Fast. Exciting. Lots of goals! These will be the words that come to mind when sports fans attend the newly created International Super Series.
Unlike any other hockey tournament in the world, Hockey Australia has created an innovative hockey tournament with all new and exciting rules to make the game ever faster, more exciting and broadcast friendly.
To be held in conjunction with the 2011 CHOGM event in Perth, the tournament will be played from October 20-23 at the Perth Hockey Stadium.
The tournament sees Australia's international hockey teams, the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos, take on some of the world's best teams including the likes of India, Pakistan, Malaysia and New Zealand.
Fans can expect to experience hockey like they have never seen it before with a new set of rules and format created by Hockey Australia and national coaches Ric Charlesworth and Adam Commens set to demonstrate the best aspects of hockey while also creating much interest around the tournament.
- New rules for the International Super Series include:
ÔÇó Each match consists of two 15 minute halves (instead of 2x35 minute halves) with only 5 minutes break for halftime
ÔÇó All teams have a maximum of 9 players on the field (instead of 11 players) with 2 players having to stay in the attacking half at all times
ÔÇó The penalty situations have been simplified to make it more broadcast friendly and easier to understand for new viewers:
- Penalty corner 4 attackers vs 2 defenders + goalkeeper
- Penalty stroke 1-on-1 ÔÇ£Face-offÔÇØ between a player and the goalkeeper with the player starting at the 23 metre line and having a 1-on-1 challenge against the waiting goalkeeper
ÔÇó To end a drawn match, use of a ÔÇ£sudden deathÔÇØ system with 1-on-1 face-offs until one team fails to score
ÔÇó More tolerance of foot & stick contact to reduce unnecessary stoppages in play. If the ball hits the foot outside the circle and it doesn't influence play - ie non intentional use of foot it will be called play on. Normal foot rules apply as normal in the circle
ÔÇó Players and coaches interaction to give fans an inner sanctum view of how the best teams in the world operate
Kookaburras coach Ric Charlesworth said the new rules were sure to create an exciting spectacle for traditional hockey fans while also engaging new fans who like to see fast paced sports at their best.
ÔÇ£Hockey is already obviously a very fast paced sport with lots of excitement and intensity. These rules will increase the pace of the game and result in a more attacking style, which is obviously going to make for great viewing and undoubtedly help us gain a few new fans along the way,ÔÇØ said Charlesworth.
Hockeyroos captain Madonna Blyth said the players were looking forward to trialling the new format.
ÔÇ£It's great to see Hockey Australia being proactive in trying to engage new fans and show them how great our sport is. The new rules will make the game much faster and I'm really looking forward playing in what will be an exciting tournament,ÔÇØ said Blyth.
With support from the Western Australian government and the Australian Federal government, Hockey Australia Chief Executive Mark Anderson said aligning the newly structured and exciting match format with the CHOGM event presented the sport with an exciting opportunity.
ÔÇ£Hockey Australia is delighted with the fact that hockey has been selected as one of the sports to be involved with CHOGM in October. CHOGM is such an important and prestigious event on the world scale and our association with the event provides us with a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate just how great a sport hockey is. We have two highly regarded international teams in the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos and we know that our participation rates across the country for hockey are very high. We wanted to do something innovative to demonstrate the best aspects of our sport - the excitement, the pace, the goal scoring and we believe this tournament will engage not only hockey fans but also a new audience of people who love sport. We believe we have developed a very strong product that will help hockey's standing in this country and show just how great our sport is,ÔÇØ said Anderson.
Souce: Hockey Australia
