ABOUT
What is Underwater Football?
Underwater football is an underwater sport played with two 5 player teams. Underwater Football shares some common rules and play elements with Underwater Hockey and Underwater rugby. As with those games, it is played in the deep end of a swimming pool with snorkeling equipment (mask, snorkel, and fins).
The goal of the game is to score a point by placing a the ball on the opponents side of a pool. The ball can only be possessed by players who are completely submerged underwater holding their breath. The ball must be passed or dropped when going to the surface for air.
Are you ready for some underwater football?
Underwater football has been called one of the world's least known sports. It is also a very Winnipeg thing. It was invented at the University of Manitoba in the '60s and is still played around the world. Now take a deep breath and see if you can hold it until the end of the video
Underwater Football Gameplay
Video from the 2019 tournament between the Saskatoon Seals and the University of Manitoba
ON découvre - Football sous l'eau - #ONIVA!
Radio Canada's program Oniva featured Underwater Football at the University of Manitoba.
Manitobans diving into unique sport of underwater football
You can’t see it from the surface but deep in the blue, a battle has broken out.
Creating all the commotion is underwater football. Yes, football played in a pool.
The made-in-Manitoba sport was first played in 1967. It resembles rugby more than it’s stadium sibling. There’s five swimmers per side equipped with masks, snorkels and fins. Teams score by placing the ball on the edge of the pool.
Underwater Wellness And Rehabilitation
From above water at the University of Manitoba pool, it looks like a regular swim night. But below the surface, a dozen underwater football players tackle and paddle their way across the pool chasing a weighted ball.
“I can’t walk on one foot,” says Keith Peters, the chair of underwater football at the University of Manitoba. “But this is a non-weight-bearing sport, which makes all the difference.”