History of field hockey a winter activity. They experimented with a ‘stick’ game, based loosely on the rules of association football. Teddington played the game on the smooth outfield of their cricket pitch and used a cricket ball, so allowing smooth and predictable motion. By 1874 they had begun to draw up rules for their game, including banning the raising of the stick above shoulder height and stipulating that a shot at goal must take place within the circle in front of it. An association was formed in 1875, which dissolved after seven years, but in 1886 the Hockey Association was formed by seven
Grafton United Cricket Club a field in Newmarket donated by local farmer, James Dilworth, but its distance from the city prompted the administration, on behalf of the cricketers of Auckland, to apply for the use of the Auckland Domain and it began practicing and playing there in 1863. When the Auckland Cricket Association’s first District Scheme came into effect in 1903, the club became the Grafton District Cricket Club. It was so–named because, under the terms of the scheme, it was allocated the area surrounding the Auckland Domain to draw players from. The Scheme was abandoned in 1920, at which time the club paired