Hockey, you have heard of hockey, the great sport played on ice between two teams. You may have even heard of the field hockey which is exactly similar to hockey played on the ice, but field hockey is played on a grass field. The sport that you may not have known existed is underwater hockey. Underwater hockey was invented by the British navy in the 1950s originally created to maintain divers’ fitness.
Underwater hockey is similar to regular hockey that you would traditionally think about. This great sport is played between two teams at the bottom of a pool pushing a lead puck trying to score a goal. Players will have to play two fifteen minute halves with a three minute break in between. Unlike traditional hockey, they use a pusher to move the hockey puck across the bottom of the pull. In underwater hockey each team is allowed to have twelve players, but only ten are allowed to play. Out of those ten players they are separated by 6 playing the game and 4 waiting to be interchanged throughout the game.
This game is a low contact support, meaning that players are not allowed to interfere with another player. Another strange rule is there are no off-sides like most sports when it comes to scoring on opposing goals like soccer and hockey. There are many professional teams across the world and the sport has now reached 20 countries. You can play for a club or all the way up to international team level. Unfortunately you will not find underwater hockey at any Olympics any time soon, but there are national level tournaments that countries go head to head in. Underwater hockey is one of the few sports that age does not matter. In modern times you would not see a twenty year old playing professional football with a sixty year old. The majority of sports around the world are dominated by the young, and usually start training at young ages. Since underwater hockey is a no contact support and swimming puts low stress on the body, older people are able to be just as good as the younger generation.
