Hockey in Greece
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![](#/media/File:Relief_pentelic_marble_"Ball_Players"_510-500_BC,_NAMA_3476_102587.jpg)
Field hockey and ice hockey are not popular sports in Greece. Until recently, an organized championship did not exist and only amateur tournaments were organised by few fans of the sport. The establishment of hockey federations is relatively recent as well as the organisation of Panhellenic championships. However, a form of this game was played by ancient Greeks.[1] A marble relief of 510 B.C., on display at the Archaeological Museum of Athens, depicts athletes that play a sport like hockey. In addition, the 2nd-century BC writer Plutarch (or Pseudo-Plutarch) refers to a sport like hockey with the name Keretizein (Κερητίζειν).[2]
The first appearance of field hockey in Greece dates to the interwar period. It was introduced in the country by Panathinaikos A.O. in the early 20th century, but a national championship was organized much later. At the first post-World War II years the sport was played only in Anavryta Schools in Kifissia. Many years later, in 1994, the Greek Field Hockey Federation was founded and just after the Greek championship was held with the presence of six clubs. The first champion was the club AOH Hymettus from Anavryta Schools. The next years the hockey clubs increase. In 1998, the indoor hockey championship started.[3] Because of the 2004 Athens Olympics a field hockey venue was created in Hellinikon Olympic Complex, the Hellinikon Olympic Hockey Centre. After the Olympics interest about the sport remained low, so in 2014 the Greek Field Hockey Federation was abolished, a move associated with a scandal related with the conducting of fake youth championships so that the athletes would gain bonus for the university entry exams.[4][5]