2022 USA Underwater Rugby Nationals
2022 UWR Florida Cup
The new UWR club Florida Inter organized the 2022 Florida Cup, event parallel to the USA Finswimming World Cup that took place at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex in Florida.
Eight teams in the Mixed division and three from the Women division competed along two USA men teams and one USA women team as preparation for the 2023 World Championships in Montreal Canada.
The US national teams participated only in the group stage while only the club teams follow to the semifinals and finals of the competition. Teams from abroad where invited but the current political situation around the world have impacted the appointments for visas and only a few players with previously issued visas where able to travel, most of them reinforcing the local teams.
In the mixed division the top seeded club team in group A, NUWR from New Jersey had a smooth classification defeating all the other club teams ( Boston, NJ hammerheads B, Fl Inter B) and only loosing to the USA Red team. On group B, and the current USA National Champion NJ hammerheads won all the games against the club teams in their group (FL Inter A, Tallahassee, SF Pulpos) and also the USA Blue team.
Semifinal matches had NUWR playing against the hosts Florida Inter A were NUWR got a 4-0 win and advanced to the finals later on Sunday. The other semi-final had for the first time two teams from the same club, NJ Hammerheads A and NJ Hammerheads B who make history qualifying to semi-finals after a tie in points to Boston and only one goal on the differential gave them the spot to play against their A team. NJ Hammerheads A got a well fought game and victory of 10-0.
The final game had the top two teams from New Jersey, NUWR and NJ Hammerheads on which Hammerheads got the lead 1-0 on the first half, and early on the second half got and advantage of 2-0 which at the end lead the Hammerheads to win the gold and keep the momentum on top of UWR in the US.
On the women’s division, The NJ Hammeheads Women got their first gold medal after several tournament participations on the young ladies tournaments in the US. On the group stage, the Hammerheads lost only to the NUWR team 0-2, the getting a tie 1-1 on their second round robin game, and finally meeting again on the final game for the gold on which the teams got a goaless match that ended up on a series of penalty throws that also ended in a tie 2-2. Later going to the one round penalty throws, the Hammerhads finally defeated NUWR with a 0(3)-0(2) score.
The USA UWR committee decided that the following tournament will be the 2022 USA National Championship to take place in New Haven Connecticut in September. This event will serve as the qualification event to participate on this year’s Champions Cup in Berlin late in November.
2021 US Underwater Rugby Nationals – Denver, CO
By Timmy Burke
Congratulations to all USA UWR Athletes who completed and assisted in the 2021 UWR National Championships in Thornton, Colorado on November 13-14, 2021. Thanks to the huge effort by Katrina Finlay and the Colorado UWR club, USA UWR Nationals was an outstanding success. As you know, the 2020 Nationals were cancelled and it required some heavy lifting with short notice by Colorado UWR to ensure the 2021 event was to happen. The facility was outstanding and Colorado also ensured that CMAS Qualified referees were on hand which is always desired.
There were 12 teams total: 8 teams in the Open Division and 4 teams in the Women’s Division. We also had 2 new UWR Clubs competing at the Tournament (Colorado and Tallahassee). The level to which the new teams played was immense and bodes well for USA UWR going forward. Both the Women’s and Men’s USA National Teams had tryouts the Friday before which will help in the effort for the 2023 World Championships.
The women’s teams who competed were the Amazons, Colorado, Hammerheads and Makos, with Colorado winning the 2021 Women’s National Champions. In the Open Division, the competing teams were Colorado, DC Tallahassee, Hammerheads, Hammerheads B, Krakens, Narwhals, Newark, and Sea Bass, with the Hammerheads as the 2021 National Champions, We look forward to 2022, with tournaments in Newark and Coral Springs already being scheduled!
Standings and Statistics HERE
Tallahassee Underwater Rugby Club (TURC)
In the past couple of years some videos and pictures have surfaced from the underwater world in the north of Florida. A new team called TURC (Tallahassee Underwater Rugby Club) have started practices, and more and more players are joining the club after the Covid Pandemic break.
UWRUGBY.ORG contacted their organizer Mischa Steurer for a quick interview and introduce Tallahassee Underwater Rugby to the rest of US and Canadian Clubs.
UWRUGBY.ORG: It was a great surprise to find that a new Florida team has joined the UW Rugby world! How did Tallahassee UWR started?
Mischa Steurer: I played UWR for 15 years in Austria and Switzerland. After coming to the US in 2001, I lost track of the sport for a long while. In the spring of 2019, I ran into Joerg Hess, a fellow from Germany who also played there for several years prior to coming to the US. We instantly connected and started the club. Joerg knew the coach of the aquatics program of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) who offered us time in the pool to get stated. So we stretched out feelers and found some folks interested to try it. Of course, we needed baskets and balls. So Joerg ordered balls from Germany and I constructed baskets from PVC pipe and rubber mats I had left over. The team steadily grew and after about 1 year we had around 12 folks on the list most of them playing regularly once a week. We even planned to attend a tournament organized by the Florida Krakens in the spring of 2020. Then, the pandemic hit. After a year of pause we could finally restart again about 2 months ago. By now, we have 16 players on our list of which around 10 play regularly twice a week.
UWRUGBY.ORG: Who is the organizer?
M. S. Me, my wife Maria, and Joerg. The “oldies” from Europe J.
UWRUGBY.ORG: Where is Tallahassee located?
M. S. Almost exactly between Jacksonville and Pensacola, Florida, about 5h drive south of Atlanta and 4h drive north-west of Orlando. It is actually the capital of Florida.
UWRUGBY.ORG: How many days a week does your team practice UWR?
M. S. Two (Monday and Thursday)
UWRUGBY.ORG: Having the real UWR goals is a big milestone for clubs. Does Tallahassee have them yet?
M. S. We have goals. But not the “real” ones you may be referring to. Our goals are the proper size, though.
UWRUGBY.ORG: How many players do you have? How do you see their future in UWR?
M. S. Currently, we have 16 players on our list. Most of them just started in the last 2 months. Only four remained from the bunch who played before the pandemic. As for aspirations, right now we are just happy to have some quality training time and full body workout twice a week. As we train the team we may consider seeking tournaments in the future. However, we have a significant disadvantage with our pool being only 10 ft. 3 in deep.
UWRUGBY.ORG: How did you find out about Underwater Rugby? What’s your experience?
M. S. I played UWR for 15 years in Austria (Vienna) and Switzerland (Zurich). I came to know the Vienna UWR club after I asked my scuba instructor at the university how I could improve my swimming with fins technique. Then I got hooked on UWR. It was a big part of a long period of my life. Back then I played tournaments but never aspired to make it into the national league. I would say I am a fairly experienced player, though.
UWRUGBY.ORG: US and Canadian clubs started a collaboration to develop the sport in both sides of the border through the North American League (NAL) Do you see your team going to tournaments in the US anytime soon?
M. S. As I said, we are still far away from attending tournaments. Whether that will ever become a driver for us we shall see. First, we need a set of players who stay for a long time and learn the sport really well.
UWRUGBY.ORG: A couple of years ago the US clubs started a big effort to start the ladies UWR league. How do you see the interest of ladies on UWR? How many girls are in your team?
M. S. We are so lucky to have five ladies on our team, including my wife Maria J. They are doing very well and have a lot of fun chasing us boys through the pool.
UWRUGBY.ORG: What are your plans for Tallahassee UWR in the near future and on the long run?
M. S. Near future: keep on growing in numbers so we have a more solid base of long term members for sustainability. In the long run I hope to attend the occasional tournament.
UWRUGBY.ORG: What are the dimensions and characteristics of your pool?
M. S. Depth: 10’-3” (3.1 m)
Width: 42’-7” (13 m)
Length: 83’-4” (25.4 m)
UWRUGBY.ORG: Having UWR clubs nearby is a great help for UWR development. Have you been in contact with the Florida Krakens in Pompano Beach or the keys?
M. S. Yes. As I said we actually planned to attend at tournament in Pompano Beach last year but then Covid hit.
UWRUGBY.ORG: Do you want to send a message for the US and Canadian UWR teams?
M. S. I would send greetings to the SFO team. I had a pleasure to be guest player with their awesome team while on a business trip in 2019. Also a shout out to Angela and Nicole from the FL Kraken. I hope to finally see the Kraken team in person in the not too distant future.
Photo: Tallahassee Underwater Rugby Club partial Team – Mischa Steurer
27th North American Tournament – Newark 2020
This past weekend, the New Jersey Hammerheads Club had the honor to host the first UWR event of 2020. The 27th North American Tournament and USA round of the North American League for UW Rugby.
Two new records were set on North American tournaments, the first one, five clubs participated with A and B teams, and also this was the tournament with the most number of teams on the open division, 12 teams. Unfortunately, the women’s division didn’t take place as only two women teams registered (CT Makos and NJ Hammerhead Ladies) although they had an exhibition game, won by the current US Champions, CT Makos 3-0 over the Hammerheads Ladies. Their second exhibition game on Sunday was canceled due to time constraints.
The 12 participating teams were divided into three groups: Group A: with Boston Nw, DC Dev, NUWR A, NJ Hammerheads B; Group B: NJ Hammerheads A, Camo, CT Makos A, NUWR B; Group C: Florifornia (mixed team from California and Florida), DC Adv, Boston Fw, CT Makos B
Group A was led by NUWR A team winning all their games and followed by the Boston Narwhals FW team. The Narwhals participated this time with two even teams rather than an A & B team. The NJ Hammerheads B team secured the 3rd place in the group after defeating the DC DEV team.
Group B was dominated by the NJ hammerheads A team winning all their games and followed by the Canadian club, CAMO. The Makos B won over Newark B getting 3rd place in the group
Group C had the mixed team Florifornia on 1st place over Boston Narwhals FW. qualifying both teams to semi-finals. DC ADV team got 3rd place over the CT Makos B team.
Final Game – NJ Hammerheads A (white) vs NUWR A (blue) The Hammerheads won over NUWR by 2-1
The semifinals had three games that qualified their respective winners to a Final triangular round for (1st-3rd place) and their losers to a final triangular round for (4th-6th place). The rest of the teams on 3rd place and 4th place on their groups qualified directly final triangular rounds for (7th-9th) and (10th-12th) respectively.
Semis started with very exciting games. SF1 had the host team NJ hammerheads A defeating Boston narwhals FW by a clear 4-0. SF2 was won by Florifornia over Boston Narwhals NW by 2-0 on a more disputed game. SF3 was decided on the favor of NUWR A over CAMO by a clear 3-0 score. With these results, NJ Hammerheads A, Florifornia and NUWR A teams qualified for the final games for 1-3 places
On the first final game NJ Hammerheads was dominating the game by 2-0 and NUWR A managed to score with a few minutes left to attempt the equalizer at the lend NJ hammerheads led the game getting their first 3 points. On the second game, NUWR A met Florifornia and got a very exciting victory 3-1 over the mixed team. Then NUWR A had to wait for the final round game between NJ Hammerheads A and Florifornia to see their final position on the tournament. This last game came closer and more disputed than expected only decided by a penalty throw in favor of the Hammerheads on which their forward and coach Juan Riomaña were able to score for a final victory 1-0 over Florifornia.
The final positions of the 27th North American Tournament and US round of the North American League were:
- NJ Hammerheads A
- NUWR A
- Florifornia
- CAMO
- Boston Narwhals NW
- Boston Narwhals FW
- DC Devilrays ADV
- CT Makos A
- NJ Hammerheads B
- NUWR B
- CT Makos B
- DC Devilrays DEV
Top Scorers:
- Daniel Lopez (NUWR A) 18
- Juan Riomaña (NJ Hammerheads A) 15
- Mike Picot (Boston Narwhals FW) 8
- Timmy Burke (Boston Narwhals NW) 8
- Cesar Florez (CAMO) 7
Top Scorer Team:
- NUWR A 37
- NJ Hammerheads A 32
- Florifornia 25
Best Defense Team:
- NJ Hammerheads A 1
- NUWR A 4
- Florifornia 7
This event was the first of the US round of the North American League UWR for 2020. The Canadian round will take place in the second semester of 2020 in a city TBD soon.
For full results of this tournament and stats of the NAL 2020 Click HERE
1st Place – New Jersey Hammerheads A
2nd Place – NUWR A
3rd Place – Florifornia Mix
Final Standings for the 2018-19 US UW Rugby Season
Final Standings for the 2018-19 US UW Rugby Season
2018-19 TOP SCORER OPEN DIVISION
- Tomas Galeano – Boston Narwhals – 22 goals
- Juan Pablo Riomaña – NJ hammerheads – 16 goals
- Mateo Galeano – Boston Narwhals – 15 goals
2018-19 TOP SCORER womEN DIVISION
- Charlene Carmona – Connecticut Makos-L – 16 goals
- Yuliana Agudelo – DC UWR – L – 12 goals
- Laurie Picot – Boston Narwhals – 10 goals
Full results: CLICK HERE FOR 2018-19
24th National Tournament Underwater Rugby – Boston 2019
The 2018-19 US Underwater Rugby Season continued during the weekend of February 15-16 in Quincy, Massachusetts hosted for the second time by the Boston Narwhals.
Its been a while since the Boston Narwhals hosted the 2nd North American tournament back in 2012. US UW Rugby has grown since then, where only 4 US clubs, a mixed (orphan) team and 2 Canadian clubs participated. The mixed orphan team surprised everyone winning the tournament.
This time 8 teams on the open division and 5 teams in the women’s division (including a Canadian female team for the first time!) met to compete in what became a very exiting UWR weekend.
The open division was divided into two groups on which the runners-up from the last tournament the NJ Hammerheads met the CT Makos, Toronto UWR and Boston Narwhals B. Group B had the defending champions Boston Narwhals A, CAMO RS, Florida Krakens and SF Sea Bass.
Group A was dominated by HJ Hammerheads followed by the CT Makos. Group B was very competitive and games came with very tight scores, qualifying the Boston Narwhals A and Florida Krakens to semifinals.
The open division semifinal games had Boston Narwhals A beating CT Makos by 6-0 and on a close game the NJ hammerheads beat Florida Krakens by 1-0 in the last minute of the game
The final was again a very disputed game between the hosts Boston Narwhals A and NJ Hammerheads. The Narwhals took the lead early on the game with a quick counter-strike by Mateo Galeano, followed by a second goal five minutes later by the other Galeano brother, Tomas for a 2-0 lead. The Hammerheads responded 30 second later with a quick goal before the end of the first half and the score of 2-1.
The second half was extremely disputed and time-penalties affected both teams performances but at the end it was the Boston Narwhals that were able to keep the score to their advantage and winning the Second Round of the 2018-19 Season.
On the ladies side the CT Makos participated with 2 teams, along with the Boston Narwhals, DC UWR and for the first time a Canadian team (CAMO RS) participated on the women’s tournament on a big effort to have a first step towards the development of a Canadian Women’s team and future league.
The very young CT Makos A team dominated the round robin with only a tough and disputed game against the Boston Narwhals ladies, that the Makos won 4-3. On the final game these two teams met again but with a very clear superiority on the game by the CT Makos winning easily by 5-1.
The top Scorer player on the Open Division was Juan Pablo Riomaña from the NJ Hammerheads and on the women’s division Charlene Carmona from the CT Makos A
FINAL RESULTS HERE
First place Open Div. – Boston Narwhals A
Second place Open Div. – NJ Hammerheads
Third place Open Div. – Florida Krakens
First place Women Div. – CT Makos A
Second place Women Div. – Boston Narwhals
Third place Women Div. – DC UWR
Top Scorer Women Division
Charlene Carmona
CT Makos A
Top Scorer Open
Juan Pablo Riomaña
NJ Hammerheads
23rd National Tournament Underwater Rugby – Newark 2018
The US Underwater Rugby committee met earlier in October to decide the new 2018-19 Underwater Rugby Season which came with some changes affecting the North American League and the US National competition.
The US UWR Committee decided to have a US UWR season consisting on three (3) National Tournament Rounds that will award points so at the end of the season the club with most points will be the National Champion for the Season that ends in September 2019.
Points awarded will go now 5 pts. for 1st Place, 3 pts. for 2nd Place, 2 pts. for 3rd Place and 1 pt. for the rest of participating teams.
The previous National League UWR will continue now with only two (2) events throughout the year one in the US and one in Canada and will be decided with the system of points. The NAL event in the US will be one of the National Tournaments mentioned above, that will be valid for both NT & NAL.
The first National Tournament of the 2018-19 Season was hosted by the NUWR club from Newark, NJ. Eight Club teams and 5 Women teams competed on the weekend of October 20-21, 2018 with the highlight of this event becoming the tournament with the record number of women’s teams, five (5) in total.
The club teams were divided in two groups Having the defending champion Boston Narwhals as head of GRoup A along with NUWR A, DC UWR and Hammerheads B. The top seed for the B Group was the NJ Hammerheads A team along with CT Makos (formerly East Haven Makos), Florida Krakens and NUWR B.
Boston Narwhals and NUWR A dominated their group easily with 10-0 scores over DC-UWR and Hammerheads B. The match between these top teams came in favor of Boston by a 2-0 win over NUWR A.
Group B was a bit more challenging to the top teams NJ Hammerheads A and Florida Krakens who had met on the first game of their group and was decided in favor of Nj Hammerheads over Florida by a close 1-0 final score.
On semifinals Boston narwhals defeated Florida 4-1 while the NJ Hammerheads A beat their counterpart NUWR A on a close game by 1-0. On the third place game NUWR A defeated a surprising Florida Krakens team by 1-0 on a very strong and close game.
The highlight of the Club tournament was the final game between Boston Narwhals and NJ Hammerheads A. These two teams met on the 21st NAL in Pompano Beach on a breath taking final in favor of Boston 2-1. This time was not the exception. The first half ended with a 0-0 score and early on the second half the NJ hammerheads surprised Boston wit a goal from Daniel Naujoks. The game seemed to end in favor of the Hammehreads but a very quick pass by Filip Mundt left Mateo Galeano in perfect position to score the equalizer. After the 1-1, the Hammeheads were closer to score but ran out of time.
The penalty shoot-out ended tied again after each team missed one of the three shoot-outs per team. Then on the one to one series the Boston Narwhals won after three more chances being this the closest and breath taking tie break.
The women’s tournament had a Round robin with 5 teams on which The Connecticut Makos A (former East Haven Makos) dominated the group followed by Boston Narwhals.
The third place game ended up in favor of the DC UWR team over NJ Hammerheads by a clear 5-0 while the final game between CT Makos A and Boston Narwhals was also a strong game but dominated by the fast players from CT Makos with a final score of 4-1.
The final results on this tournament confirm the excellent level of the teams previously qualified to represent the US at the Champions Cup later this year in Berlin.
We wish the best to the Boston Narwhals and the Connecticut Makos on their Champions Cup participation.
Final Results HERE
DC UWR – Ladies 3rd. Place
Boston Narwhals – Ladies 2nd. Place
Connecticut Makos – Ladies 1st. Place
NUWR A – Club 3rd. Place
New Jersey Hammerheads – Club 2nd. Place
Boston Narwhals – Club 1st. Place
22nd North American UW Rugby Tournament – Toronto 2018
During the weekend of August 18-19 the 22nd. North American Underwater Rugby tournament was held at the Donald D. Summerville pool in downtown Toronto.
The second time of this summer tournament in the city of Toronto, Canada brought four (4) teams from the USA and four (4) from Canada. American teams from Washington DC (DC-UWR), New Jersey ( NJ Hammerheads), Boston (Boston Narwhals), and the USA women team participated on this edition. Canadian teams from Montreal (CAMO RS), Brantford (Brantford UWR), Toronto (Toronto Raccoons) and Timmins, a brand new Canadian team that made its debut in the North American League.
The New Canadian Club Timmins Torpedoes
The Timmins Torpedoes with the nice logo and uniform, came all the way from far North Canada to play their first tournament. They are a great example of sport development in the community, willing to learn and grow.
All 8 teams played in 2 groups to define the ranking to play the semifinals. After the first round of games the top 4 teams were decided to play the semifinals (Boston and Toronto from group A) and CAMO and Hammerheads from group B.
Two really intense and even final matches were played. Boston vs Toronto for played for the bronze on a second game after having played previously during the group round. Toronto beat the current NAL Champions Boston in a dramatic way after being twice under 0-1 and 1-2 on the score and finally winning 3-2 . A similar dramatic final game for the gold happened between Montreal and the Hammerheads. During the group round both teams played the first game and the Hammerheads won 3-2 after a half time in favor of CAMO by 0-2. The final game was even more competitive and only a small mistake by the Hammerheads at the end of the 2nd half allowed Montreal to take the gold with a final score of 1-0.
1st Place – CAMO RS
2nd Place – New Jersey Hammerheads
3rd Place – Toronto Raccoons
The Toronto Raccoons appreciate the participation of all clubs to this event and hope to see you in the next competition.
This was the last NAL tournament of the 2017-18 Season on which Boston Narwhals secured the 2017-18 NAL Championship title despite showing a mixed team and making no points under the NAL rules on this round. The Narwhals secured the NAL Championship title for the season with the points earned during the previous rounds of this season.
On the top scorer player Juan Pablo Riomaña from the New Jersey Hammerheads won the top scorer player award for this tournament with almost 10 goals over the second top scorer Marco Cardona from CAMO, and this difference helped him get the Top Scorer Award for the 2017-18 NAL Season
22nd NAL – Toronto 2018 Results here
2017-18 NAL season final Results here
October will be the start of the new 2018-19 Season on a location to be decided soon.
Timmins UWR to debute at the 22nd. NAL in Toronto
Great news are coming from the Canadian side of the NAL border as four Canadian teams are about to participate on the 2nd edition of the North American UW Rugby Tournament this upcoming August in Toronto.
The regulars have been so far Club CAMO (Montreal, QC) and Toronto UWR (Toronto, ON) together with Club Liberation (Branford, ON) but this August a third club team from the province of Ontario will make their debut as the Timmins Underwater Rugby team, from the City of Timmins, Ontario.
uwrugby.org contacted their organizer Alex Gagnon for a short interview to introduce Timmins UWS to the rest of US and Canadian clubs.
UWRUGBY.ORG: It was a great surprise to find that a new canadian team has joined the uw rugby world! How did Timmins UWS started?
Alex Gagnon: When you initially contacted me about this, I didn’t realize there were only 3 other teams that currently still exist across all of Canada. It doesn’t surprise me though as I understand now the obstacles that face a new club. Timmins isn’t a big City compared to the other UWR club locations and Underwater Sports usually attract only a small demographic due to it’s perception of intensity. I was lucky to have formed a partnership with my City and local pool to accommodate my initiatives, be flexible with my needs and promote my efforts. How do you get people to pay about $15 (cover pool rental) to try something they don’t know they’ll like or even stay around for? This is why it didn’t surprise me how not many clubs survived. You need to establish a strong interest of participants that can assure numbers at the pool sessions but as a start up how’s this possible? I was able to share the Friday night public swims with the City by closing off a small section of the pool and taking drop-ins who were curious of what we were doing. It was a win-win, they only charged the normal public swim and I brought in regulars who kept coming for the sport. This was a great system….except I received drop-in newcomers in the dozens at times, which is great but also many didn’t expect to join nor had gear for it. Which is the other reason I see Clubs’ tough lifespan. I did get some donations/support from the Toronto/Guelph Underwater Rugby & Hockey clubs and thank them very much but even with that I had to invest in gear for UWH & UWR for numbers that I couldn’t predict. I bring in 3 full bins of gear to the pool to supply over 20 participants if need be and bring them back home every evening to clean and sanitize each piece for health & maintenance reasons. I once had 133 pieces of gear to clean right after a drop-in evening!
UWRUGBY.ORG: Who is the organizer?
A.G. My name is Alexandre Gagnon and I can proudly say I have brought a surviving Underwater Sports Club to Timmins. Underwater Hockey started October 2017 and drop-in sessions every Friday night and Underwater Rugby started in March 2018 running drop -in sessions only Monday Evenings for the first few months and now 2 sessions a week (Wednesdays too).
UWRUGBY.ORG: Where is Timmins located?
A.G. Timmins is a mining community in Northeastern Ontario, approximately 8 hours from Toronto and has a population of 41 788 residents. Going the other direction it is about 7 hours from the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan border.
UWRUGBY.ORG: How many days a week do you practice UWR?
A.G. Currently we practice Underwater Rugby twice a week; Monday and Wednesday evenings 8:15 to 9:30 PM, to accommodate the various schedules of our regulars as well as to have more time to build endurance, skill, welcome more newcomers and simply add more joy to our week.
UWRUGBY.ORG: Having the real UWR goals (baskets) is a big milestone for clubs. Does Timmins have them yet?
A.G. I did not invest in the grand amount for nets as a start up but MacGyvered hours to make the closest replica that I could within my means that could also withstand chlorine water submersion vs. stainless steel. I attached photos of our plastic & foam, mining belt, tywrapped UWR goals. They are a bit wider than regulation nets but about the same height. Maybe the regulation nets will be easier to goaltend on for us when it comes to tournaments as it is a smaller hole to cover!
UWRUGBY.ORG: US and Canadian clubs started a collaboration to develop the sport in both sides of the border through the North American League (NAL) Do you see your team going to tournaments in the US soon?
A.G. I definitely could see this possibility become a reality. We are doing our first tournament this August in Toronto where US teams are travelling to us and if that experience is enjoyed by my members I could see them eager for future tournaments against the same and new teams. I know fees are a challenge when it comes to tournaments with each members personal financial situations. I never wanted that to impede on someone’s potential to experience an Underwater Sports improvement opportunity. This is why I can see a US tournament (further, more costly) easier to swallow as I have set up fundraising efforts for our club through a business I own to try and cover most of the costs (attached image).
UWRUGBY.ORG: I guess your background is UWH. What did you liked about UWR that made you start the UWR part?
A.G. I did start with hockey as it was easier to get people to try out for the first time. A good chunk of my Underwater Rugby regulars come from being UWH regulars who were very competitive and intrigued from the sounds of UWR. I always planned on adding the sport but knew I had to build that committed group first as it is perceived as an intimidating activity. Now others seeing us scrimmaging during Adult Swims and people who try UWR sharing word of mouth increase our numbers.
UWRUGBY.ORG: What are the dimensions and characteristics of your pool?
A.G.3.81 m deep, 14.5 m across
UWRUGBY.ORG: Do you want to send a message for the US and Canadian uwr teams?
We are fairly new club but we can still make the other teams work. We are eager to learn from the experienced as well as perhaps bring new challenges to the Underwater play seen at previous tournaments.
For any other Canadian individuals looking to create an Underwater Rugby team, DO IT! The work is endless and takes much of you, you may invest more time and money than you should….but it is so worth it.
UWRUGBY.ORG: Please feel free to add any other info, fun facts, etc
Underwater Sports Change Lives! We have seen amazing transitions in swim ability from players simply attempting to get to depths, players with deep end fears of drowning overcome the phobia, we have had smokers quit their addiction to improve lung capacity and even had someone quit and move out of an employment that took over almost every minute of his weeks to be able to make practices and he discovered a better workplace-life-family balance.
Also our 2 youngest players are a 15 year old girl and a 16 year old boy. Don’t be fooled by their age, they are tough and very dangerous! haha.
Timmins UWR will be one of the possible participants in Toronto
1. Toronto UWR (Can)
2. CAMO Rugby sousmarin (Can)
3. Club Liberation (Can)
4. Timmins UWS (Can)
5. Boston Narwhals (USA)
6. NJ Hammerheads (USA)
7. NUWR (USA)
8. Orphans team (US-Can)
9. USA Ladies Team (USA)
USA Underwater Rugby - NAL LEAGUE 