Well, after posting about underwater hockey the other day, I looked up where it was played in Sydney and it just happened to be at my local pool. So I had no excuses anymore, I just had to go down there and have a go again – probably just to see if I could still do it.
The first part was getting my old gear out to see if it was still OK. It was all a little old and tired and very out of date, but it all still functioned OK. As it had been about 6 years since I last played, and last used most of the gear, it held up pretty good.
My fitness was very bad! I was completely stuffed after the first goal and had to play about 5 or 6 goals – alternating between playing and sitting on the side of the pool completely out of breath. And then that horrible feeling of breaking out in a sweat whilst in cold water – I had forgotten just how strange that feels.
My skills were sort of still all there – in a way. I knew where I had to be, the reaction time was just a lot slower, which means I did not get into the right positions to be much of a team player. I know I was in the right position in one play for goal once in the game, and I felt pretty good about that. After the game, I was stuffed but felt quite good – like i’d done some hard work for a change.
So overall it was a good experience and I will try it again. I don’t know if I will take it up again as a sport, but it did show me that any skill like that is like riding a bike, you don’t forget it. So I think I would like to use my skills in doing something like helping out with the junior development squads or something like that – helping new people at the sport, rather than mixing it with the young and superfit current crop of players.
