I'm on the sidelines at Henderson's West Wave Aquatic Centre with Roger and his daughter Georgia, who has been playing the sport for the last seven years. She switched codes from water polo, and has kept playing since she finished school this year. She says many players also come from free diving or scuba diving.
To play, you'll need togs, a mask, snorkel, fins, a special swimming cap to protect your ears, a mouthguard, gloves and a stick.
"When I first started playing, our team would find gardening gloves and squirt silicone sealant on the fingers but now there are proper underwater hockey gloves," says Georgia.
The stick has also changed, from a long version prior to 1980 to a tiny stick that floats. Roger remembers the sticks being wooden ten years ago but today they're fibreglass composite.
The puck is 1kg and the players push it rather than hit it - as they do in field hockey. It's pushed along the pool floor and into a goal. The games are played in half a pool and the night I come to watch there are two games in the one pool so there's a barrier along the floor so the puck's don't cross over games.
The players become expert at holding their breath as they dive down to get among the action. Georgia tells me the legs and lungs get the most workout and because it's so strenuous, the players are allowed to swap in and out of the game as needed. When not in the game, players sit on the side of the pool and wait their turn.
There are generally three referees underwater at any one game, which lasts for two halves of ten minutes. There are teams of around 10-12 players with six in the water at any one time and the game is never stopped for substitutions.
"There's no talking underwater, no chat, so we have to referee with signals and sounds from clapping metal rods together," says Roger, who tells me the players often wear their position numbers on their caps.
A member of the team walks past and asks Roger where the plasters are but he tells me the sport is not inherently dangerous and there is a sin bin, just like in rugby.
"It's quite social," says Georgia. "My school team sat together at lunchtimes and did everything together because we knew each other so well from playing underwater hockey."
I watch as the players swim like a school of fish, tacking and turning as if following their catch. One team is wearing black caps and holding black sticks, while the other is wearing white caps and holding white sticks.
"You have to develop skills individually and as a team," says Roger. "There's no fat rule book, like in rugby, but it's not totally unstructured, either."
"You end up with lots of bruises every time you play," admits Georgia. "It's quite a messy sport. But, not all are bad bruises."
And the worst part of the sport? Roger says everyone wants to play, but no one wants to referee and there aren't enough good pools to play in. He says some players come to Henderson from as far away as Mahurangi each week.
"You'll find a mixed bunch of abilities in an underwater hockey team," says Georgia. "Water polo is mainstream and attracts more players so they have more athletes to choose from and can have a team filled with A players."
A non-mainstream sport such as underwater hockey will provide your child with confidence, sportsmanship and social contact without the ultra-competitiveness. And best of all, if your child does miss a shot, no one on the sidelines will see.
Take the plunge
2015 New Zealand Secondary School Championships, today 7.15am-8pm, tomorrow 7.15am-noon. Exhibition game with NZ representatives today, 2.26pm. Westwave Aquatic Centre, Henderson.
To find out more about the schools or under-19s teams, go to: underwaterhockeynz.com or aucklandunderwaterhockey.co.nz.
To become a referee, there are training courses available. Email referees@underwaterhockey.org.nz for details.
