The Great Sport of Underwater Hockey

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.

 

 

Traveling to Greece with the National Guard

Back in 2021 I had the opportunity to travel to Greece and train with their army. I have been a member of the Alabama national guard for 5 years, and thanks to this experience I got to travel out of the country for the first time in my life. Through my time with the guard and as an infantry man I have gotten to train all over the country, but this training exercise changed my life by giving me a new perspective of the world. We traveled to a city called Xanthi, it was located about 2 hours away from the turkey border. Xanthi is not a huge tourist location, so we got to really immerse ourselves in the culture. I had the opportunity to talk to many of the soldiers and learn the differences from their army and ours. The Greek Army is a conscription based group meaning that all members had no choice and they had to serve a certain amount of time. Compared to us their military is less organized and less equipped. With that being said I learned some valuable skills; such as handling VIP personnel in a tactical scenario.

 

When we were not training I was able to venture into Xanthi and immerse myself further in the local culture, trying foods I have never seen before, and also try the Greek take on some of my personal favorites. I was able to explore hidden bars and really expand my palate. Greece was a beautiful country where I was able to learn about a culture that was unfamiliar to mine, but it also taught me to appreciate everything that we had here in the United States.