UWH in Singapore

Hi, I’m Cheoh Pin. I was formerly a basketball player but had to stop playing competitively due to a knee injury. When I was first introduced to Underwater Hockey in Singapore in 2005, I had already been inactive in sports for about 2 to 3 years. It was this exciting and unique water sport that checked the beginnings of an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle, revived the competitive spirit in me and gave me the chance to rediscover anew the love and interest a sport can evoke in me. 

I started out playing as a forward and the position felt very natural to me right from the start. My hunger for the goal, my eagerness to push the puck forward, my ease in the water and with holding my breath enabled me to play with the more experienced players even though I was rather new. However, I soon realized that speed and breath-hold can only account for so much. In order to improve my game, I started to concentrate on the other aspects of play: puck-handling skills, strength-training, game strategy and teamwork. I knew I had to master the basics if I wanted to play better because I needed a solid foundation on which I could build the rest of my skills. Without the benefit of a formal programme with which to hone our skills and game play, the members of our club had to take responsibility for our own development and training and though it was tough at times, the satisfaction one gets from sticking it out – even when it felt at times like the blind was leading the blind – is very rewarding.

In these 6 years, I have played in several competitive and invitational games. Having played the position of a forward (centre forward) since I started, my current challenge is to learn to play as a back. The learning experience has been very enriching so far and that excites and motivates me greatly. It amazed me then and still continues to amaze me now just how much there is to discover about the sport. The learning never stops and new situations present themselves to me each time I play, offering me yet another opportunity to learn about another aspect or facet of the sport I had not considered before or had missed previously. This excites me.

As Captain of the ladies team, I lead and guide with extensive and invaluable help from our Aussie coach, Lena Plambeck, who has been my source of inspiration and is, in my eyes, a legend in her own right. Although we are a very young team (the average number of playing years of the ladies team is less than 3 years), the luxury of having a women’s team motivates all of us to work extremely hard in our bid to move the team forward. Because we could not form a full women’s team until 2010 due to the lack of female players in Singapore previously, all of us really cherish this privilege and see this as a precursor to greater and better things to come in the development of the sport in Singapore. For now, our next goal is to win the Asian Underwater Hockey Championship, 2011 that will be held in Singapore this December. 

Underwater Hockey has become, for me, a passion and addiction and I am very proud to label myself a ‘hockey addict’. After a long and tiring day from work, a session of UWH never fails to rejuvenate; leaving me recharged and looking forward to the next session in a few days time. I believe this passion for and devotion towards UWH will continue as I long as I can still hold my breath and manoeuvre the puck, embodying my personal hockey motto ’Breathing can wait’.

Underwater Hockey In Singapore

In 2004, our three founders, Greg Bush, Joey Carpio and Christine Alindada and 4 local swimmers played their first underwater hockey game with a few sticks and a puck in the Queenstown Swimming Pool, Singapore. To date, our club, presently the only one in Singapore has about 50 registered members, comprising of 15 women and 35 men, age ranging from 17-52. We gather to play regularly on every Tuesday and Friday from 7 to 9pm at Queenstown Swimming Pool. The regular turnout is 20-30 for every session, with occasional visits from overseas players, who love underwater hockey like we do. Having been around for almost 7 years, the club has played in several competitive and invitational games in Perth in Australia, Manila in Philippines, Jakarta in Indonesia.

Underwater Hockey in the Asia is still a relatively new sport, let alone Singapore. In all effort to improve our skill level, our club frequently hold introductory sessions for people who wants to try out this game, to find out for themselves, what makes us ‘addicts’ to underwater hockey.