Summer Hockey Dates

As you may be aware on this very blog, I usually dedicate years in which the Summer Olympics are held to the field hockey competition at the Olympics. I happen to like the sport and the nuances that it make it unique, and I like covering the athletes that represent their teams on the national stage from countries that may not make it on to HBIC very often for ice hockey. That being said, the International Olympic Committee and Japan had already agreed to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games due to the current coronavirus pandemic, but they did come out today with new dates on which the Summer Olympiad will take place.

In the announcement by the IOC and Japan today, the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games will now run from July 23, 2021 with the Closing Ceremony falling on August 8, 2021. The 2020 Paralympic Games will also shift to next year with the new 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games running from August 23 to September 4. These changes will ensure the health and safety of everyone involved with the Tokyo Olympics, and should enable all athletes to resume training in time for the Olympics in 2021.

If you may recall, the Canadian men's field hockey team pulled off a miraculous comeback against the Irish in October 2019 to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, so there will definitely be a Canadian element to the field hockey stories I cover next year. While the women's team fell short in their efforts to qualify for Tokyo, there will be equal coverage given to both tournaments despite the Canadian gals not participating. That's how this blog works, so don't even bother questioning it.

If you're looking for more details about this great sport, check out the piece I did on how the game is played. There's also a an article on how teams qualify for the Olympics, some rule changes and explanations before the 2012 London Olympiad, and the teams who have had success in the Olympiads from 1980 until 2012. Heck, I even live-blogged a match between Argentina and Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

We now have one additional year to get up to speed on who will be competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games, so expect an overview of the teams who qualified for both the men's and women's tournaments next summer as opposed to this summer. I'm not sure if teams will make roster changes before then, but you can be assured I'll have everything covered here on HBIC next year for the 2021 Toyko Summer Olympic field hockey events!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!