What do you need to play ?
Players wear mask , fins , snorkel , and a water-polo cap to protect their ears . If you can swim and hold your breath for 30 seconds , you should give it a go . Do teams include both women and men ? Yes , our training and competition is mixed right up to international level . Cheltenham Barracudas recently hosted a women ’ s meet and tournament . OK , how can people get involved ? We have spare equipment for newcomers and the first three sessions at PURE are free . At present our sessions are held at Putney Leisure Centre , from 8.30 to 10.30pm on Thursdays , and at Guildford Spectrum , from 9pm to 10pm on Mondays . In some other countries , players start training from a young age , but we have so far lacked the know-how to safely offer the sport to under-18s . That ’ s another area we ’ d like to work with BSAC on , in time specifically drawing on BSAC ’ s expertise in working with young people , to complement the promotion of snorkelling to this age group .
What do you do apart from training ?
There is a running joke that every newcomer joins a fairly short queue for the GB international underwater rugby team . This is true , and there are GB team players in our club for newcomers to learn with . Despite there only being a few UK clubs , there are several domestic tournaments each year for all skill levels . We also travel to European events through the year , and plan to take some keen newbies to a mix and match in Luxembourg this autumn .
Why underwater rugby ?
We asked PURE members what they liked about the sport .
James Massey , who joined us in Guildford recently having scuba dived and played underwater hockey for years , says : “ Underwater rugby is great fun and any idiot can learn . I love it !”.
Jamie Ganley also joined shortly after we expanded to Guildford in 2023 . He discovered that it was more fun than swimming : “ I was a bit bored of doing lanes , and there was an underwater rugby session going on . I got invited along , was absolutely terrible , but I ’ m here six months later .” ( Note from interviewee : he ’ s actually quite good .)
For some , it extends the possibilities for underwater enjoyment .
Jason Musil has been scuba diving for 10 years but never seriously played a team sport : “ I dived with Roy Sherwin at Teddington SAC , but only learned about the underwater rugby from some rather intense guys at his funeral . When I ’ m playing , it feels as though diving with seals became a competitive sport .”
Other players have come with breath-hold skills from spearfishing or free-diving , while former surface rugby players enjoy both the physical contact and a low-impact environment that is kind to old injuries . Although there is as yet no formal evidence that underwater rugby training improves fitness , strength , swimming ability , and awareness ... all these traits that are so important to scuba divers and snorkellers get better the longer you play .
The 2022 championships in Stavanger , Norway
If the ball breaks the surface , it ' s a free throw to the other team
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