Games played with curved sticks and a ball have been played for thousands of years. First there was field hockey, then there was ice hockey, and now? Underwater hockey, of course. In this sport, which is also called Octopush, two teams of six try to push a puck using a stick into the opposing team’s goal. Although this sport is played around the world, it has not gained a major following. Perhaps because a sport played entirely underwater is not very spectator friendly.
Underwater Hockey (UWH), (also called Octopush (mainly in the UK)) is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling it with a pusher. It originated in England in 1954 when Alan Blake, the founder of the newly formed Southsea Sub-Aqua Club, invented the game he called Octopush as a means of keeping the club's members interested and active over the cold winter months when open-water diving lost its appeal.[1] Underwater Hockey is now played worldwide, with CMAS as the world governing body.[2] The first Underwater Hockey World Championship was held in Canada in 1980 after a false start in 1979 brought about by international politics and apartheid.