DCHP-3

ball hockey

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
n. — Sports

hockey played with a ball on a road or in a gym (see Image 1).

Type: 1. Origin — Also known as street hockey, road hockey or by the French term dek hockey. Ball hockey is used mainly in Canada (see Chart 1). It appears to have been an adaptation of (ice) hockey played outside by children before it became an organized league sport for all ages. The first league was formed in New Westminster, BC, in 1958 (see the Canadian Encyclopedia reference).
See also Gage-3, s.v. "ball hockey", ITP Nelson, s.v. "ball hockey", and OED-3, s.v. "ball hockey", which is marked as "N. Amer. (chiefly Canad.)".

Quotations

1963
But heck, I used that trick all the time when we played ball hockey on the road up at Noranda.
1979
Ball hockey has grown like a weed, says OBHA president John Forrest. It all started because a lot of older guys used to play road hockey and still liked the game after they didn\'t play it anymore. You get too old to play street hockey and feel a bit foolish running around on the road. So guys started renting out arenas, minus the ice, to clown around on, and it grew from there.
1985
What used to be played only by youngsters on sidestreets and in schoolyards is fast becoming one of the most popular adult sports on the West Island -- ball hockey. About 500 players from 32 Montreal-area teams clashed in the Pierrefonds ball-hockey tournament last weekend.
1999
Atkinson is a very consistent player says Atom League Commissioner Amber Webster. When the 11-year-old Notre Dame student isn't playing ball hockey he can be found at one of the local arenas.
2007
Once again ball hockey and skateboarding are proving to be strong draws at the Ark as very few spots remain open in either sport at the popular Christian Youth Centre.
2014
When he can't be at the rink, he gives his younger siblings lessons on stopping properly by sliding around in their sock feet at home. His scoring skills were honed at ball hockey games, and his skating perfected on natural ice, just like Wayne Gretzky.

References

Images

Image 1: <i>Ball hockey</i>, the "Raptors". Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: CanuckSniper 12

Image 1: Ball hockey, the "Raptors". Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: CanuckSniper 12

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 10 Sep. 2013

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 10 Sep. 2013