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Spain and Switzerland. The development
of the FIH owes a lot to the work of
Rene George Frank, a Belgium, in the
years after the Second World War until
1970’s.
The FIH continued to grow and by 1964,
there were already 50 countries
affiliated to the FIH, as well as three
continental associations – Africa, Pan
America and Asia – and in 1974, there
were 71 members. Today, the
International Hockey Federation consists
of 5 continental associations – Europe
and Oceania have since joined – and 112
member associations.
Today, the work of the International
Hockey Federation is accomplished
through the efforts of the FIH
President, Secretary General, two
Vice-Presidents and Treasurer, working
together with an Executive Board, a
number of instrumental Committees, and
the professional staff in its Lausanne
headquarters’.
Pakistan vs. Germany 1972 Munich Olympics
In many ways, the FIH serves as the ‘guardian’ of the sport.
It works in co-operation with both the
national and continental organizations
to ensure consistency and unity in
hockey around the world. The FIH not
only regulates the sport, but also is
responsible for its development and
promotion to guarantee a secure future
for hockey sport.
Women’s hockey developed separately from
men’s hockey. Women do not seem to have
played hockey widely before the modern
era. Women hockey was first played at
British universities and schools, and
the first club, Molesey Ladies Hockey
Club, was founded in 1887. The first
national association was the Irish
Ladies Hockey |
Union in 1887 and though rebuffed by the men’s hockey
associations, women’s hockey grew
rapidly around the world. This led to
the formation of the International
Federation of Women’s Hockey
Associations (IFWHA) in 1927, though
this did not include initially many
continental European countries were
women played as sections of men’s
associations and were affiliated to the
FIH. The IFWHA held conferences every
three years, and the tournaments
associated with these were primary IFWHA
competitions. These tournaments were
non-competitive until 1975.
USA Women 1925
By the early 1970’s there were 22 associations with women’s
sections in the FIH and 36 associations
in the IFWHA. Discussions were started
about a common rule book. The FIH
introduced competitive women tournaments
in 1974, forcing the acceptance of the
principle of competitive hockey by the
IFWHA in 1973. It took until 1982 for
the two bodies to merge, but this
allowed the introduction of women’s
hockey to the Olympic Games from 1980.
Argentina vs. NAHA 2004 Pan American Cup
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