There comes a point when even hiking up mountains and diving down the ocean doesn’t seem to be enough to satisfy one’s craving for some action and excitement. I wanted something more, something new. It was that thought I had in mind when I recently signed up for Under Water Hockey (UWH) School.
For those who are not familiar with the sport, Underwater Hockey is a cross between Ice Hockey and Skin Diving. A game is played with a 3 lbs lead puck similar to that used in Ice Hockey but the game is played on the bottom of a swimming pool. Instead of Ice skates, players wear a mask, snorkel, and fins. The goal is of course to score by pushing the puck into the opponent’s goal using a small stick around 10 inches long.
To know more about this sport just click on this link: Under Water Hockey
Bruised, battered, and beaten…
Thursday, April 20, 2006. UWH School was to be held in La Salle Greenhills, every Monday and Thursday nights, for six whole weeks. The first day of Under Water Hockey school seemed like any other first day in school. I didn’t know anybody there, and even the guy who invited me wasn’t around. But everybody was friendly and I had this conceited notion that I can easily handle this sport. I saw my self as a relatively good swimmer, and I have been skin diving and SCUBA diving for some time now. So I thought this should be easy… My delusions quickly faded when I saw the attendance sheet and realized that almost everybody there was also into skin diving and SCUBA. Out the window went my perceived advantage.
We were issued some safety equipment like a swimming cap with plastic ear cups to avoid ruptured ear drums in case of collisions or something. We were also given a mouth piece that fits over the snorkel to avoid loosing your teeth when the game gets rough. Finally we had to wear gloves to protect the hand from the pool’s bottom and from other player’s UWH sticks. I thought any game with this much safety equipment has to be interesting.
After some drills we were quickly instructed to take up positions for an actual game. It was six on six and I was tasked to play the right wing position. Then we were off… It was chaos as we dived down and tried to push that heavy puck across the bottom of the pool. The game dragged on and it wasn’t easy. At one point I had my mask knocked out of place and my snorkel forced out of my mouth. I was gasping for breath while in the water and it felt like I was on the verge of drowning the whole time. In the end despite our best effort we lost and thus I went home bruised, battered, beaten, nearly drowned, and I had a terrible head ache. But I had fun, and I wanted more…
Goal!!!
I typically hate Mondays but this particular Monday was different since I had UWH to look forward to. The sun finally set and evening came. School was in session. We were taught the basics of puck handling and we were made to do land drills with a can of tuna instead of an actual puck. After that we were made to count off 1 to 4 and grouped into teams, we then went into the pool to do the exercises under water using an actual puck. It wasn’t easy coz the darn puck was so damned heavy.
After the drills the different groups were pitted against each other in an under water relay race pushing the puck across the bottom of the pool. Our team of six was composed of 2 guys and four girls with varying skill levels. Once again we lost…
With the little time we had left it was decided that we were to have game and it would be a race to 2. I was assigned the left back position and my job was to defend against our opponent's attacks. We were told not to leave our positions unless we were sure we were going to score a goal, that job belonged to the girls in front.
The game began, and we allowed those in front to swim ahead to go for the puck in the middle of the pool. It was again a mad scramble for the puck and I hang back letting the offensive line play their game.
For those who are not familiar with the sport, Underwater Hockey is a cross between Ice Hockey and Skin Diving. A game is played with a 3 lbs lead puck similar to that used in Ice Hockey but the game is played on the bottom of a swimming pool. Instead of Ice skates, players wear a mask, snorkel, and fins. The goal is of course to score by pushing the puck into the opponent’s goal using a small stick around 10 inches long.
To know more about this sport just click on this link: Under Water Hockey
Bruised, battered, and beaten…
Thursday, April 20, 2006. UWH School was to be held in La Salle Greenhills, every Monday and Thursday nights, for six whole weeks. The first day of Under Water Hockey school seemed like any other first day in school. I didn’t know anybody there, and even the guy who invited me wasn’t around. But everybody was friendly and I had this conceited notion that I can easily handle this sport. I saw my self as a relatively good swimmer, and I have been skin diving and SCUBA diving for some time now. So I thought this should be easy… My delusions quickly faded when I saw the attendance sheet and realized that almost everybody there was also into skin diving and SCUBA. Out the window went my perceived advantage.
We were issued some safety equipment like a swimming cap with plastic ear cups to avoid ruptured ear drums in case of collisions or something. We were also given a mouth piece that fits over the snorkel to avoid loosing your teeth when the game gets rough. Finally we had to wear gloves to protect the hand from the pool’s bottom and from other player’s UWH sticks. I thought any game with this much safety equipment has to be interesting.
After some drills we were quickly instructed to take up positions for an actual game. It was six on six and I was tasked to play the right wing position. Then we were off… It was chaos as we dived down and tried to push that heavy puck across the bottom of the pool. The game dragged on and it wasn’t easy. At one point I had my mask knocked out of place and my snorkel forced out of my mouth. I was gasping for breath while in the water and it felt like I was on the verge of drowning the whole time. In the end despite our best effort we lost and thus I went home bruised, battered, beaten, nearly drowned, and I had a terrible head ache. But I had fun, and I wanted more…
Goal!!!
I typically hate Mondays but this particular Monday was different since I had UWH to look forward to. The sun finally set and evening came. School was in session. We were taught the basics of puck handling and we were made to do land drills with a can of tuna instead of an actual puck. After that we were made to count off 1 to 4 and grouped into teams, we then went into the pool to do the exercises under water using an actual puck. It wasn’t easy coz the darn puck was so damned heavy.
After the drills the different groups were pitted against each other in an under water relay race pushing the puck across the bottom of the pool. Our team of six was composed of 2 guys and four girls with varying skill levels. Once again we lost…
With the little time we had left it was decided that we were to have game and it would be a race to 2. I was assigned the left back position and my job was to defend against our opponent's attacks. We were told not to leave our positions unless we were sure we were going to score a goal, that job belonged to the girls in front.
The game began, and we allowed those in front to swim ahead to go for the puck in the middle of the pool. It was again a mad scramble for the puck and I hang back letting the offensive line play their game.
An opponent gained possession of the puck and I dived down to defend. It was a simple matter stealing the puck because that person was probably out of air. I had a puck with no team mate in sight to pass it to… most of the opposing side’s defenders were on the surface so I started swimming to try and score a point. I needed air but I thought to my self “you’ll have a lot of time to breathe later when this game is over” so I swam with everything I had and narrowly avoided the opposing team’s defenders. I scored!!! I let out a yell of jubilation as I surfaced... damn that felt good…
We were sent back to our positions and we went at it again. This time around Mario who was the center back dived in and quickly scored another point. The game was over, and we won 2-0.
If I was bruised, battered, and beaten on the first day of school, the 2nd day was perfect. I still had some bruises but I was able to score my first ever goal in UWH and we won the game. I was happy… and I haven’t felt that way in very long time. I was humming U2’s It’s a Beautiful Day while driving home and the feeling lasted till the next day… I think I love this game…
Tonight, will be day 3 of Under Water Hockey School…
We were sent back to our positions and we went at it again. This time around Mario who was the center back dived in and quickly scored another point. The game was over, and we won 2-0.
If I was bruised, battered, and beaten on the first day of school, the 2nd day was perfect. I still had some bruises but I was able to score my first ever goal in UWH and we won the game. I was happy… and I haven’t felt that way in very long time. I was humming U2’s It’s a Beautiful Day while driving home and the feeling lasted till the next day… I think I love this game…
Tonight, will be day 3 of Under Water Hockey School…
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