This past weekend, there was an underwater hockey tournament in Montreal, Canada at the Olympic Pool in the Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard. The picture below is a panorama of the pool where we played. UMASS Lowell's underwater hockey team, which I am a part of, was in attendance. Underwater Hockey is a relatively new sport that has drawn attention from all over the world. It is by far one of the hardest and most complex sports that I have ever played.
Underwater hockey is played with 6 players on each team, 3 forwards and 3 backs. Every player wears fins, headgear, a mask, a snorkel, and a glove while wielding a small hockey stick, which are all depicted below. These enable the players to be faster and breath easier. The puck is placed in the middle of the pool at the start and after each goal. The center forward is typically the striker, which means they race forward to get the puck before the other teams striker does. This is the position I play. The left and right forward race forward too, so that they can receive the pass from the center forward if they win the puck. The other 3 players are the center, left, and right backs, who follow the forwards, in case the other team wins the strike or they prevent the striker from passing it to another forward. The players must cycle with one another so that they are able to defend and push the puck forward. Also, the players must push their lungs to their limits otherwise they could lose the game for their fellow teammates. Being where your teammate needs you to be is key to the game, but definitely the hardest part of underwater hockey to master. Their are two goals that are approximately 10 feet in length on opposite ends of the pool. The puck has to touch the back of the goal, which is about 6 inches from its front. These games are reffed so penalties do occur and there are penalty shots. A penalty gives one team an advantage while the other team has to be 3 meters away until the team with the advantage touches the puck. A penalty shot will occur if a player is prevented from scoring within one meter of the net. A penalty shot consists of one person from the team defending the goal and 2 people from the other team advancing the puck. The rules are quite simple, however the positioning on these plays and throughout the whole game are difficult to get a hang of.
Our UMASS Lowell team of 11 players headed off to Canada on Friday, November 15. We arrived that night and prepared for our long day of games on Saturday. In total the UML team played 6 games together. However, the women of the team got to play in an women's exhibition game, where we learned new drills and played against other women competing in the tournament, since underwater hockey is a predominantly men's sport. In the 6 games that we played, we lost all of them. However, considering that all the forwards playing for our team were new, including myself, our team did excellent. Some of the other teams that were playing had been together for 13 or 14 years. On Sunday, we had finals, and surprisingly we weren't seeded last but next to last. The team we versed was the Mercenaries, who had beat us 3-1 on Saturday, but ended up with a worse seed due to their sever losses against other teams. After the first half no one had scored, but right at the beginning of the second half our center back scored. We had to hold them off for another 6 minutes to advance into the finals. However, the Mercenaries got the puck in our zone and in our feats to stop them we gave them a penalty shot. They scored on the penalty shot with 2 minutes left. The game ended with a tie. Therefore, we had to play a round of sudden death, which is basically overtime. The mercenaries ended up winning, but our UML team did much better than expected. The picture below is of our team after we played our hearts and lungs out in the last game. We had learned a lot in our time playing and walked out with our heads held high, because of how well we did in regards to having 6 new forwards playing. UMASS Lowell's underwater hockey team is one of few college teams to compete in tournaments. By playing in these tournaments we bring a diverse name to our school, and get our school's name out across nations. Not many colleges have underwater hockey programs. It is one more thing the UMASS Lowell has over many colleges in America and the world. It is the funniest and hardest sport that i have played, but definitely the most rewarding. I was honored to represent UMASS Lowell at the underwater hockey tournament in Montreal this past weekend.
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