A NEW KIND OF WATER PLAY AMATEUR HOCKEY SINKS TO NEW DEPTHS.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - There's nothing endangered about these sticklebacks, and there's a good chance their numbers might fluorish.

Ben Jarvis, a scuba enthusiast and underwater hockey player, is the ringleader organizing a pickup team of swimmers and free-divers in the hopes of creating an underwater hockey team home-based at the Santa Clarita Aquatics Center. The first ``meeting'' will be held at 8 p.m. Wednesday and continue every Wednesday in February.

He thinks naming the team after the unarmored three-spined stickleback, an inch-long rare fish found in local waterways, would be a fitting tribute.

``It would be perfect: The Santa Clarita Sticklebacks,'' Jarvis said. ``That is, unless I get outvoted.''

The sport is open to anyone who wants to have fun and get some exercise.

``It's similar to ice hockey, but the water is warmer and you don't have to wear as much,'' Jarvis said.

Jarvis, an ardent scuba diver who works in the Santa Clarita planning department, has been playing underwater hockey for a few years. He regularly attends scrimmages in Woodland Hills, Long Beach and Lynwood.

``One of our best players is a woman who got into hockey when she was in the Philippines,'' Jarvis said. ``She's not a swimmer or a diver, but she's really good.''

Jarvis is optimistic that the new pool will be conducive to play.

``In some pools, the gunite is so rough, the surfaces are uneven and players get lots of raspberries and scrapes,'' he explained. ``We don't have that issue because we're brand new.''

The aquatics staff put scaled-down hockey goals together in their home garages and have obtained the water polo caps, sticks and pucks required for the newest in waterlogged pastimes.

The sticks are specially made, about a foot in length, that are held in one hand. The three-pound puck is covered with a waterproof rubber coating.

Players will have to bring their own masks, fins and snorkels for the underwater workout, and Jarvis said some experienced players would help them put together protective handgear. A $3 fee covers pool time and equipment provided by the city.

``When you play hockey, there's only two ways to get injured, three if you count drowning,'' he said. ``You can get an ear injury if someone smacks you upside of the head. The only other way is if someone whacks the back of your wrist with the puck.''

Jarvis said gardening gloves could be reinforced with polyeurethane roofing caulk to provide protection for the wrist.

The game is played with two teams of six players, each swimming in a pool and competing to get a puck sliding on the bottom of the pool into the opponent's goal. In competition, games are composed of two 15-minute halves, and teams can have up to four subsitutes on deck who can enter play on the fly.

Players get a vigorous workout in the noncontact game, the length and endurance all depending on how long players can hold their breath underwater. Because of the distorted view, underwater hockey isn't a very popular spectator sport. Experts advise the best way to watch it is to don fins, mask and snorkel, get into the pool and watch from outside the playing area.

Free-diving - the sport of jumping in the water and holding your breath for as long a time and distance as possible - is one of the things credited with the rise in underwater hockey's popularity.

``We have a group here in Los Angeles that's really gotten into the hockey,'' Jarvis said. ``The Long Beach Fathomers are a big contingent at Lynwood hockey scrimmages. They're blue-water hunters; on club dives, they all hold their breath and go after big-game fish. Hockey allows them a chance to hone and practice their skills.''

Jarvis said this area has never sent any representatives to the competition, but is confident there will be a Stickleback on the elimination boards soon.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Doug Botton, left, and Ben Jarvis, both diving enthusiasts, hope to increase the popularity of water hockey in Santa Clarita.

David Crane/Staff Photographer