With junior leagues across the province getting set to be underway, a reminder that there are five key amendments to the 2019 International Hockey Federation (FIH) rules. A simplified description of these amendments is found below and the full 2019 rules are available at: http://www.fih.ch/media/13164482/fih-rules-of-hockey-2019-final-website.pdf

Upcoming Field Hockey BC tournaments will seek to fully adopt the new rules, dependent on field allotments and the appointment of technical officials to events. FHBC will release tournament regulations in advance of each event.

FHBC strongly recommends that each league in BC adopt the new rules to allow for clarity amongst the hockey community that includes athletes, coaches, officials, and spectators.

2019 Amendments

• Timing – Four Quarters and Penalty Corners
  1. Games are now four quarters
     1. Short breaks between quarters one and two, and quarters three and four (2 minutes) allows more coaching opportunities.
     2. A regular half time break still takes place
• Umpires should time and monitor these breaks to ensure that games run on time

1. Time is stopped when a penalty corner is awarded
   1. If available, technical officials can manage timing – stopping and restarting
      1. If umpires are managing time, umpires should stop time when a penalty corner is called
      2. When players are ready to take the penalty corner, the umpire managing the penalty corner should blow time in and start time again
      3. Umpires should encourage players to avoid delay when setting up for penalty corners and use common sense when managing the set up of the corner

N.B. FIH has introduced a tournament regulation that includes the use of a 40-second clock to manage the time between the awarding and the taking of a penalty corner – this is a tournament regulation and may be used at specific events, rather than an amendment to the rules

• Removal of Goalkeeping privileges for substitute field player
  1. Teams have now two options:
     1. They either play with a goalkeeper who wears full protective equipment comprising at least headgear, leg guards and kickers and who is also permitted to wear goalkeeping hand protectors and other protective equipment, or
     2. They play with only field players

• Defending free hits within 5 meters of the circle
  1. Players other than the attacker taking the free hit must be at least five meters away, including when they are in their circle
  2. If the attacker however chooses to take a quick the free hit, then defenders who are inside the circle and within five meters from the ball may shadow around the inside of the circle
  3. Defenders, within 5m of the free hit, inside the circle can shadow but may not attempt to play the ball until it has traveled 5m or has been touched by a defender who was 5m away when the free hit was taken

• Free hits awarded inside the defensive circle
  1. Defenders may take a free hit awarded in the circle anywhere inside the circle or up to 15 meters from the back-line in line with the location of the offence, parallel to the side-line

• Completion of a penalty corner
  1. Rules regarding the completion of a penalty corner have been simplified: the option that a penalty corner is completed when the ball travels outside the circle for the second time, no longer exists.
  2. A penalty corner is considered completed when:
     1. A goal is scored
     2. A free hit is awarded to the defending team

• The ball travels more than 5 metres outside the circle

1. The ball is played over the back-line and a penalty corner is not awarded
2. A defender commits an offence which does not result in another penalty corner
3. A penalty stroke is awarded

• A bully is awarded