Have you ever heard of a game called bandy? Well, bandy is like hockey but with a ball instead of a puck. Bandy is a combination of ice hockey, field hockey, and soccer. Although they are kind of the same sport, they are also very different. For instance, the fields and the rinks are all different sizes and different shapes. There are so many more differences between the three sports.
Bandy was created and established in England during the late nineteenth century before World War I. It was introduced to Sweden in 1894 and quickly spread through the Scandinavian and Eastern European countries. Bandy became one of Europe’s top sports which was governed by the FIB (Federation of International Bandy). The rules of the game were published in 1891 and were then introduced to other countries.
There are 18 official rules in bandy while there are 10 in ice hockey. In bandy, there are a maximum of 11 players on each team (not counting the substitutes). In bandy, the goalkeeper isn’t allowed to have a stick, while in hockey they are. Bandy is a game that is played in two halves of 45 minutes per half. There is normally a 15 min break between halves.There is something called a free stroke which is a reward to a team if the opposing team does not obey one of the rules.
Bandy is similar to field hockey because of the fact that it’s played with a small ball, and the stick is made of wood. The name bandy came from the stick which used to be called a “bandy.” It’s similar to soccer because the ice rink has to be about the same size as a soccer field which is 50-100 yards in width and 100-130 yards in length which is way bigger than an ice hockey rink which is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide.
Bandy started as a sport for men and later became a sport for everyone. It’s a pretty popular sport. Why haven’t we heard much about it in the US? You may think, if it’s popular, then why isn’t it in the Olympics? Well that’s a very good question. It is not in the Olympics because bandy was part of a famous rivalry between Sweden and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Bandy is popular inScandinavian countries, the Baltic countries, and Mongolia but not in the United States. For all you hockey fans, bandy can be played in the United States but only in Minnesota and as long as it has a certain sized rink. Maybe if those big rinks are built, then one day, bandy can have a US team and maybe even an Olympics team!
