Ah, hockey. The brutality. The dexterity. The greatest show on ice.
But let's say the ice melts. And all of a sudden you're underwater. And instead of playoff beards, there are a few…ladies in bikinis.
Well, then you might call it the greatest game in the water.
Let us present San Francisco Underwater Hockey—a coed, underwater sport involving only so much as a swimsuit, fins and snorkel—hosting scrimmages, practices and games Wednesday and Friday nights.
Aside from standard equipment like pucks and sticks (all provided by SFUWH, in addition to snorkeling gear), you'll see that underwater hockey is a lot less like ice hockey than you'd expect. In addition to the obvious aquatic element, pool hockey is actually a non-contact sport (unless you really want it to be...).
As far as swimming goes, think of it as snorkeling, only instead of leisurely observing marine life, your concern is breaking through the other team's defense and moving the three-pound, plastic-wrapped lead puck to the other end of the pool.
Once you select your team of six, and choose your color—black versus white—pick up the corresponding sticks and start slinging the puck around. Since passes usually range anywhere from four- to fifteen-feet long, it makes for a pretty action-packed fifteen-minute half. And when the puck lands on the ten-foot wide metal tray, that's a goal.
And in case you forgot, all of this happens underwater—at the bottom of the pool.
So you might not hear the roar of the crowd.
But let's say the ice melts. And all of a sudden you're underwater. And instead of playoff beards, there are a few…ladies in bikinis.
Well, then you might call it the greatest game in the water.
Let us present San Francisco Underwater Hockey—a coed, underwater sport involving only so much as a swimsuit, fins and snorkel—hosting scrimmages, practices and games Wednesday and Friday nights.
Aside from standard equipment like pucks and sticks (all provided by SFUWH, in addition to snorkeling gear), you'll see that underwater hockey is a lot less like ice hockey than you'd expect. In addition to the obvious aquatic element, pool hockey is actually a non-contact sport (unless you really want it to be...).
As far as swimming goes, think of it as snorkeling, only instead of leisurely observing marine life, your concern is breaking through the other team's defense and moving the three-pound, plastic-wrapped lead puck to the other end of the pool.
Once you select your team of six, and choose your color—black versus white—pick up the corresponding sticks and start slinging the puck around. Since passes usually range anywhere from four- to fifteen-feet long, it makes for a pretty action-packed fifteen-minute half. And when the puck lands on the ten-foot wide metal tray, that's a goal.
And in case you forgot, all of this happens underwater—at the bottom of the pool.
So you might not hear the roar of the crowd.
