Underwater Hockey Clinic was held on the 16th January, a Friday afternoon. Our aim was to promote our weekly dose of air-diction at the SMU Pool. Armed with fins, snorkels and the underwater hockey sticks, a rough number of fifteen participants went through what it was like pushing the 1.5 kg puck underwater. 

After getting the basics right, we brought on the challenge. The game goes like this. There are two teams, roughly five in each team. Basically it is similar to playing Hockey on land, where players swim towards the centre of the pool where the puck is. The players then hold their breath and dive down to the bottom where the puck is, and try to score a goal over at the opponent’s end. The winner of the game is the team who scores the most points.

It was an intensified duck-diving to the bottom of the pool, puck-snatching, fin-slapping moment. Despite being first-timers, many interesting strategies and techniques were applied. The game started off with everybody rushing over for the puck. That aside, it was interesting to watch the many acrobatic turns mad, and how the players held their breath and shot the puck right into the goal from a distance. 

The workshop introduced us to a few new players in the game, who have been familiar faces in the big challenge since then.