Why Thousands Are Playing Underwater Hockey 🌊🏒

To outsiders, underwater hockey can seem almost surreal, and the sport has quietly grown for decades without most people ever realising it exists. Originally invented in England during the 1950s by divers looking for a way to stay active during winter months, underwater hockey (sometimes known as Octopush) has since spread across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and parts of Latin America. Today, international competitions and world championships attract athletes competing at surprisingly elite levels, despite the sport receiving almost no mainstream media attention. And perhaps that lack of visibility is exactly what makes it so fascinating.

Unlike many modern sports increasingly shaped around spectacle and commercial entertainment, underwater hockey feels almost entirely disconnected from performance culture. Once submerged, distractions disappear. There are no cameras in athletes’ faces, roaring atmospheres or any theatrics. It creates a very different psychological experience to most team sports. Verbal communication isn’t possible under the water, players rely almost entirely on instinct and spatial awareness. Teams develop systems based on anticipation rather than instruction. Athletes learn to recognise subtle body positioning, movement patterns and timing cues from teammates moving around them.

Former British international player, and founder of Octopush, Alan Blake once described the sport as “physical chess underwater”, where decision-making has to happen instantly despite limited visibility and constant physical exhaustion.

Exhaustion really arrives quickly. Elite players may only stay submerged for short bursts at a time, but the repeated cycle of sprinting underwater, holding breath under pressure and recovering at the surface creates a uniquely demanding rhythm. Athletes need cardiovascular endurance, swimming efficiency, agility and composure all simultaneously. Visibility is limited and positioning becomes everything. A single mistake can leave a team exposed with very little time to recover. Players constantly rotate in and out of play depending on oxygen levels, creating a fluid structure unlike almost any mainstream invasion sport.

Check out this video below from Great Big Story, covering a general introduction to the sport, and watch some of its athletes in action.

What makes underwater hockey especially interesting within the wider emerging sports landscape is how it has continued growing without relying on traditional exposure pathways. There are no major television deals driving participation. Nor a huge sponsorship ecosystem, or viral superstar carrying the sport into mainstream culture. Instead, the game spreads almost entirely through community discovery. Someone tries it at a local club, then keeps returning. This pattern mirrors something happening across many niche sports right now. Communities are increasingly being built through direct experience rather than top-down promotion: participation itself becomes marketing.

And underwater hockey offers something increasingly rare within modern sport culture: complete immersion. In a world dominated by constant noise through notifications and social media, and shrinking attention spans, athletes often describe the underwater environment as strangely calming despite the intensity. The moment players dive beneath the surface, outside distractions disappear completely: you can’t check your phone underwater, you can’t hear any voices. All the overthinking stops and your focus is drawn entirely to your performance and your breathing. For many players, that feeling becomes addictive.

Research into underwater sports has even suggested that the environment can produce unusually strong states of concentration and flow, where athletes become fully absorbed in the present moment. In many ways, underwater hockey sits somewhere between competition and controlled chaos: physically intense, mentally demanding, yet oddly meditative at the same time. This balance may explain why the sport leaves such a lasting impression on the people who discover it. It’s unlike any other sport out there at the moment.

And while underwater hockey may never become a mainstream global spectacle, its quiet growth says something important about the future of emerging sport. Not every sport needs giant arenas or billion-pound broadcasting deals to matter. Some simply need communities passionate enough to keep diving straight back in again.

Where to Watch?

“Underwater Hockey Channel” for international matches, highlights and tournament footage from around the world.

“OctopushUK” for British underwater hockey content, club sessions and competition clips.

“CMAS Underwater Hockey” for official world championship coverage and elite international gameplay.

“@underwaterhockey” for clips, global community features and major competition moments.

“@gbuwh” for updates from the British Octopush Association, including UK tournaments and national teams.

“@stalbanssubaqua” for local sessions, club updates and a look into one of the UK’s long-running underwater hockey communities through St Albans Sub Aqua Club.

Follow competitions, club directories, rules and development of the UK scene through the British Octopush Association

Want to Try Yourself?

You do not need to be an elite swimmer to begin, but being comfortable underwater makes a huge difference.

Most beginners spend more time adjusting to movement and breathing patterns than learning stick skills initially.

Underwater hockey is built around short, repeated dives rather than extreme breath-holding.

Good breathing rhythm and staying relaxed underwater matter far more than trying to stay submerged for long periods.

Most clubs provide equipment for beginners and introduce the sport safely through drills and casual games.

The UK scene is known for being especially welcoming to new players.

Almost everybody feels disoriented during their first session.

Tracking the puck, coordinating movement underwater and managing breathing all take time to adapt to.

Watching international matches helps massively with understanding positioning, rotations and tactics.

At first the sport can look chaotic from above the water, but patterns become clearer the more you watch.

Underwater hockey grows almost entirely through clubs and word of mouth.

In the UK, organisations like the British Octopush Association and clubs such as St Albans Sub Aqua Club are great starting points for finding sessions, competitions and local communities.