While the average ice hockey players need layers of equipment to protect themselves from injuries, a few players use the complete opposite. They wear bathing suits, masks, snorkels and fins. They are known as underwater hockey players.

Though underwater hockey has been around for a couple of decades, Chicago’s hockey team is trying to recruit new members to join its club. It’s one of the few sports where anyone can play against one another, despite gender and age.

The game is similar to ice hockey. There are two teams, a puck, hockey sticks and a goal.  Aside from the water, other differences include shorter games, smaller wooden sticks, a heavier puck and it’s more of a 3-D than regular hockey because of the pool, the surface and the water.

Ben Tolsky got involved with the sport 11 years ago when he was a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined the team because he wanted to try something new.

Having a small community of players helps them get to know each other. Since they can’t communicate underwater, learning how others play is a key factor.

“When we go to tournaments we see all of our friends from around the country,” he said. “Everyone knows everyone. If there’s a team, I know someone there. When we travel overseas, we meet players over there, as well.”

Tolsky said having an ice hockey background is not necessary because the rules are different. Holding your breath and knowing how to swim are two key factors. Beginners usually have trouble not breathing for more than a minute, but after a while they can last longer without stopping to catch their breath.

“I was a lifeguard and a lot of our players have that type of background,” he said. “They’re either lifeguards or from the swim team. Then we have players with no background at all; they get in the pool, and it’s the first time they play hockey. It’s a very diverse

group.”

Throughout the years, Richard Bell, another member of the group, has learned that playing the game requires a lot of teamwork and practice. If one of the teammates is catching their breath on the surface, the rest in the water have to play without them. They have to switch places in time to allow the others to catch their breath.

Bell has been playing for a couple of years now and, because he was a lifeguard, he had no problem with the swimming aspect of it. But seeing how long people held their breath underwater did scare him.

“It’s still one of the really hard parts of it, the whole panic feeling and making it go away,” Bell said. “You get much better at it, and now I’m working at not getting so [energized] during a play, so that I’m relaxed and my heart doesn’t beat that quickly so that I have more bottom time.’

Both Bell and Tolsky have suffered injuries from the sport, since the pucks weigh three pounds and are made out of lead, so once it hits a player’s skin, the wound will be so deep that stitches would be necessary.

Tolsky said he broke his nose during practice once, and Bell broke a knuckle at a competition. They agreed that those injuries were not severe compared to what other players suffer playing ice hockey.

“We don’t hurt our knees,” Tolsky said, “since [we’re] not running, [we’re] kicking. So knees, ankles and stuff you injure in other sports doesn’t happen [in underwater hockey].”

The only time there are referees is during tournaments. One is at the surface, and two view from the bottom. They wear bright orange gloves, and they wave them in the air in order to make a call.

Bell said he plays his best when playing on the same team as women because they always play in unison. One of the many women in the club, Maria de Caussin, has been playing since the ’90s.

“I’ve competed in five world competitions with the U.S. world team,” de Caussin said. “I have always been involved in sports, but ice hockey has been the one that has gotten me the furthest.”

Bell hopes more people would join the game and let go of their fears.

“When someone new comes in we put duct tape on their stick so everyone knows they’re new,” Tolsky said. “The first time they come they learn about the rules, the second time about the equipment and the third time we let them have fun. If they still don’t like it, then we let them go.”

For more information on how to join Chicago’s underwater hockey club, visit ChicagoUWH.com.