You may remember it as something girls played on the unkempt grass fields of your high school. But field hockey at the Olympic level is quite a different sport.  World-class field hockey looks like a high-speed blend of soccer, ice hockey and billiards. With 10 field players and a goalkeeper, the positioning and strategy resemble soccer. But players pass and shoot with what looks like a snub-nosed ice hockey stick, striking a ball about the size of a cue ball, across composite turf that runs as true and fast as a pool tableâs felt.  In the United States, field hockey is almost exclusively a womenâs sport, having been brought here in 1901 by the legendary Englishwoman Constance M.K. Applebee. Worldwide, though, both men and women play. Menâs hockey became an Olympic sport in 1908, in London — and is celebrating its centennial this year — while the womenâs version didnât join the Olympic roster until 1980, in Moscow. (The first womenâs gold medal was won by Zimbabwe.)  From 1928 until 1968, either India or Pakistan won every menâs gold medal (and the other usually took the silver). But several European nations plus New Zealand and Australia strengthened their programs, and since 1972, medals have been more widely distributed. Among the women, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Argentina have dominated.  Three countries have gold medals to their credit from both their menâs and womenâs teams: Australia, Germany and the Netherlands.  Australia is the defending menâs champion from the 2004 Games in Athens; Germany is the defending womenâs champion.  As with soccer, field hockey has a World Cup and other international competitions in non-Olympic years, and the Swiss-based FIH (Federation International de Hockey) publishes world rankings based on performances at those tournaments. Going into these Olympic Games, the top-ranked menâs team is Australia and the top-ranked womenâs team is the Netherlands.  The United States men earned a bronze medal at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles. The American womenâs best finish was the bronze medal at Los Angeles in 1984. They failed to qualify for the past two Olympic Games. For more about the U.S. women: http://www.usfieldhockey.com/history/index.htm.  On Sunday, the United States womenâs team, playing in Pool B (there are two 6-team pools), must play Argentina, the No. 2 seed, as well as the No. 2-ranked team in the world. The U.S. is not ranked in the top 10; the Americans and South Africa got into the tournament through qualifying tournaments.
The New York Times Rings blog for the upcoming Olympic Games in China covers sports, results, news and culture.