Hold your breath to master the art of octopush
UNDERWATER HOCKEY: MAKING A SPLASH WITH OUR SERIES OF LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS
UNDERWATER HOCKEY is so exhausting for those who play it, it could almost be considered a minor extreme sport.
The game, also known as octopush, requires competitors to possess an abundance of athletic abilities, from swimming to strength and accuracy.
The sport is played on the bottom of a two or three-metre pool between teams of six, with four rolling substitutes on the edge of the water at any one time.
Players battle to move a puck across the floor with shortened hockey sticks, also known as pushers, into the opposing team’s goal which sit at either end of the pool.
Players wear snorkel masks to help with breathing but are required to come up for air at regular intervals before plunging back into the water after catching their breath. The sport has clubs spread across Yorkshire and the United Kingdom, with teams hailing from the Shetland Islands to the Channel Islands.
Joanne Pitchforth coaches the junior team from Batley and has previously represented Great Britain.
Her husband and three children are also keen enthusiasts of the game, and Pitchforth says that anyone looking to take a dive into the sport needs to be an adept swimmer as well as possess strength and the ability to hold your breath.
“The longer you can hold your breath and stay on the bottom of the pool the better and what is just as important is your recovery rate,” said Pitchforth who still plays for Yorkshire Ladies.
“You might go down for 25-30 seconds but the ability to come back up and have one breath or two breaths and go and do the same again is important.
“It is very demanding.” Given that not all the players can stay on the pool floor for the duration of a game, clever tactics must be utilised to maximise the number of team members at the bottom of the water at any one time.
“There are six in the water at once and we have four substitutes who can jump in and out, there is a lot of subbing,” continued Pitchforth.
“You don’t want everyone down at the same time and on the same token you don’t want just one person down.
“You work in cycles of twos and threes, working together to pass, attack and defend. Just like any other team sport really.”
Games can vary between 10 to 20-minute halves, depending on the type of competition.
Last year, the Underwater Hockey World Championships were staged in Sheffield for Under-24 and Under-19 teams.
Great Britain men finished second in the final standings for both age groups while the women’s sides also shared the same placing at both age ranges, finishing in fourth.
The sport was invented in England in 1954 by Alan Blake, who was the founder of Southsea SubAqua Club.
Blake wanted to keep the club’s members active during the winter months when it was too cold for most to take part in open-water diving.
That led to him inventing the sport of Octopush which now has worldwide appeal, with New
IN THE DEPTHS:
Zealand, Canada and Argentina represented at last year’s World Championships.
The sport was strongly linked to diving clubs in its early years, as it continued to grow in popularity.
“Underwater hockey was usually associated with aqua-diving clubs in the first instance,” said Pitchforth.
“My father started the snorkelling club at Batley Sports Centre and it has been going on ever since. It used to be played at Leeds International pool, before it got knocked down, and now it is played three times a week at John Charles Pool in Leeds.
“Not at the moment, obviously, but usually it would be on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”
Pitchforth insists that those who give it a try are more than often hooked.
Players are required to wear a snorkel, a face mask, a cap, a pair of fins and a glove on their playing hand, as well as swimwear.
Pitchforth added: “You find if you start running junior sessions, then kids really love it.
“At Batley we have 25 to 30 children come on a Sunday, in a normal situation.
“We have beginner matches and advanced matches and as soon as they are good enough they can play with the older children and beginner adults.”
There are numerous clubs based throughout Yorkshire, with a league which normally runs from September to March.
Anyone interested in getting involved should visit the British Octopush Association’s website for a comprehensive list of clubs based in Yorkshire and throughout the British Isles or visit Yorkshire Underwater Hockey Club on Facebook.