OctOpush

 OctOpush  

Octopush is the other name of Underwater Hockey in which two teams compete with each other for pushing a flat ball (puck) to the other’s team goal with the help of a special type of hockey stick (also known as a pusher). It was first played in 1954 in Southsea, England. It is generally played in swimming pools. Initially, in this game, each team had eight members, and hence ‘octo’ word comes from it, and since Pusher is used to push the ball, so ‘push’ word is derived from it. This whole name “octopush” was kept to make this game more attractive.  

The first Octopush competition was held in 1955 between three clubs Southsea, Bournemouth, and Brighton in which Southsea had won the tournament. This sport had reached South Africa in 1950  and in Canada in 1962 and in Australia in 1966. In Asia, this sport first arrived in 1970 in the Philippines. Now this game has spread in more than 30 countries across the world. The first Underwater Hockey  World Championship was first held in 1980 in Canada.  

Now each team can have a maximum of 10 players in which only 6  players can play at a time and the other 4 players can be substituted time by time. This game consists of two halves of 10-20 minutes each depending upon the type of tournament after which both teams switch their ends. At the starting of the game, the puck is placed in the middle bottom of the swimming pool. When the referee gives the signal then both team members start to swim in the water and try to put the puck in the goal post of the opposing team. Players are prohibited from touching the bottom of the pool, failing to do so will result in passing the ball to the opponent team. During the whole game, if any  type of misconduct happens then the referee gives the penalty. For  example, if an opponent tries to stop the puck with anything other than a pusher then the whole team is pushed three metre back from the  puck as a penalty, and the other team is given full possession of the puck.  

There are many pieces of equipment used in this game. Some of them are  Mask which is used for clear underwater vision, swimwear, snorkel which enables the player to remain underwater and play games consistently, Puck (a flat ball), Pusher (through which the player pushes the puck). Gloves which are used to protect hands from being damaged from the bottom of the pool etc.  

Since this game started gaining popularity and various tournaments are also being played, so different teams have made their own strategies and defense techniques to place the players in the pool.  They place different numbers of players in forward, middle and backward positions such as 3-2-1, 2-2-2, 2-3-1, 2-1-2-1, etc. These are done in order to successfully defend against the attack of opponent teams.  

This game is really interesting and gaining popularity slowly. Till now it is not played in the Olympics but it is recognized by the Olympic committee and is governed by the World Underwater Federation.  

Article By- Abhas Raj