How does field hockey start?

Answer 1

Field Hockey starts each half and restarts after any goal with a centrepass. This is a free hit from the centre of the field, with all players except the person taking it inside their own half until the ball is played.

Answer 2

Before a field hockey game starts, the captain(s) from each team meet with the umpire for a coin toss to determine who has possesion at the start of the match. It depends on where you are playing as to who calls the toss; usually it is the visiting team.

Whoever wins the toss gets to decide if they want either a) possesion of the ball at the start of the match OR b) the pick of which side they are starting on. Usually this is a prearranged strategy.

The losing captain gets the second choice: if the winning captain wants possesion, the losing captain gets to pick their side, and vice versa.

About one minute before the start of the game, each team sends out 10 field players and a goalkeeper. The positions on the field are: forwards (try to score goals on the other team), midfielders or "middis" (help the defenders get the ball to the forwards), defenders (get the ball to the midfielders), and goalkeepers (keep the other team from scoring).

The forwards line up on the fifty-yard-line (the halfway point of the field.) The referee will blow his/her whistle, and the team with possesion of the ball is free to hit the ball. Until the ball is touched, no player may move onto the other team's half of the field. This is why getting possesion of the ball at the start of a game or half is often called getting "passback".