What do we know about this sport in Germany? It’s no secret that he won the hearts of many players and fans around the world. Germany is no exception. It was in Berlin that people first began to learn the basics of this game. The first fanatics began to organize their teams and sports clubs with the same like-minded people. Thus, in February in 1887, the first hockey match of the local sports club with the local student team took place. Let’s delve into the history of this game around the world.
What is hockey? Simply put, it’s like football, only the game is played with sticks on a puck or ball. In fact, there are many varieties of it. Let’s talk about the origin story first. It appeared in the second half of the 18th century in Canada.
There are many theories about the origin of the game in this country. According to some reports, the basis of the sport was brought by the colonizers of North America, the French. There are also many inconsistencies in this version.
The French of that time had amateur competitions – foaming the ball with maces on the grass. Of course, everyone saw this cane curved from above in fairy tales or in drawings. It was for this purpose that the shepherds drove the ball with maces.
According to one version, it is the French Shepherds who are the authors of hockey. According to other sources, this sport dates back to the times of ancient Egypt, where the frescoes depict people with maces playing ball. It seems funny, but what if it’s true? However, Canada is considered the pioneer of this game.
The first article about this game in the newspaper
Since in Canada it was originally regarded as entertainment for the working class, who after work put on skates and divided into teams and drove the puck on the ice with clubs. These are the guys who laid the foundations of this sport. He began to quickly gain momentum as a yard game, the first official hockey teams were created at universities. Soon, all sporting events could not do without him.
The first officially registered match, which received documentary publicity in the newspaper, took place in 1875 between student crews. There were no rules as such, and thanks to the fans, the sport improved, the rules, team lineups, equipment, and so on improved. In a word, a sport with pucks and sticks.
10 years after the official first match, an amateur game league was founded, which gave impetus to the massive hockey fever in Canada, and later around the world. There are many crews, even more fans.
Germany’s first international match
By 1910, Germany had its own official hockey team. The first game of these guys took place at the European Championship in Switzerland with the team of the same country. It was then that the German national team won with a huge margin of 9:1.
After this significant event, hockey began to gain momentum in Germany. More and more young and promising guys were fond of this sport, thanks to whom this sport received wide publicity among the Germans.
The capital clubs of Germany dominated the rivals in this sport until the beginning of the Second World War. In 1911, the German national team repeated its success at the European Championship. The last successful game of the German crew took place at the Winter Olympics in 1932. The Germans took 3rd place, receiving a bronze medal.
The development of German ice hockey in the 2000s
It’s no secret that in the history of Germany there was a split into two parts: the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. Subsequently, there were two hockey rews in Germany. Only the combined federal republic of Germany showed itself with more successful results. And only in 1991 the crews were united under the leadership of a single federation of Germany.
But this event did not bring successful results in this sport. Only 12 years after that, the highest achievement was the 6th place in the 2003 Ice Hockey World Championship, where Germany lost to Canada in the quarter-finals.
At the 2009 World Championships in Switzerland, the German team took 15th place, at the Winter Olympics the crew got 11th place. After the Olympics, the German Hockey Federation began to carry out massive reforms in this sport so that in the future the national team would show decent results.
Schwenninger Wild Wings
One of the oldest German hockey team is the Schwenninger Wild Wings. It originates almost at the same time as the foundation of this sport in Germany, from the city of Villingen-Schwenningen. Guys are represented by white and blue colors. The mascot that protects the team is a duck, which is why the name of the team is from the German “wild wings”.
Watch or play hockey?
Let’s return to the victories of the German national team. From the above, we can say that the Germans were real champions in this game only in the 30s. Where they adequately beat their rivals without much difficulty. In the post-war period, the team did not have much success. As they say: “the main thing is not victory, but participation.”
It is not clear why playing hockey does not bring victory to the German crew. It turns out that everything is much simpler, interest in sports has not disappeared, and most Germans like to watch hockey more than play it, because this sport is not suitable for everyone. The sports clubs themselves have lost the spirit of hockey. They were too carried away by the search for experienced athletes in other countries, not paying due attention to their own young and promising players.
But true fans are sure that the potential of players is revealed only by 10 percent. It is not clear why there is no kick in the ass to develop potential. The country has everything to show the best results in the world.