Underwater Football

Article by: © Michael J. Rosen 2012

"The Football May Not Be Carried in a Player's Bathing Suit or Any Other Article of Clothing."

- Underwater Football rule book

While the syringe has adversely affected many sports nowadays - Congressional hearings on baseball! Who would've thought? - it's vital to your neighborhood game of underwater football. (It also helps to be dating a nurse or a vet tech.)

In order to make the ball sink, you take the air out of a child-size basketball or normal football and then give it several injections of corn syrup. Once full, the ball is sanded to give it better hydrodynamics for the business of aquatic horseplay. To score a goal, a team must carry and pass the ball across the pool while completely submerged. When a player has the ball, no part of his body may be above the surface-except in an act of scoring, which involves smacking the ball on the pool deck at the opponent's end.

Created in the 1960s by a Manitoba SCUBA instructor (clearly, these folks had a lot of time between dives), underwater football is played throughout Canada. Curiously, despite Canada's non-combative mindset, tackling the ball-carrier is legal; physicality in the game is encouraged, so injuries do occur. Athletes admit that one of the best ways to burst an ear drum is being whacked by a flipper.

With Canadian safety-first mentality in mind, the Web site cautions: "If you are not comfortable in the water or you do know how to swim, you should consider taking swimming lessons before you join the fun..." Or stick to playing the old boring land version of the game.

No Dribbling the Squid

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