<P> Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family . The earliest origins of the game date back to the Middle Ages in England , Scotland , France and the Netherlands . The game can be played on a grass field , turf field or synthetic field as well as an indoor board surface . Each team plays with eleven players , including the goalie . Players use sticks made out of wood , carbon fibre , fibre glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities ( with the higher carbon fibre stick being more expensive and less likely to break ) to hit a round , hard , plastic ball . The length of the stick depends on the player 's individual height . Only one end of the stick is allowed to be used . Goalies often have a different kind of stick , however they can also use an ordinary field hockey stick . The specific goal - keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick , this is to give them more surface area to save the ball . The uniform consists of shin guards , shoes , shorts , a mouth guard and a jersey . Today , the game is played globally , with particular popularity throughout Western Europe , the Indian subcontinent , Southern Africa , Australia , New Zealand , Argentina , and parts of the United States ( primarily New England and the Mid-Atlantic states ) . The term `` field hockey '' is used primarily in Canada and the United States where ice hockey is more popular . In Sweden the term `` landhockey '' is used and to some degree also in Norway . It is a section of Norway 's Bandy Association . Until recently they called it `` hockey '' , when it was changed to `` landhockey '' . </P>
<P> Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family . The earliest origins of the game date back to the Middle Ages in England , Scotland , France and the Netherlands . The game can be played on a grass field , turf field or synthetic field as well as an indoor board surface . Each team plays with eleven players , including the goalie . Players use sticks made out of wood , carbon fibre , fibre glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities ( with the higher carbon fibre stick being more expensive and less likely to break ) to hit a round , hard , plastic ball . The length of the stick depends on the player 's individual height . Only one end of the stick is allowed to be used . Goalies often have a different kind of stick , however they can also use an ordinary field hockey stick . The specific goal - keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick , this is to give them more surface area to save the ball . The uniform consists of shin guards , shoes , shorts , a mouth guard and a jersey . Today , the game is played globally , with particular popularity throughout Western Europe , the Indian subcontinent , Southern Africa , Australia , New Zealand , Argentina , and parts of the United States ( primarily New England and the Mid-Atlantic states ) . The term `` field hockey '' is used primarily in Canada and the United States where ice hockey is more popular . In Sweden the term `` landhockey '' is used and to some degree also in Norway . It is a section of Norway 's Bandy Association . Until recently they called it `` hockey '' , when it was changed to `` landhockey '' . </P>
how many field hockey players on a team
how many field hockey players on a team
eleven
eleven