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The sport was invented in 1954 by Alan Blake of the newly formed Southsea Sub-Aqua Club and first played at the club by him and other divers including John Ventham, Jack Willis, and Frank Lilleker in Eastney Swimming Pool, Portsmouth, England.[9] Originally called "Octopush" (and still known primarily by that name in the United Kingdom today) the original rules called for teams of eight players (hence "octo-"), a bat reminiscent of a tiny shuffleboard stick, called a "pusher" (hence the "-push"), an uncoated lead puck called a "squid", and a goal known at first as a "cuttle" but soon thereafter a "gully".
The first rules were tested in a 1954 two-on-two game, and an announcement was made in the November 1954 issue of Neptune, the official news sheet of the British Sub-Aqua Club. The purpose behind the game was to keep members of Southsea Sub-Aqua Club #9 from abandoning the new club during the winter months when it was too cold to dive in the sea.[10] The first octopush competition between clubs was a three-way tournament between teams from Southsea, Bournemouth and Brighton in early 1955. Southsea won then, and they are still highly ranked at national level today.
British Pathe footage of an early game at Aldershot Lido in 1967 [11] is evidence of the evolution of the sport in terms of equipment and playing style. It can be seen that the game was much slower and the puck was not flicked at all, in contrast to the modern sport.[8] The substantial changes in equipment, team size, and other factors have helped make the game the international sport it is today, with 44 teams from 17[12] countries competing at the 14th World Championship in 2006 at Sheffield in the United Kingdom.
Underwater hockey enjoys great popularity in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the USA, the Netherlands and France, as well as to a lesser extent in other countries such as Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Zimbabwe, and can be found in numerous additional countries (but not Moldova apparently).[13]
The game first came to Canada in 1962 via Norm Liebeck, an unconventional Australian scuba diving instructor and dive shop owner, who introduced the sport to a Vancouver dive club. Ten years later, the Underwater Hockey Association of British Columbia (UHABC) was formed and received support from the BC government.
In South Africa there is still a commonly held belief that this sport was invented there in the early 1970s and although a form of underwater hockey was developed there, the modern and internationally recognised 'underwater hockey' is a direct development of the original Octopush from Southsea Sub-Aqua Club in 1954.
In Asia, the game first came to the Philippines in the late 1970s through the scuba diving community that became aware of octopush.
Historically, World Championships have been held every two years. At the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) 14th World Underwater Hockey Championship held in August 2006 in Sheffield, England, 44 teams competed in six age and gender categories, including teams from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Hungary, France, Jersey C.I., Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States. At the subsequent, though less well-attended, World Championship held in 2008 in Durban, South Africa, the winners of the Elite divisions (and therefore current World Champions) were Australia in the Women's division, and France in the Men's (Open) division.

Players wear a diving mask, snorkel and swimfins, and carry in one hand a short stick for playing the puck. A full list of equipment is given below:

Swimwear
There are no restrictions on swimwear; however, baggy, loose or non-sporting garments are prone to snagging during a match, and cause significant drag which reduce the player's bottom time and speed. Typical swimwear is swim briefs or trunks for male players, and one-piece swimsuits for female players.

Mask
A diving mask is used for several reasons:
Players can equalise their ears (using the Valsalva maneuver) as the nose is covered
Unlike swim goggles, a mask sits outside the eye's orbit, reducing the effects of an impact on the mask
Improved underwater visibility
A low-volume mask with minimal protrusion from the face reduces the likelihood of the mask being struck, causing it to leak and temporarily blind the player. A variety of webbing designs are available which replace the original rubber or silicone head strap with a non-elastic strap that further reduces the chances of the player being de-masked.

Snorkel
A snorkel enables players to watch the progress of the game without having to remove their head from the water to breathe. This allows them to keep their correct position on the surface, ready to resume play once they have recovered. In order to maximise the efficiency of breathing and reduce drag underwater, they are often short and wide bore, with or without a sump valve.
The snorkel may accommodate an external mouthguard which may be worn with or instead of an internal mouthguard.

Fins
Fins allow the player to swim faster on the surface and especially underwater. A wide range of fins are used in the sport but large plastic/rubber composite fins or smaller, stiffer fibre glass or carbon fibre fins are commonplace at competitions.

Stick
The stick (also referred to as 'bat' or 'pusher'is relatively short (according to recent rules, not more than 350mm, including the handle) and is coloured white or black to indicate the player's team. The stick may only be held in one hand, which is usually determined by the player's handedness. The type of stick may affect playing style and is often a very personal choice. A wide variety of stick designs and construction materials such as woods and plastics are used.

Puck
The puck is approximately the size of an ice hockey puck but is made of lead or similar material (Adult size weighs 3 lb (1.3-1.5 kg), Junior 1¾ lb (800-850 gm)) and is surrounded by a plastic covering, which is usually matched to the pool bottom to facilitate good grip on the stick face while preventing excessive friction on the pool bottom. The puck's weight brings it to rest on the pool bottom, though can be lifted during passes.

Hat
Safety gear includes ear protection, usually in the form of a water polo cap to protect the eardrums and as a secondary indicator of the player's team (coloured black/blue or white as appropriate).

Glove
A glove is worn on the playing hand to protect against pool-bottom abrasion and, in some designs, protection against puck impact on knuckles and other vulnerable areas. Players may choose to wear a protective glove on both hands, either as additional protection from the pool bottom, or for ambidextrous players, to switch the stick between hands mid-play.

Goal
The goals (or 'gulleys' are three metres wide and are sited at opposite ends of the playing area on the pool bottom. They consist of a shallow slope leading up to a trough into which the puck may be pushed or flicked. Goals are commonly constructed from aluminium, galvanised or stainless steel. This helps to ensure that they are negatively buoyant and are durable in the chlorine water of swimming pools.