Rochdale Snorkelling and Underwater Hockey Club has been based at Oulderhill for 25 years and is looking for new players for the new pool.

The club teaches snorkelling techniques and practices underwater hockey on Wednesday nights at Oulderhill Pool 8:30 to 9:30 on Wednesday evenings.

Underwater hockey is played on the bottom of the pool by teams of 6 players using a small wooden bat and a “puck” instead of a ball.  The Rochdale junior teams have enjoyed successes in recent years and several players have gone on to represent Great Britain at Under-19 and Elite levels.

Training improves personal fitness, builds confidence in the water, teaches playing techniques and teamwork.

The game is suitable for anyone who can swim at least 2 lengths and who is confident in the water, all equipment can be provided.

The Wednesday session is suitable for all juniors and adult beginners and we are looking for new recruits.

If you are planning to come along or would like more information, please call Mick Hyde on 01706 646988 or Barrie Whitehead on 01706 373967

The attached picture is of Adam Morris,  who represented Great Britain Under 19’s Team at the World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In small groups, swimming relays, the juniors swam a total of 320 widths underwater in Oulderhill Pool to raise over £750 for Sport Relief.

A lot of the young people participating in this charity event, have only recently joined the snorkelling club and it is a major achievement for many of them to be able to complete just one width underwater.  Most of the people taking part completed at least 10 widths and some did in excess of 20, which enabled the club to exceed our target in just under 20 minutes.

A former Rochdale junior player, Mark Price who has recently been selected for the Great Britain Squad, took part in a challenge to swim a mile underwater individually in Glasgow over the weekend.  Along with two members of the GB Ladies Elite Team they each swam 71 lengths of a pool.

Underwater hockey improves confidence in the water and is a great team sport for all,  the Rochdale Club meets at Oulderhill Pool on Wednesday evenings 8:15pm for juniors and beginners and at Manchester Aquatics Centre on Monday evenings for experienced players.

Anyone interested in finding out more about underwater hockey can call Mick Hyde on 01706 646988.

Rochdale Mantas, the under 16s team, competed in the National Finals in Loughborough last weekend.

Twenty four teams from all over Great Britain took part in the competition.  The majority of the Mantas team are relatively new to the sport, with most having been playing for less than 12 months and some for only 3 months.   

They were initially seeded into a strong pool of teams for the first round of matches.

Their first game was against TSW (The South West),  it was a bit of a shock for the Mantas to be playing in a pool that was 2 metres deep with no shallow end and they struggled to get to the bottom of the pool at the correct time. TSW scored 3 in the first half but Rochdale got their act together in the second half and restricted them to just one more.  Final score 4-0

The second game was against Plymouth, winners of the competition 2 years ago. Rochdale conceded the first 2 goals but through good team work and fast breakaways George Wright and Charlotte Watson were able to score 2 goals before half time to level the score.  In the second half, the greater fitness of the Plymouth team wore down the Rochdale defence and they lost 7-2.

Their third game was against the Orkney Vikings, Orkney are a very strong well organised team, the score ended up at 8-0.  Not surprisingly, they went on to win every game in a similar fashion and took the trophy away to Orkney as National Champions.

The last game of the first round was against The South East (TSE).  Rochdale got off to a fast start and forced their opponents to defend constantly in the first half, Charlotte Watson getting the first goal with strong support from James Wright and Robert Scott.  The second half brought 2 more goals for George Wright and Natalie Morris to give the Mantas their first win 3-0.

In the second part of the competition, a further round robin was played.  Rochdale were warmed up now and were ready to put their training and stamina to the test.

Their next game was against the Orkney second team.  Orkney got a very quick first goal, but Rochdale replied with a hat-trick from George Wright to put Rochdale in front 3-1 at half time.  At the re-start, once again Orkney got a quick goal, but they didn’t see the Rochdale goal after that.  The Mantas went on to score 6 more goals, from Natalie Morris, Frazer Mottershead, Charlotte Watson, Anthony Platt and George Wright (2)  making the final score 9-2.

Pembroke were next, and this time it was Rochdale’s youngest player (and probably the youngest at the Championships) turn to get on the score sheet.  Zach Tait got 3 excellent goals to help Rochdale to an 8-3 victory, with others from James Wright (2), Anthony Platt, Elliott Mottershead and Robert Scott.

Their final game was against The South East (TSE) again.  Initially Rochdale took the lead, but then Natalie Morris, the Manta’s inspirational captain, got cramp and had to sub out of the pool for the first time in the competition.  Despite some stout defending, Rochdale conceded 2 goals to put them behind at half time.  In the second half Natalie was able to sub back in and the Rochdale defence were able to keep TSE pinned back in their own half.  The Rochdale attack wore down TSE and scored 4 times to give a final score of 5-2.  Goals from Charlotte Watson, George Wright, Zach Tait and Robert Scott.

In the final placings, Rochdale came a very creditable 7th.  This was an excellent result for a very inexperienced team, who will go on to better results in the coming years.