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January 1998

Underwater Hockey (Octopush)

As a side effect of the growing popularity of diving, a number of competitive sports have been developed, such as underwater hockey, are becoming increasingly popular.

Unlike underwater rugby, which is already firmly established in Germany, underwater hockey has only been given official status by the Association of German Sports Divers (VDST) on 26.01.1998. However, teams have been established in various cities since 1996.

Underwater hockey and underwater rugby are played worldwide: underwater rugby has a enthusiastic following in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, underwater hockey principally in Western- and Southern Europe, America, Australia and Southern Africa. This editorial will familiarise you with underwater hockey and the German national team.

History Underwater Hockey

Alan Blake, a British sub-aqua instructor, conceived underwater hockey in 1954. Playfully, he wanted to enhance trainees' endurance and their snorkelling skills. Thereafter, this team sport was principally enhanced in British Columbia (Canada): In 1962 underwater hockey was first played at the "Vanquatics Scuba Club" in Vancouver. Ten years later, the Underwater Hockey Association of British Columbia (UHABC) was formed, which received strong support from the regional government.

After the first Canadian Championships (1975 for men, 1978 for women) Vancouver hosted the first Underwater Hockey World Championships. At that point in time, the current rules, equipment, etc. were already in use. Meanwhile the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatique (CMAS) has an underwater hockey commission, which promotes and coordinates the sport. Many states have independent national associations or sub-committees. Traditional associations, such as the French Fédération Française d'Études et des Sports Sous-Marins (FFESSM) actually have several leagues (1. and 2. national league, 1. and 2. regional leagues, both for men and women). Every two years, World and European Championships are held.

The German National Team

The German National Team first participated at international level at the European Championships, hosted by the FFESSM from 1. - 4. Mai 1997 in Reims and landed a respectable seventh place amongst the participating teams. The other European teams and functionaries expressed a strong interest in promoting underwater hockey in Germany. The German team gained support through invitations to training camps, courses and competitions, such as the World Championships '98 and the European Championship '99. Equipment (bats and pucks) was supplied free of charge to promote underwater hockey. A first Franco-German 4-day training camp was organised in July '97 near Paris, a second one in April '98.

The members of the German National Team also played successfully at an invitational competition in Nancy on 1. February 1998. The Dutch, as to qualify players to umpire international matches, offer special training courses for referees. Several newspapers and radio programmes have already publicised reports about this new sport and the European Championship 1997. Because of the excellent success at the European Championships 1997, the German team announced its participation at the World Championships, which are to take place in San José (near San Francisco in California) from 1. -15. June 1998. Teams from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, Philippines, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, United States, Yugoslavia and Zimbabwe will be competing.

BAUER Compressors has equipped the team with apparel from the MAXXIMUM PRESSURE COLLECTION.