Underwater Hockey

Underwater Hockey

Publication Date: November 2000

In the early 1950s, scuba divers in Great Britain were preparing for the upcoming diving season when they realized that an underwater game of sorts was just what they needed to develop fitness and underwater skills. The result was Octopush, in which players, armed with what resembles a shuffleboard stick, used two hands to push a lead puck across the pool bottom into goals at either end of the pool. The players, relying on no supplemental oxygen, wore a mask, snorkel, and fins. The first official Octopush game was played in 1954. From there, the game now called underwater hockey spread overseas, arriving in the United States in the 1960s. Local or regional competitions were held annually, and in 1976, the first U.S. national tournament was held.

Underwater hockey is a very fast moving game that quickly builds swimming and free diving capability. It is played on the bottom of a swimming pool by two teams of six. Players wear fins, mask, snorkel, protective gloves, and headgear (swimsuit is optional, but recommended). The stick is short, approximately one foot long, the puck is heavy, around three pounds, and the goal is three meters (nine feet) long.

The rules are "non-contact" in the same way basketball is considered non-contact. The person in control of the puck cannot be physically pushed but also may not charge into set opponents. Success (scoring) ultimately depends on teamwork, since no single person can hold their breath forever. Individual strength is less of an advantage than it is in many other sports. The water nullifies pure mass advantage and emphasizes clever use of torque.

The game inhibits the use of brute force and allows small people to compete effectively and equally with larger people. Play is solely on the bottom of the pool, so your effectiveness is also governed by how much time you spend on the bottom...the air is, of course, on the top. In the game, exertion usually shortens bottom time to less than thirty seconds.

Rules are simple - no body contact unless your stick is on the puck (i.e., no forechecking or moving screens), no touching the puck with anything but your stick, and no detaining or obstructing another player (even if you do have the puck) by pulling off their mask or fins, or holding on to them.

Passing is very possible and is done by throwing the puck off your stick with a flick of your wrist. This is very difficult to learn without help, but can be used to sail the puck more than ten feet across the bottom and up to two feet above it. This technique allows you to break the puck out of a tight spot and send it by opponents.

The pool is usually 25m x 15m and 2m deep all the way across, but anything will do, even slopes (just change ends at half-time). Lead weights and three meters of rope can be used as goals, though the sound of the puck thunking into the back of a metal goal is very satisfying and should be experienced!

In competition, games are two fifteen minute halves, and teams can have up to four substitutes on the deck who can enter play on the fly.

The game is started with the puck in the middle of the pool and the teams lined up at either end (play also starts this way after a goal is scored). "Teams ready, go" starts the designated players racing to get possession of the puck.

Teams generally play zones, as in basketball, with forward offensive players and back defensive players.

Center: Tries to get initial possession of the puck. Is an offensive player and generally positioned directly on or in front of the play.

Wings (right and left): Score goals and steal the puck from the other team's defense. Both are offensive players that stay in front of the play for forward passes. When stopped from advancing, they pass backward to the halfbacks. Watch that the weak side wing (on the side the puck isn't) doesn't drift too far onto the strong side - your halfbacks will be trying to feed the puck up the weak side (where the other team's defense isn't) and need someone to score the goal.

Halfbacks (right and left): Stop the other team and feed the wings. Strong side (the side the puck is on) follows behind the play closely, weak side is last man back, guarding the goal. Careful - strong and weak side can switch quickly, so halfbacks have to do a lot of swimming up and down the pool to stay in position.

Swingback: Defensive player, second to last player back. Backs up the halfbacks, especially when the play is moving from one side of the pool to the other. Plays the "pivot point" that the whole defense is based on.

This is a sport dedicated primarily to having fun in the water. Anyone can play and play very effectively, and all that are willing to try will be welcomed with open arms. This sport can be played at many levels from casual pick-up fun to serious competition.

For people who are interested in competition, there are three nationally sanctioned tournaments each year, as well as international competitions. At the United State Nationals, admission is open, allowing any interested American team to attend, although Society dues and fees are required! Typically, the teams form around dive stores, dive clubs and swim teams. Underwater hockey in the U.S. includes people of all ages and shapes. Hockey players, while they may take their sport very seriously, are always willing to help rookies.

Underwater hockey is a growing sport that is played in more than twenty countries on six continents. In the United States, it is played in about twenty different cities including Chicago, Boston, Miami, Charleston, Dallas, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Seattle, San Diego, and San Jose, each of which sends players to competitions held around the country. The game has most recently received attention from print and visual media such as ESPN The Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and KTVU-TV in San Jose.

For more information on underwater hockey, or if you would like to get hockey started in your area, please feel free to contact: Kendall Banks, Underwater Hockey National Director, 5126 Coco Palm Drive, Fremont, CA 94538. Phone (510) 668 1621. Email: kendallctv@aol.com

Photos courtesy of John Stoke