Hockey in a snorkel? Evansville Underwater Hockey brings players of all ages out to swim

EVANSVILLE − The hockey players glide toward the goal. Eyes locked on their target, they’re neck and neck as they push the puck further and further. It touches the goal line − and the players rise to the pool’s surface to grab a breath.

This isn't a hockey game on ice. It's underwater, where players push a weighted puck along the pool floor to a nine-foot goal, all while holding their breath.

“Once you’re close to the goal, you figure out how to hold your breath just a little bit longer,” Cammie Holm, an Evansville Underwater Hockey club member said. “You may come up purple, but hey!”

Underwater hockey isn’t new. It’s been around since the 1950s, when the British Navy invented the sport to keep its divers fit.

Evansville’s team, though, is only a few months old. Founder Dominic Poggi picked up underwater hockey in Chicago, but when he moved to Evansville in 2018, there was nowhere to play. He started contacting local pools in hopes of starting a local club during COVID.

The Deaconess Aquatic Center agreed. Poggi reached out to Atlantis Sports, a nationwide underwater hockey nonprofit, who supplied equipment. After a few months of organizing, Evansville Underwater Hockey held its first meeting in March. Eight people came to that first practice; since then, they’ve had around six people consistently, and they’re always looking for new players.

Anyone can join the club, even if they don’t have competitive swimming experience, Poggi said. It’s a great way to get out of the house and try something new, especially as a form of exercise.

“I hate doing cardio, I hate running. I can't even swim laps,” Poggi said. “But give me a snorkel mask and fins, and that's a way more fun thing in the pool.”

Club members range widely in age. One of the oldest members, Becky Barrett, is 53, while the club’s youngest member is 14.

Barrett, as well as Cammie Holm and Holm’s husband Cliff, said she joined Poggi’s underwater hockey club after her children left for college. It’s a good way to meet new people, she said, and she likes that it’s low-impact.

The club held a skills clinic in September, its first major event. It was led by Tristan Debrunner, a member of Atlantis Sports and a member of the USA Elite Men's underwater hockey team, to teach fundamentals, skills and strategies.

The club is small, but the members love it, Poggi said. He understands underwater hockey may not be for everyone in Evansville, but he hopes he can find the ones for who it is.

“In this community, there’s maybe 50 people, that’s my rough guess, who would actually be willing to do this,” Poggi said. “My job is to wade through the 320,000 people in our region and find those 50 people. It means that I just have to keep beating that drum.”

Regular practices for the club are on Mondays and Thursdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Deaconess Aquatic Center. For more information, visit www.uwhevv.com

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville Underwater Hockey brings players of all ages out to swim