underwater hockey

Underwater hockey…is that even possible? My roommate, Jessie, told me about this club she is in where they play underwater hockey. It sounded interesting so I went to my first practice last nite. It is very…different. It is literally hockey played underwater.

It was very cold and windy last nite, and the pool is outside! But it was heated and really wasn’t that bad. So we get there and have to grab our gear…which ended up not being an easy task. You have to grab a snorkeling mask, a funny looking thing with plastic circles on it which ended up being a cap that protects your ears, a rubberized glove to protect your hand, a small wooden stick, and huge flippers!

There were about 6 or 7 other new people and a couple of people who did it last session. By the way, the pool is a huge 50 m pool with different grades – we played in the 1.8 m deep level which now that I think about it…is about my height. So to play the game you breathe through the snorkeling mask and then dive down when you can get to the puck. It has the same concept as hockey where you push the puck to the other side’s goal…but it is very different I found out. It’s a challenge to hold your breath long enough to make any progress ‘cause by the time you get to the puck and move it a few feet – you need air! It was a blast, though! We practiced moving the puck and turning the first half an hour and then we played a scrimmage game for about 10 or 15 minutes and let me tell you…I was huffing and puffing by the end. It is pretty intense – especially when I was paired against a huge girl from the Netherlands who kept flippering me to death. (No not really, but she did know what she was doing while I, on the other hand, did not.) I just need more practice… can’t wait ‘till next week!