Hockey is one of the favorite sports. Someone likes to watch professional teams fight, others take clubs and skates and go to play at the nearest ice rink.
What is a hockey box?
This is a specially equipped venue for games and hockey training. Of course, everyone saw her at least once on TV, someone installed this building in the yard. But not everyone thought about what the site should consist of in order to be safe for players and spectators, and what size hockey boxes are.
Be sure to cover the field with ice. The layer should be as even as possible, without potholes, cracks, bumps, holes. There should also be rigid and strong sides (made of wood, plywood, fiberglass), preferably the presence of additional fences on top of them. For the convenience of players, it is recommended to equip the yard ice rink with a re-shoe bench. Locker rooms are provided in the ice palaces.
Standard size hockey boxes. IIFH
In fact, not everything is so simple with sites, since there are 2 organizations with slightly different requirements. IIFH holds matches in arenas corresponding to the following parameters:
- length: from 56 to 61 m;
- width: from 26 to 30 m;
- curvature radius: from 7 to 8.5 m;
- sides of the hockey box, height: from 1.17 to 1.22 m.
In addition to the sides, additional protective shields are installed on the ice arenas, the height of which in the goal area should be at least 1.6 m, and in all others - from 0.8 m. However, IIHF competitions can only be held on sites 60-61 m long and 29-30 m wide. If the box has other sizes, it can be used to train athletes, hold informal matches, etc. It is believed that a wide area makes it possible to play a combination game, due to the increase in space, the intensity of the power struggle is reduced.
NHL has other requirements
The size of hockey boxes according to the NHL rules has slightly different parameters:
- length: 60.96 m;
- width: 25.9 m;
- curvature radius: 8.53 m;
- board height: from 1.02 to 1.22, most often used 1.07 m.
Ice arenas are also equipped with protective shields.
It is precisely because of the narrower area in NHL matches that force methods are more common, higher game speed, tougher and more frequent attacks on goal. Also, the low side is not able to keep athletes on the site, so they often fly over it.
And what's in the yard?
Of course, skating rinks near the house will not exactly comply with such strict rules. It is not always possible to install such a dimensional structure in the yard. Some street arenas are 60x30 or 56x26 m in size, but most often these are territories near schools, stadiums, sports complexes and other institutions with a smaller area. In some spacious courtyards you can find a hockey field 56x26 m in size , but this is the exception rather than the rule.
The most common options in the local area are small-sized platforms measuring 40x20 or 30x15 m. In both cases there will be a reduced radius of curvature of 5 m. Also, non-professional skating rinks are equipped with higher sides: from 120 to 125 cm. And additional protective barriers are installed above them, if not from fiberglass, then from a mesh-netting. They can reach a height of 2.8-3 m. This increases the level of security for both players and spectators: there is no risk that the puck will fly overboard and fall into a car or a passerby, and the athletes themselves will not be able to fly out of the court.
Regardless of the size of the hockey boxes, the dimensions of the goal remain unchanged. Their parameters are always the same: height - 1.22 m, width - 1.83 m, of course, if this is not a home-made goalkeeper's gate - in this case no one guarantees compliance with the standard size.
Basic markup rules
As in any other game, the field in hockey is divided into zones. A total of 5 lines are applied to the ice. One of them is the central one, it divides the site into 2 equal parts. The other two are the goal lines, another two divide the hockey field into 3 zones of the same size: defense, neutral and attack. Also in the arena mark the place for the throw-in of the puck, the referees and the goalkeeper. Of course, for yard games, a simpler marking of the hockey box is used. With dimensions, it’s a bit more complicated, because the dimensions of the rollers are non-standard. But if you adhere to the basic laws, it is quite possible to do everything right. The goal line is drawn 4 m from the edge of the site with standard sizes (56-60 m). If the field is smaller, then this distance can be reduced. The remainder is divided into 3 equal zones. A central line is also drawn, and a place for throwing in the puck is marked on it. Such a simplified version is quite suitable for a yard game. The thickness of the lines is 5 cm.
Novice athletes can play without marking at all, without thinking about the many complexities and nuances of professional hockey, because the most important thing in any recreation and entertainment is to have fun.