The Royal Spanish Hockey Association was formed in 1922. Spain is one of the founder members of the International Hockey Federation, which was formed in 1924. There are 18 regional hockey associations in Spain, and there are national championships for men, women and juniors in both outdoor and indoor hockey.
West German coaches Ernst Willig and Horst Wein trained Spanish teams in the seventies and later. Special attention was paid to both the attack and defence strategies during penalty corners. Spain produced an excellent trio in Segura (push-out), Francisco Fabregas (hand-stop) and Juan Amat (striker).
The blistering penalty corners of Juan Amat saw Spain upset Pakistan 3-2 during the first World Cup in Barcelona in 1971. Nine years later, Juan Amat was at his brilliant best against India in the 1980 Moscow Olympics final. India led 3-0, but Amat inspired a great rally and got a hat trick of goals from penalty corners. India finally squeezed by with a 4-3 victory. This remains Spain's only silver medal in the Olympics till date. Their best in the World Cup was silver medals in the 1971 Barcelona World Cup and 1998 Utrecht World Cup.
Juan Amat is an all-time great Spanish player. He played in four Olympics and four World Cups, winning a silver at the Barcelona World Cup in 1971, and a silver at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Juan Amat was the highest scorer at the Moscow Olympics, with 16 goals.
Spain's sole success in the European Championships was in 1974, when they beat Germany in the final at Madrid.
The longest Olympic match involved Spain and Holland in the 1968 Olympics at Mexico City. The classification match lasted 2 hours and 25 minutes, more than double of a regulation time game. After a brave fight put up by Spain, Holland ultimately prevailed 1-0.
The three Escude brothers - Xavier, Jamie and Ignacio - played for Spain in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Their grandfather Antonio Escude played for Spain in their first ever international match at Terassa.