History of Underwater Hockey
Underwater hockey was invented by the British Navy in the 1950’s to keep their divers fit and to improve their ability to move and work efficiently under water.
The game came to New Zealand shortly after and has evolved into a fast, dynamic sport, played in more than 20 countries.
World champs are played every second year around April/May, and in the alternative year New Zealand play Australia and South Africa in a tri-nations tournament.
New Zealand is the only country in the world that runs an underwater hockey program through its schools - raising the profile of the sport to a large, young audience and creating a substantial pool of players for NZ teams to be chosen from.
The end result is that when you get in the pool in NZ at a National final, you are playing against some of the best players in the world in their age group.
Mahu UWH Club has achieved excellent results at the National level and we are proud to have a number of our players play for New Zealand and selected for current NZ squads. 2019 saw 7 current and past Mahu students take home three Gold medals and a Bronze for NZ at the World Championships held in England.
2019
NZ U19 Womens take Gold at Worlds (2 students)
NZ U19 Mens take Gold at Worlds (past student)
NZ U24 Womens take Gold at Worlds (3 past students)
NZ U24 Mens take Bronze (past student)
Snr Open take Bronze at Nationals (Wellington)
Snr Open place 5th at Regionals
Jnr Open Take Silver at Regionals
Jnr Girls take Silver at Regional
2018
Snr Girls take Gold at Nationals (Wellington)
Snr Open placed 5th at Nationals (Wellington)
Jnr Girls place 5th at Nationals (Wellington)
Snr Girls take Silver at Regionals (Tauranga)
Jnr Girls place 4th at Regionals (Henderson)
Snr Open A take Bronze at Auckland Senior School Competition
Jnr Open A places 4th at Auckland Senior School Competition
2017
Snr Open placed 5th at Nationals (Tauranga)
Jnr Open placed 6th at Nationals (Tauranga)
Jnr Open take Bronze at Regionals (Henderson)
Snr Open take Silver at Auckland Senior School Competition
Jnr Open take Gold at Auckland Senior School Competition
2016
Jnr Girls take Silver at Nationals (Wellington)
Jnr Girls take Silver at Regionals (Henderson)
Jnr Girls take Silver at Auckland Senior School Competition
Jnr Open take Bronze at Auckland Senior School Competition
2015
Snr Open take Gold at Nationals (Henderson)
Jnr Girls take Bronze at Regionals (Henderson)
2014
Jnr Girls take Bronze at Nationals (Tauranga)
#mahupride
a real sport?
Here's some perspective...
Our Senior Girls 2018 campaign to attain their National Gold Medal ran from June to September. The team trained a minimum of 6 times a week both in and out of the water, with additional gym training. Playing in both the Auckland School League and in the Auckland Adult Club League, they gave significant hours to the sport and many late nights and weekends.
A referee of the National final said our ‘Mahu girls were all over them, dominating the game’. They won 2 – 0 in the final, beating the top 10 Senior Girls Teams in the country.
