2016 Rio: Hockey - Men and Women

The Olympic Hockey tournaments for both the Men and the Women start today.

FIH Men's Olympic Hockey Site:
http://www.fih.ch/events/olympic-games/2016-olympic-games-men/

FIH Women's Olympic Hockey Site:
http://www.fih.ch/events/olympic-games/2016-olympic-games-women/

IOC Olympics Hockey Site:
https://www.rio2016.com/en/hockey

2016 Olympics Hockey Match Schedule (Men and Women):
http://hockeynz.co.nz/Portals/30/Images/2016 Documents/Approved Rio 2016 Combined Match Schedule.pdf

I have to warn you, the FIH and IOC sites are both awful for finding out info about the Olympics. For goodness sake, I couldn't even find a proper schedule that could be printed off. But, thankfully the New Zealand Federation's website had one. And it is nicely colour coded and all!


Don't worry, this is not going to be a long analysis of the prospects of each team like I did with the Women's Football. For the simple reason that I don't actually know anything about any of the teams.

I haven't followed hockey in the past. The main reason for this is that hockey was the main sport played at my school, and anybody who was in the hockey teams could get away with murder. Like, there were a few of the players who would have been suspended for the things they got up to if they were anybody else. But they didn't, because they were in the hockey team. And this really put me off the sport.

But, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. And I am immensely proud to say that 2 guys that went to my school, and the husband of a girl that went to my school, are playing in Rio.

Do you remember a few years ago when we were discussing switching nationalities? And I wrote the following:

CaroLiza_fan said:

In terms of sport, the school I went to is best known for field hockey. Indeed, quite a few guys I went to school with have played hockey for Ireland (Northern Ireland doesn't have it's own hockey team; instead there is an all-Ireland team, which is dominated by Northern players).

2 of these guys who I went to school with (David Ames and Ian Sloan) announced a few months ago that they are to switch to playing for Great Britain (Story on BBC website). Personally, I think they're mad - Great Britain has a larger population than Ireland; so there is a bigger pool of players to select from in GBR than there is in IRE; therefore you are less likely to get selected for GBR than you are for IRE.

Both players are now on a 3-year embargo from international hockey. Which, given how good they are, is a real shame. Also, taking 3 years out from a sport is always risky, as things move on and the people in charge may forget about you. (Mind you, taking time out didn't do Kim Yu-Na any harm. Although, for her, it was only 18 months as opposed to 36 months).

However, I do think David and Ian timed the decision to switch countries very cleverly, as they are both at University now, and the embargo will allow them to concentrate on their studies without the added distraction of an international hockey career.

Click to expand...

Well, although I thought at the time that David and Ian were mad, their gamble has paid off. They were both selected for the Great Britain hockey team that was sent to the Olympics.

Also, another player from Northern Ireland who took the same gamble back in 2008, Mark Gleghorne, has also been selected for the Great Britain team. He is from Antrim, but he married to a girl who not only went to my school, but was actually in my class! (She played hockey as well).

But, as it turned out, these guys didn't need to switch country to achieve their Olympic dream. Because Ireland qualified as well!!!

Consequently, Mark Gleghorne's younger brother, Paul, is also going to play in Rio! Here is a story about them and the fact that they will be playing for different teams:

http://www.belfastlive.co.uk/sport/other-sport/meet-antrim-hockey-brothers-who-11698162

At the time I heard about all these local connections, I had never actually watched a hockey match in full. But, just by chance, I caught a Women's tournament being shown on BT Sport a few weeks ago (the Champions Trophy, being held in London).

Boy's but the game is different from what I remember it! :shocked:

Whatever happened to the ball having to be kept below head height?! Those things are hard and can do damage!

I love the way they now have video umpires. Although I think that the video umpires should be used to check everything. I don't like the way that the video umpires are only brought in if a team challenges a decision, and if the video umpire's decision goes against the team then the team lose the right to challenge.

And I love the way that when the referee blows the whistle to stop play while they see to something, the clock is stopped as well. And the clock isn't re-started until play re-starts. That is a simple but genius idea. No need to worry about calculating stoppage time or anything. You know exactly where you are in the match.

I also like that they have introduced a short break in the middle of each half to let the players get a drink. This is something that I have seen happen "unofficially" in a lot of U-17 football matches in Women's Football, and I have often thought that it would be a good idea to have an "official" break.

Anyway, it all starts in the Olympic Hockey Centre in Rio at 10:00 LOC (13:00 GMT / 14:00 BST) with Argentina Men v Netherlands Men.

Because of the overlaps with the Women's Football, I think I'll just try to catch the matches involving the Great Britain Men.

But, even though I'll not be watching it all, I thought I should start a thread anyway.

ALL THE BEST TO THE MEN'S HOCKEY TEAMS FROM BOTH GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, BUT PARTICULARLY TO DAVID AMES, IAN SLOAN AND MARK GLEGHORNE

CaroLiza_fan

Very disappointed with the BBC coverage. :disapp:

For some unfathomable reason, they didn't show the Great Britain match!!!

When I looked through the BBC Olympic channels on the EPG, the only hockey on at 16:30 BST were the matches on Pitch 2 that overlapped with it - India v Ireland and Australia v New Zealand.

BBC1 was showing cycling all afternoon, while BBC4 was showing gymnastics until 16:00 BST, with swimming after that.

You'd have thought when a British national team was playing that the British state broadcaster would show it.

I just don't know.

But, maybe it's a good thing that the BBC didn't show it - Great Britain got thrashed 4-1 by Belgium!

Jérôme Truyens scored for Belgium only 5 minutes into the match, but English player Nicholas Catlin got an equaliser just before half time. But, the Belgians pulled away in the second half.

David Ames was in the starting line-up, while Ian Sloan and Mark Gleghorn came on during the match. So all three of the Northern Irish players got to play!!!

As for Ireland, the Indians had a 2-0 lead at half time, but the Irishmen came back to only be beated 3-2. Both goals were scored by Southern players (Kirk Shimmins and Conor Harte).

Paul Gleghorne was in the starting line-up. So, both brothers were in action on the first day.

Both teams are lying 5[SUP]th[/SUP] in their respective groups at the end of Day 1. The Top 4 in each group goes through to the Quarter Finals.

Hopefully both teams will do better today.

And the good news is that the BBC will be showing both matches!!!

Great Britain v New Zealand is on BBC Olympics 6 at 20:50 BST, while the Netherlands v Ireland is on BBC Olympics 2 at 21:50 BST.

All the best, guys!

(Sorry that this thread seems to be becoming focussed on the players that are from or have connections to my hometown. But, having locals competing in the Olympics is big news here, and we are VERY proud of them!)

CaroLiza_fan