God's Coaching #17

God's Coaching #17

Are you ready for some octopush? Okay, that doesn’t have the same ring as “Are you ready for some football?” Maybe that’s why underwater hockey has never caught on big.

When Alan Blake invented underwater hockey in 1954 in Great Britain, he called the sport octopush because eight players worked together on a team to push the puck toward the goal. Of course, the puck was called a squid, and the goal was known as a gulley. Seriously. And you didn’t use a stick; you played with a pusher.

To play underwater hockey, a player needs a mask, a snorkel, flippers, and a glove to protect his or her playing hand from the bottom of the pool. Participants must hold their breaths, dive under the water, and attempt to knock the squid toward their opponent’s gully. Stop laughing; it’s a real sport. In 1976, the British Octopush Association was founded to govern the sport. Today, underwater hockey is played in more than 40 countries and is especially popular in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, and Canada.

What’s the Score?

Underwater hockey may sound a bit strange, but it takes a lot of strategy and skill to do well. The modern game has six players from each team in the water at a time, and it’s important that somebody’s always underwater battling for the puck. The problem is that most players can hold their breaths for only 15 to 20 seconds at a time, so athletes are always going up to the surface.

Being able to breathe is important in underwater hockey and in life. The Bible talks a lot about breath, especially about the power of God’s breath. When Moses led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, they got stuck at the Red Sea. Instead of telling his people to jump in and try to hold their breaths to swim across, God used his breath to part the waters. After Moses and the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, they sang a praise song to God that said, “At the blast of your breath, the waters piled up” (Exodus 15:8).

On the Ball

Read Moses’ song to God in Exodus 15:1-18. Now write your own praise song to God about what he’s done in your life. Maybe you can even write about how God gave you breath.

Coach’s Comment

At the blast of your breath, the waters piled up! The surging waters stood straight like a wall; in the heart of the sea the deep waters became hard. Exodus 15:8