Hockey dives underwater
BY TIM VIXAY AND SAM WESTON
A few words com e to m ind w hen one t h i n k s
o f hockey. Flippers and snorkel are usually
not am on g th em , but those are exactly w hat
a person needs to play underw ater hockey.
Underw ater ho ck ey is a worldwide sport,
and its popularity in the United States keeps
growing. The objective o f the gam e is similar
to its o n -ic e counterpart as players attem pt
to push a puck into a goal w ith a stick, except
in un d erw ater h o c k e y th e go a l is a t th e
b ottom o f a 6 -fo o t sw im m in g pool.
Because players can on ly hold their breath
underwater for an average o f 5 to 10 seconds,
team w ork is very crucial in this fa st-p ace
sport.
Sam L u ed lo ff is a firs t-tim e participant.
He heard about the sport through a coworker
and decided to ch eck it out.
“ It w as exhausting. The snorkel m ade it
really d ifficult,” Luedloff said. He confessed
th at he did no t score an y goals b ut had fu n
anyway.
The Portland club practices every Tuesday
O r ig in a lly k n o w n a s “ o c t o p u s h ,”
at M t. H ood C o m m u n ity C olle ge A qu atic
C en ter. It is free fo r th e first three tim p s
fo r n e w a th le te s, a n d e q u ip m e n t ca n be
underwater hockey was invented in England
in 1954 b y A la n Blake, an o pen -w ater diver,
provided if needed.
Jorge Filevich started th e Portland U W H
Club in 2012.
“ I m o ve d fr o m A r g e n tin a to C olorado
for grad school and I started a club in Fort
as a m eans o f staying active during the cold
w inter m o n th s. The sport is now played in
m ore th an 30 different countries, including
nearly 100 club team s in the U .S ., and has
h e ld a w orld c h a m p io n s h ip to u rn a m en t
every two years since 1980.
C o llin s, and th en I m oved to Portland and I
Filevich has played at the national level and
started a club h e re ,” Filevich said.
T h e g a m e is p layed 6 - o n - 6 , a n d th e
represented his hom e country, Argentina, at
the 2002 W orld C ham pionships in Calgary,
s tr a t e g y is c o m p a r a b le to s o c c e r or
basketball. A gam e consists o f two 15-minute
h a lv e s , w ith a 3 -m in u te h a lftim e b r e a k .
Canada and the 2008 W orldCham pionships
in Stellenbosch, South A frica.
U nited K in gd om native Lachlan Pockett
Players swim towards the hockey puck at Mt. Hood Community College on Jan. 31.
has only been playing underwater hockey for where they finished in 4th place out o f right
a year but is very passionate about the sport, team s. Last year, at th e U S A U nderw ater
“ It’ s the ultim ate team sport; y o u need H ockey N ation al C h am p io n sh ip s, the club
to w o rk w ith yo u r te a m m a te s ,” P o ck ett fin ished 9th in the country,
said. T h ere’ s a lo t o f strategy in volved .
The club w ill com pete at n ation als a g a in
It’ s three-d im en sion al; you can sw im over later this yéàr in C incinnati; O hio,
p e o p le , u n d er p eo p le . T h e re ’ s so m a n y
For m o re in fo r m a tio n o n u n d erw ater
aspects o f the gam e. The m ore you learn, h o c k e y v is it u s a u w h .o rg , or i f yo u are
the m ore you discover. ”
interested in playing w ith the Portland club
A lth o u gh the Portland club is fairly new , visit m eetup .com /P ortlan d-U n derw ater-
they recently competed in Denver, Colorado, Hockey.
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