Yeah, That's Right. Underwater Hockey

Parks & Recreation, Nov, 1998 by Caryn J. Collopy

First, the look of confusion -- a look with which most of this group is familiar by now. The head cocks back, the eyes squint and gaze at you from the corners, and the brow furls. And then comes the inevitable chuckle-response -- the one that emphasizes the unmistakable incredulity, the astonished disbelief. "Did I hear that right?" "Are you serious?" and "What the #@*&?" are the most common responses. But underwater hockey is indeed a sport; heck, it's even recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee. And though underwater hockey is not as popular as competitive swimming, water polo, or even synchronized swimming, it has a lot to offer an aquatic facility.

In the Beginning

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 sticks, 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. Today, underwater hockey is a growing sport that is played in more than 20 countries on six continents. In the United States, it is played in about 20 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.

Regulation Play

Although underwater hockey is very much like the original game of Octopush, building and combining swimming and free-diving skills, it has evolved into a very fast-paced and exciting game with strict rules and regulations. Regulation underwater hockey is played in a 12- to 15-meter-wide, 21- to 25-meter-long, 2- to 4-meter-deep pool with a minimum pool area of 300 meters. The surface of the pool should be slick to reduce abrasion injury to the players and to permit the puck to glide easily. A team consists of six players who try to score goals by putting the plastic-coated lead puck into the other team's trough-like, three-meter goal. Up to four substitutes per team may be on deck waiting to relieve those in the water. The puck may be moved along the bottom of the pool by pushing or flicking the puck with a stick. Today's sticks, unlike the old Octopush sticks, are held with only one hand and are about one foot long. A good flick may send the puck more than four meters across, and up to 19 inches above, the pool bottom.

Underwater hockey, a non-contact sport, has rules discouraging the use of bodies or free hands (the hand without the stick) to detain obstruct other players; there is no body-checking, barging, or screening tolerated. Instead of brute force, speed, skills, and teamwork are used to score goals. Because one person obviously can't hold his or her breath forever, a team must learn to work together. The play is controlled by passing the puck from player to player in a coordinated effort, members taking turns to breathe, recover, and reposition. A participant will usually stay underwater for about 15 seconds at a time, and no longer than 30 seconds.

A regulation game consists of two 15-minute halves with one one-minute time-out per team, per half, and a three-minute halftime. Three referees -- one on-deck for scoring and calling substitution fouls, and two in-water officials -- are present during regulation play. Play begins with the puck in the middle of the playing area and the teams lined up in the water at their respective ends of the pool. On a starting signal heard both above and below the water, the teams race to the puck at the center of the pool, attempting to seize initial control. There are no stoppages of play unless a foul occurs. If a foul is committed, control of the puck is given to the other team, and the offending player may be put in the penalty box for one or two minutes, leaving the other team with a power play. When a goal is scored, the puck is reset in the middle of the playing area, and play resumes.

Training is an important component when preparing to play underwater hockey at the tournament level. Most sessions begin with players completing a swim workout. In preparation for the 1998 World Championships, the U.S. team swam approximately 2,000 to 3,000 yards, four times a week, including a warm-up, surface and underwater intervals, and cool-down. Players would then practice stick handling, passing and flicking the puck, and maneuverability (underwater figure eights and other drills). In addition to individual skills, teamwork and strategies are stressed. In order to have the players work together as a team, weekend clinics were held every three months.