The newest underwater sports
People are always on the lookout for the newest sports. They get bored and tired of playing and watching the same sports over and over again on television, and they actively seek out new things to do. The newest sporting trend is to move underwater. A lot of sports have been played on the ground and even on the water. With huge space in oceans underwater, it seems like a logical choice to make. Two of the strangest underwater sports are slowly gaining in popularity around the world.
The first strange sport comes to us from Austria. Underwater hockey has slowly been gaining ground in the country, and it is played under solid ice. Two teams of players descend into the frigid water wearing diving outfits, masks and holding large sticks in their hands. This game is so unusual because it is played with the players’ heads towards the bottom of the sea, holding their breath the entire time. The game is played with players in inverted position using the bottom of the ice as the rink. The play is held for periods of ten minutes and players get a ten minute rest break after each period. Players resurface every thirty seconds or so for air. This sport has become a major tournament with 8 teams being sent from all over Europe to play against each other in Austria. This sport is not without its dangers because hockey players are naturally competitive people and they sometimes keep on playing despite they need air. Also being under a massive block of ice provides the added problem of not being able to find an opening to get air. These problems necessitated the use of divers with oxygen tanks on hand.
There are many versions of underwater hockey games played around the world. The first one is the slightly crazy one mentioned above; another one is simply played at the bottom of a pool with long hockey sticks and a ball that sits on the floor of the pool. This version of the game was created in 1954 by Alan Blake, as a way to improve the snorkelling abilities of his scuba students. It was first introduced in Canada, and slowly gained popularity until Underwater Hockey Association was formed. This body oversaw the rules, regulations and running of the day to day affairs of the sport. It became so popular that a championship of underwater hockey was held in 1975. From that point on, other underwater sports started to become popular such as underwater rugby and an Underwater Games Association was formed to oversee all the different sports being invented.
The newest underwater sport to emerge is underwater golf. The first underwater golf event was held a few years ago in China in the Zuohai Aquarium in Fuzhou, and it saw players equipped with scuba gear and long golf clubs. Players were submerged in a 15-metre tank and it was believed to be the first tournament of underwater golf to ever be held in the world. A completely different style of play has to be employed to compete the game because of the currents underwater and the pressure that the water exerts on the ball and on the swing of the club. Players learnt to use their wrists and to swing the club much higher than the ball in order to give the ball some flight to cover a long distance. The difficulties in playing underwater golf are similar to underwater hockey in the fact that being underwater players have to face unique challenges and have to employ a completely different and new style of play to their game.
Over the coming years, we will see many more underwater sports being introduced. The reason why so many new sports are introduced every year is because people get bored of doing the same things and they require some variety in their lives. By coming up with new sports every year, they are able to use their creativity and engage in something new and innovative that no one else has done before. Soon as the oceans are conquered we will see the next large venue for sports being utilised; outer space.
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