Underwater hockey in Great Britain

Underwater hockey in Great Britain was first played in Southsea, Hampshire where it was invented in 1954.^[1] It is governed nationally by the British Octopush Association.

Quick Facts Country, Governing body ...

Underwater hockey in Great Britain
An underwater hockey match during the 2009 Student Nationals in Bangor
Country	Great Britain
Governing body	British Octopush Association
National team(s)	Great Britain
Nickname(s)	Octopush UWH
First played	1954 in Southsea, Hampshire
National competitions
Underwater Hockey World Championships Underwater Hockey European Championships
Club competitions
National Championship Nautilus Ladies Championship Veterans Championship Student Nationals Junior Nationals

History

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Underwater hockey was started by Alan Blake in 1954. Blake was a founder-member of the then newly formed Southsea Sub-Aqua Club, he and other divers including John Ventham, Jack Willis, and Frank Lilleker first played this game in the Guildhall Baths in Portsmouth.^[1]^[2] CMAS (the world governing body for underwater hockey) however, still states on its website that the sport originated with the Royal Navy in the same time period.

The first rules were tested in a 1954 two-on-two game and Alan Blake made the following announcement in the November 1954 issue of the British Sub-Aqua Club's then-official magazine Neptune: "Our indoor training programme is getting under way, including wet activities other than in baths, and our new underwater game "Octopush". Of which more later when we have worked out the details".^[3]

The first underwater hockey competition was a three-way tournament between teams from Southsea, Bournemouth and Brighton underwater hockey clubs in early 1955. Southsea won, and are still highly ranked at national level today winning 20 out of 52 national championships, which have been played annually since 1969.^[4]

Great Britain's men's national team played in the first Underwater Hockey World Championships in 1980, finishing as runners-up. Great Britain's women's national team first World Championships appearance was the fifth edition (fourth with a women's tournament) in 1988, resulting in a fourth-place finish.^[5]

Both men's and women's teams competed in the first edition of the European Championships in 1985, held at Crystal Palace Aquatics Centre, London, with both teams winning gold.^[6] The UK hosted the tournament again in 1993, this time at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.^[7]^[8] In the next edition, in 1995, the women's team claimed a second gold medal in the tournament^[9] with a third coming in 2008,^[10] and a fourth in 2010.^[11]

Great Britain's first gold medal in the World Championships was in 2002 in the U-19 men's division, with further golds coming in the 2009 and 2011 women's tournament.^[5]

The country, hosted its first World Championships in 2006, and its first Junior World Championships in 2019, both at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.^[12]^[13]

The sport was badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing the majority of tournaments in 2020 and 2021 cancelled; in addition to 41 clubs out of the 114 registered at the start of the pandemic (36%) folding.^[14]

Today there are 70 clubs registered with the British Octopush Association (68 British and 2 Irish).^[15]

Organisation

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Underwater hockey is govererned nationally in Great Britain by the British Octopush Association (BOA) and has been since 1976. They were recognised as the official governing body for the sport a year later by the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC), governing body for all sub-aqua sport in the United Kingdom, who also still govern the sport but to a limited extended. In 2013, the BOA affiliated itself to BSAC. The BOA runs the Great Britain national team at all levels and is responsible for major national competitions.^[16]^[17]

Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

Scotland and Wales have their own governing bodies for underwater hockey that work with the BOA, Scottish Underwater Hockey and Underwater Hockey Wales respectively. These organise regional competitions for the respective home nations and also run national teams. However the use of the Scottish and Welsh national teams is limited with the Great Britain side being favoured for the majority of competitions.^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]

Underwater hockey in Ireland operates as part of an all-Ireland basis. Therefore, the control in Northern Ireland is that of Comhairle Fo-Thuinn not the BOA.^[22]

Together with Ireland's Comhairle Fo-Thuinn, Scottish Underwater Hockey, and Underwater Hockey Wales organise the Cetic Cup for national teams of the three nations. The tournament began in 2022.

Celtic Cup results

More information Year, Venue ...

Year	Venue	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Ref.
2022	Haverfordwest	Scotland A	Wales A	Ireland B	Ireland A	Wales B	Scotland B	^[23]
2023	Kirkwall	Reformatted due to lack of competitors: Orkney (rep. Scotland) vs Limerick (rep. Ireland)						^[24]
2024	Limerick	Scotland A	Wales A	Scotland B	Merrows (c)	Belfast (c)	—	^[25]

Demographics

Of the 68 British clubs associated with the BOA, 56 are English, 8 are Scottish, and 4 are Welsh. 10 of the 68 clubs are student clubs, these clubs are associated with the universities of Aberdeen, Bangor, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Liverpool, Oxford, Sterling, Plymouth, York, and Warwick. In addition, the BOA had three associated Irish clubs.^[15]

Competitions

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The BOA operates all major underwater hockey competitions in the UK including the National Championships, Nautilus, Ladies National Championships, Veterans Championship, Student Nationals, and Junior Nationals.^[26]^[27]^[28] Other competitions also run throughout the year.

In the UK, the majority of club competitions are mixed-sex.

Competitions are usually held at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds or Ponds Forge in Sheffield.

National Championship

The national championships are a multi round tournament beginning with qualifiers after new year and the finals in late spring or early summer. The winners of the BOA national championships are:^[29]^[30]