Victoria versus Western Australia at the 2004 Nationals in Tasmania, Australia.

Underwater hockey has been played in Australia since 1966 and is played in most states and territories. As of September 2013, Australia has been very successful at the international level finishing in the top three 43 times including being the world champion in various divisions 23 times out of 53 appearances at 17 international events.

History

Underwater hockey has been played in Australia since 1966. Its introduction is attributed to Norm Leibeck, an Australian who returned from Canada both with Marlene, his Canadian bride, and a recently-acquired knowledge of underwater hockey then known as Octopush. The first Australian Underwater Hockey Championships was held in 1975 at Margaret River, Western Australia as part of the Australian Skindiving Convention (now called the Australian Underwater Championships). A Women's division was added to the championships in 1981 and a Junior division commenced in 1990.^[1][2][3]

Domestic competitions

Underwater hockey is played at venues in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.^[4] The national championships are held annually and as an event separate from the Australian Underwater Championships since 1994.^[5][6]

As of 2017, the Australia nationals have six separate divisions based on age and gender – Under 15, Under 19 Mixed, Under 19 Women's, Masters, Elite Women's and Elite Men's.^[7]

National team

Australia has played at world level since the inaugural world championship event in 1980 including hosting events in Brisbane during 1982, Adelaide during 1986 and Hobart during 2000. Australia did not send teams to the 15th CMAS World Championship in 2007 or to the 16th CMAS World Championship in 2009.^[8][9][10]

Australia's placings in world championships

Year	Championship	Location event	Men (M)	Women (W)	Masters	W masters	Under 19 Open	M Under 19	W Under 19	M Under 23	W Under 23
1980	1st CMAS World Championship	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada[11]	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	2nd CMAS World Championship	Brisbane, Australia[12]	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	3rd CMAS World Championship	Chicago, United States[13][14]	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1986	4th CMAS World Championship	Adelaide, Australia[15]	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1988	5th CMAS World Championship	Amersfoort, Netherlands[16]	1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1990	6th CMAS World Championship	Montreal, Quebec, Canada[17]	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	7th CMAS World Championship	Wellington, New Zealand[18]	1	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	8th CMAS World Championship	Grand Couronne, France[19]	1	1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	9th CMAS World Championship	Durban, South Africa[20]	1	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	10th CMAS World Championship	San José, United States[21]	3	2	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	11th CMAS World Championship	Hobart, Australia[22]	1	1	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
2002	12th CMAS World Championship	Calgary, Alberta, Canada[23]	1	1	5	2	-	-	-	-	-
2004	13th CMAS World Championship	Christchurch, New Zealand[24]	2	3	2	2	3	-	-	-	-
2006	14th CMAS World Championship	Sheffield, United Kingdom[25][26]	4	1	6	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	1st WAA World Championships	Durban, South Africa[27][28]	4	1	2	-	5	-	-	-	-
2011	17th CMAS World Championship	Coimbra, Portugal[29][30]	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2013	18th CMAS World Championship	Eger, Hungary[31]	3	4	1	1	-	4	4	2	-
2016	19th CMAS World Championship	Stellenbosch, South Africa[32]	1	6	1	1	-	-	-	-	-

Governance

The peak body is the Underwater Hockey Commission (known as Underwater Hockey Australia) of the Australian Underwater Federation (AUF). There are state commissions in all states and territories with the exception of the Northern Territory. Underwater hockey has a coaching stream as part of the AUF's coaching program in underwater sport with two levels being accredited with the Australian Government's National Coaching Accreditation Scheme (NCAS).^[33][34]