going through the middle that you’re aloud to go on. When you play defense (that’s what Maddie normally plays) in hockey you don’t have as much of the field to cover but you have a big job of making sure the other team doesn’t score a goal and if they do they get the blame!

Every 3 weeks the Wairoa team goes to Gisborne and plays a game facing another team from somewhere around Hawke's Bay. The last 3 times we have been there we have won 1-0 and I hope it carries on like that at least until we leave!

- Elena