Tonight is the last underwater hockey game of the season. My Dad and I joined up just before Christmas. The first game made me want to run away, if not for the lack of muscle control in my legs. I felt like my whole body was jelly, my lungs had expanded to just before their explosion point, and my ankles were unable to hold my frame up anymore. I didn’t think the redness in my face would ever go away.
Underwater hockey is what it sounds like. We play in a non-competitive* league, on teams of five, with a few substitutes if we’re lucky. We all wear a mask, snorkel and fins. Carrying a stubby mini-stick to the bottom of the pool, we hold our breath passing and stealing the weighted puck trying to get a goal. Or, in my case, trying to stay alive as I swim back up to the surface to inhale.
The overall goal of it is to practice holding our breath and our swimming skills for the upcoming scuba diving session. I admit, it has helped my lung capacity expand, and lately I’ve been coming out of the hour-long games with the ability to walk into the change room, which is a real plus. Without fail though, 10 minutes into every game I think to myself creative excuses I can use to leave the game. I do end up feeling kind of proud of myself for playing the game (No, FYI, I’ve never actually wussed out of a game); last week I even scored a hatrick! (I think because the competitive players who wear water polo ear protection took it easy on me after seeing me flail for air most of the previous game).
So that’s what I’m doing tonight. The end of the underwater hockey season makes me happy, but I will actually miss hanging out with the other players, they’re fun. I sure hope to see them on dives this summer. My Dad and I signed up for the regional forces scuba club, so it looks like we’ll e hitting up some sweet shipwrecks and maybe even the ocean this summer! If you’ve never tried scuba diving, it is amazing. I’ve only ever gone in Jamaica for the last 2 summers where I was trained, but I am hooked. Seeing a whole other world with a whole other environment that is so chill moves me. My favourite moment of all time under water was when my dad and I swam alongside this sea turtle, just calmly making his way home, I guess. Well, he looked over at us with his sea turtle eyes, the same way a driver on the road looks over and gives you a nod, only it was a sea turtle. It was magical. I love the sea.