Underwater Hockey @ Deep Blue

[Deep Blue]

UW Hockey Orientation Night Tuesday, January 13 7:00 PM.

The score is tied, 2-2 as the final seconds of the championship game tick away. Suddenly the other team makes a furious last ditch attack and an enormous player breaks free with the puck. There's nothing to stop him from scoring... except you, upside down and unable to breathe! Sound like a bad dream? Fortunately this is Underwater Hockey, so you effortlessly knock down his shot, tip it underneath him and, with a negligent flip of your fins, go over your opponent, charge down the pool and score. You didn't really need to breathe anyway, did you?

Join us at Deep Blue on January 13th at 7:00 PM to learn more about this exciting sport new to the Milwaukee area with Jon Zeaman. Jon plays weekly in Madison and will bring stories, pictures and equipment to try out. We may even be able to find a local pool and try out this great sport that night, so bring your swimsuits.

[Chris H]

Gert,
I'm planning on attending, but your email said that it was on the 12th at 7pm. Which day is it?

Chris

[FreediveWI]

It's TUesday, the 13th. We play hockey in Madison on Monday nights so there was a conflict.

IF you are interested in playing on Monday night, we play in the McFarland high school pool between 8-9pm. First time is always free.

Jon

[Chris H]

Let's get a good turn out for this so I'm not the only one that Gert and Jon are swimming circles around. Bring your CPR giving accessories along, I may need them ;D

[FreediveWI]

I've got three guys from Madison who are going to come along and join me.

There are many variations to the sport, from recreational to international competition. We are going to be focusing on the recreational aspect.

Having said that, there are rules and stratagies that you can add to make the game much more difficult if you desire. In Madison we use it as a way to have some fun in the water during the winter months and have a wide range of ability levles who play every week.

I also have some video from competion level peope that I will share, as well as video I shot last night at one of our Madison games.

Hockey used to be played inthe Milwaukee area 10-15 years ago and there's no reason why it can't make a come-back.

Hope to see lots of people there.

Jon

[FreediveWI]

We had a really good turn out last night for hockey. It looks like there will be more than enough people to start a regualr league. Gert has ordered sticks and pucks for everyone to use and I believe he has a glove making party planned for next week.

Jon

[FreediveWI]

The sport has been around since the 50's, and is even taught in highschool gym classes in Australia.

The players wear only mask, snorkel, fins, and a glove. In competitions they will also wear headgear and mouth guards- sometimes even cups. :o

The team divides into two sides. The players are identified by their stick color, and suits if in competion.

Here a a shot of the start from the deep end teams point of view.

jon

[FreediveWI]

Teams switch sides after every point so that no one team gets an advantage over the other. Here is a shot of a start form the shallow end's point of view.

jon

[FreediveWI]

At the begining of each point the puck is placed inthe center of the pool and both teams go for it full force. The pool we played in last night was nice becasue it had a little box marked off into which we dropped the puck and a dividing line, marked in tile, that madeit easy for the offense and defense to maintain their positions

Jon

[FreediveWI]

To score you just need to get the puck to touch the goal- a line strung between two rubber coated weights. It's important to use rubber coated weights so that you don't mark up the bottom of the pool.

Jon