For fans of the Hockey One League (men's and women's), 2026 season. Covers match length, squads, points, ladder tiebreakers, finals, shoot-outs, field goal conversions, cards, penalty corners and delays.
A match is four quarters of 15 minutes. There is a 2 minute interval after the first and third quarters (teams cannot leave the field) and an 8 minute interval after the second quarter.
Time stops when:
If a quarter ends during a penalty corner, the match is prolonged until the corner is completed (for example when a goal is scored, a free hit goes to the defenders, or the ball travels more than 5 metres from the circle more than once). Technical Officials control the time-keeping and signal the end of each quarter, except when the umpires signal the end of a quarter prolonged for a penalty corner.
In Home and Away Round matches under the July 2026 Competition Regulations:
Note: the Hockey One website's rules page still shows an older scheme (5 points for a win, 2 each for a draw plus 1 for the shoot-out winner). The July 2026 Competition Regulations are the later document.
Men's and women's teams have separate League Tables, and each team plays every other team in its competition once in the Home and Away Rounds. Teams on equal points are separated in this order:
The top four ranked men's teams and the top four ranked women's teams on their League Tables at the end of the Home and Away Rounds qualify for the Finals Series. The qualifying teams gather at a common location chosen by the Executive Manager.
In each of the men's and women's competitions:
The Executive Manager decides the schedule and order of Finals matches, and has the authority to alter the Finals Series model. In the Finals, each team names a Match Squad of up to 17 players (including two goalkeepers) for all Finals matches, and no more than 15 can play as field players. If a team withdraws or is disqualified between the Home and Away Rounds and the Finals, the next qualified team replaces it.
Every Hockey One match must have an outright result, so a match level at full time goes to a shoot-out, starting no later than five minutes after the end of regulation time.
The winner of the shoot-out gets one bonus point.
If the teams have scored an equal number of goals after five shoot-outs each, a second series of five is taken with the same players (the order of attackers can change). The team whose player took the first shoot-out in a series defends the first shoot-out of the next series. If one team is ahead after each team has taken the same number of shoot-outs, that team wins, even if not all five have been taken.
If it is still level after the second series, additional series are taken with the same players, and the team that starts each series alternates.
A player suspended by a yellow or red card during the shoot-out takes no further part, and any shoot-out they were due to take is forfeited (goals already scored still count). A green card cannot be given during a shoot-out competition.
After a field goal, or a penalty stroke awarded in field play, is scored, the attacking team can try for an additional goal through a conversion. It is a one-on-one shoot-out in which the player who scored takes on a defending goalkeeper or player, at the same end where the goal was scored.
While a player is suspended, their team plays with one fewer player. The suspension starts when the player is seated in the designated area, and a Technical Official controls the timing and tells the player when they can resume. If a player gets a further suspension while seated, the time is added and served straight after the first. A goalkeeper who is carded leaves the field and time is stopped until they have gone.
A suspended player may still take part in a shoot-out after the match, but a player sent off permanently (red card) in that match cannot.
All field players defending a penalty corner must wear a face mask until the first shot at goal. If a defending field player removes the mask before that first shot, the penalty corner is re-taken.
When an initial penalty corner is awarded, match time stops for up to 40 seconds so defenders can put on protective equipment. For a re-awarded corner, time stops immediately but no extra 40 seconds is given. The umpire advises both teams as the countdown clock nears zero and restarts play no later than after 40 seconds if both teams are ready.
If a team is not ready, the umpire decides whether the delay was players finding and putting on their protective equipment (extra time is allowed without penalty) or intentional (a green card for the player concerned, and a yellow card for repeated offences). If a defending player caused the delay, the defending team defends the corner with one fewer player.
Each match has a "Session" that starts at the scheduled start time and ends two hours later.
Results: if a Home and Away Round match is abandoned before the end of the second quarter, or cancelled, the result is a 0-0 draw with points under the points system, and no shoot-out bonus point is awarded if no shoot-out could be completed. If it is abandoned after the second quarter, the score at that point stands. In a Finals match, if the result is a draw and no shoot-out could decide it, the higher ranked team is deemed the winner.
The One Hockey Cup is an award for a club (licensee), not a team. It goes to the club that ranks highest on the aggregate scores of its women's and men's teams at the end of the Home and Away Rounds.