When you think of hockey, different ideas come to mind depending on if you’re a fan or not. Maybe it’s the Caps or the Flyers, or maybe you just think of the puck.
Either way, you probably do not think of a swimming pool. However, if you mention hockey to the members of the George Mason Underwater Hockey Club, that is the first thing that comes to their minds. Underwater hockey is a sport that combines elements from soccer and ice-hockey. The sport is played by two teams who score by maneuvering a wood or plastic puck into a goal trough.
The positions are similar to soccer, but instead of being played on a field, players are on the bottom of a swimming pool. Junior Natalie Jones relates the game play to that of Quidditch.
“People come from all around you, not just from left to right, but from above and below…it’s almost like flying,” she said.
On Nov. 6, the club hosted a Pollock tournament at the Aquatic and Fitness Center against Georgia Tech, UNC and George Washington. Mason won against Georgia Tech in the first game of the Round Robin style game play. It was a low-level tournament, which according to Andrew Creedon, president of the club, is where “players get to really hone their skills.”
“The sport is truly unique since there is no normal method of communication between players underwater,” said Mason alumnus Phil Magness, an employee of the Institute of Humane Studies at Mason. “The strategy dynamics are greatly different from anything else out there.”
The members of the club currently have their sights set on building a dynamic team, one that will hopefully be able to compete in upcoming national tournaments.
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