Earlier this year I wrote about watching my friend Aimee play underwater hockey and mused about giving it a try. The local club has a three-session tryout package so I signed up and went to my first practice last week.
It is really hard work! I spent close to two hours practicing skills with fins and snorkel, and then playing a game. There is definitely speed and skill involved – not that I demonstrated much of either. Most of the others were pre-teens, so strategy was largely non-existent too. But fun? Most definitely lots of that.
I loved that we were all equals in the water. There were adult men larger than me, at least one other woman, and lots of kids who looked to be around 10-13 years old. I tried to be conscious of my flippers so I didn’t accidentally hit one of the kids, but was surprised at how little I needed to think about possible injury due to our relative size differences.
Next time I go, I want to work on passing, figuring out how to watch for players in all directions, and get better at staying close to the bottom and curling around the puck with my body to change directions or protect it from opponents. Oh, and identify who is actually on my team!
