Underwater Hockey (
UWH), (also called
Octopush (mainly in the
United Kingdom)) is a globally played limited-
contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a
puck across the bottom of a
swimming pool into the opposing team's
goal by propelling it with a
pusher. It originated in
England in 1954 when Alan Blake, the founder of the newly formed
Southsea Sub-Aqua Club, invented the game he called Octopush as a means of keeping the club's members interested and active over the cold winter months when open-water diving lost its appeal. Underwater Hockey is now played worldwide, with
CMAS as the world governing body. The first
Underwater Hockey World Championship was held in
Canada in 1980 after a false start in 1979 brought about by international politics and apartheid.