Underwater hockey (UWH) is a globally played, limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team’s goal by propelling it with a short hockey stick (or pusher).
A key challenge of the game is that players are not able to use breathing devices such as scuba gear while playing. They must hold their breath.
The game originated in England in 1954 when Alan Blake, a founder of the newly formed Southsea Sub-Aqua Club, invented the game he called Octopush as a means of keeping the club’s members interested and active over the cold winter months when open-water diving lost its appeal. Underwater hockey is now played worldwide. The first Underwater Hockey World Championship was held in Canada in 1980.