You can play a fun game of hockey... underwater!

WESTWOOD, Mass. — Usually the only water associated with hockey is the frozen kind, but don’t tell that to the players who are facing off in a pool.

They play underwater hockey.

It’s a growing sport in popularity in the United States that was created in Great Britain in the 1950s.

The game starts with a face-off in the middle of a pool as two teams of six players try to get a three-pound puck into their opponent’s goal.

Evan Brown started playing in college on a whim and is a devoted player today.

“It’s completely different than any other sport," Brown said. "You’re completely underwater, at the bottom of the pool and moving around in ways that you don’t in other sports. It’s full body exercise for me.”

The scene inside the Westwood town pool resembled a school of sharks after chum has been dumped nearby as players fight for the puck.

Despite the up tempo, and sometimes aggressive, nature of the game, players like Diana Madden say this is actually a group of very friendly people.

“The community is really what got me hooked,” Madden said. “It’s amazing. I have friends all over.  Some of my best friends I have met thru the sport.”

Chris Niezrecki is an engineering professor at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell during the day and helps run leagues in his spare time.

He said many people first think that players use a traditional hockey stick, but he showed us the 10-inch version used underwater.

He explained how players try to flick the puck to teammates or into the goal.

Players also wear a silicone glove to protect their fingers, as well as a mask, a snorkel, and helmet like one used in water polo.

It takes about six months to master the basics of the game, and how to breathe during a physically demanding game underwater.

"That was the steepest curve, staying down," Brown said.

Once that is conquered, the game is addictive.

“There’s people coming from all sides of you, but there are also players coming from up above to attack the puck,” said Niezrecki.  “It’s not just on one single playing field or a single plane.”

The game is also remarkably quiet as players are unable to scream or yell in the middle of intense match.

Niezrecki believes that’s another selling point in our amped-up world.

“When you are underwater, it’s very peaceful," Niezrecki said. "There's no sound. You can't hear anything. If you were playing basketball, people might say throw the pass to me or something like that, but you can't do that in underwater hockey because the sound doesn't propagate underwater.”

Madden admits some people think she’s a little crazy for playing hockey underwater, but she says she’s hooked.

“I love it,” the fourth-grade teacher added with a laugh.

People of all levels can play the game.

There are many tournaments, and even a world championship played every two years.

You can find contacts for local teams here.

Cox Media Group