Vests must go!!!

And restrictive I would have thought....haha.

Yep, we had a gal that played a few times who says she was #3 in China at one point, and she wore one of those... for about 20-30 minutes. Then got out and changed into a real suit that doeesn't cut off circulation. I suppose if you got it a bit bigger than what the sprinters wear it might work.

Duck

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Just in case you weren't sure, it's official -- CMAS sucks.
Oh yeah, and now they're broke.

Hey Nicky, I found this and thought you may prefer it to the vests for the Nationals. I think they're about to call for agenda items on the UHA AGM so I'm sure you can propose it as an alternative to the vests - however I'd say there would be limited coverage for sponsors and player numbers, that is unless you're called Richard, or you're cap number 1.

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Oh man, looks like someone let the cat out of the bag, or something else... that was going to be our team suits in SA. I think we could have a different color string and still comply with the color percentage.

Just picture the troll-like figure wearing one of those babies...

Duck

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Just in case you weren't sure, it's official -- CMAS sucks.
Oh yeah, and now they're broke.

Hey Alex, no worries, but like I said before, if you are picking the togs I have to wear then I get to pick what you have to wear

Duck, you are generious. Looks more like a mouse than a cat. Her indoors commented that it looks like the guy has had a manzillian. Not me, I would rather have a rash vest. As for rash vests, I sometimes struggled with the ref's vests used during worlds as some of the bulkier referees stretched them slightly. Get something that fits, fit it starts sagging, then maybe we have to look at the material used or the way we are treating it. I picked up a couple of cheap rash vests in Sheffield for £6 each, not that much.

Cheers,

Hey Nicki, in those togs you will keep your job as the Australian women's cabanna boy!
Ha Ha Alex
Cheers
Belle

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Underwater Hockey Rules!

haha alex?

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i [heart] porridge

I know the vests, although I have never played in them.

A good fitted vest would be great for sponsorship deals and visibilty on the side. As such, it would be great for the growth of the sport, because lets face it: as long as we don't become more of a spectator sport, the growth won't come.
The main issue in such case is finding the right vest. I know there is a french company developing specialized vests, just for uwh. Still in a development phase, but will be out shorlty.

If not, I know a good printing adress for that alternative swimsuit presented.

This thread has gone in two different directions, with people who hate wearing the vests for comfort or hydrodynamic reasons and with those who like the vests for sponsorship opportunities. I play in America where we don't have an issue with vests, but I see that Duck made a very insightful point about sponsorship:

"You want something good for the sport -- follow the clothing rules of Beach Volleyball. They get big sponsor money."

If we really want to promote our sport, we need to use all the tools that we've got, which we haven't been doing. Rather than turning our suits into huge billboards filled with product placement, we should instead use them to showcase the athletic good looks that are so abundant in underwater hockey. While the men have been doing that for a long time, we've been totally downplaying a great resource: our truly fit, gorgeous female players, who work hard to play and look so good. Think about popular culture nowadays: two-piece suits totally rule in women's fashion, yet in our sport women's suits are stuck in the 80's. The males in underwater hockey almost universally wear briefs, and if we want to make the game "more visually appealing to on-lookers," the women should adopt them too. With a bra top, of course; I'm not suggesting anything sleazy or sexist. Speedo, TYR, Nike, Zoot, EQ, TruWest, all make high quality women's racing two-piece suits. By adopting them we'd have a much more current look, as well as more equality between the sexes. I've always thought it was kind of strange that female players wear suits three to four times bigger than ours for no other reason than "that's how it's always been done since Octopush was invented in the fifties." I've never, ever seen or even heard of a wardrobe malfunction with a woman wearing a racing-style two-piece in underwater hockey. Why would there be? Women's briefs with a drawstring are basically identical to men's, and women's two-piece tops have exactly the same straps and necklines as a one-piece. Suit-grabbing isn't a problem either, like it is in water polo, or men would be losing their suits all the time playing uwh. We aren't.

Some women might feel they don't look good in a two-piece regarding body shape and fit, but others might say, "Join our world! Use it as an incentive to train." That's what men have had to say for a long time regarding our budgy-smuggler suits, myself included. As far as the argument that two-pieces may not look professional and credible, try bringing that up to a female beach volleyball player. They'll tell you that it's the right uniform for the medium in which the sport is played, as well as: show up to see us in our bikinis, but get hooked on the excitement and athleticism of our sport. It's worked pretty well for them, and there's no reason why it shouldn't for us as well. At the Worlds in Sheffield they introduced a rule where team suits had to all be the same style, i.e. no mix of one- and two-pieces for women. Underwater hockey should adopt this rule across the board regarding the sexes--no mix of tiny and large suits for coed teams. So there's my idea for making the game more popular as well as more gender-equal. While some more traditional aquatic sports go to full-body costumes, we should adopt a unique look for ourselves. Briefs for both sexes, with bra tops too for the women. It'll look great. I now await your flaming replies. Maybe we should start a new thread.