A young athlete from the High Peak is set to represent his country at the upcoming Underwater Hockey World Championships. 

20-year-old Emrys Williams from New Mills has been chosen to represent Great Britain’s Under 24 side in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the first time in his career. 

Emrys has been waiting for this moment for almost his entire life, having taken up the sport from the age of six. 

The World Championships take place from Saturday July 19, with the opening ceremony taking place tomorrow evening, and will run until Saturday July 26. 

It is fair to say that underwater hockey is a relatively unknown sport to many, but it is very much as the name suggests. 

Teams of six must score in the opposition’s goal with a puck that sinks to the floor of the pool. 

Players are equipped with a stick, which is must shorter than a regular hockey stick (around 30cm long), a pair of fins, and a snorkel. 

It is a very physically demanding sport, which involves a lot of skill, endurance, and strength, which Emrys says a lot of people do not realise: 

“It’s a very up and down game, you’re constantly coming up for breath so it can be quite tiring at times. 

“People think it’s quite slow paced as well because it’s underwater, but this is from the case, it’s much quicker and probably more brutal than most people imagine. 

“We have to train most of the week to keep ourselves fit, this involves a couple of training sessions along with some swimming sessions, and the rest is just gym work. 

“This can vary from strength sessions, to cardio sessions and sprint exercises- it’s a great sport for keeping yourself fit because you have to be good at everything.” 

As mentioned, Emrys began playing underwater hockey aged just six, when his dad recommended he gave it a try, and he has never looked back since. 

He played the sport throughout his time at school, but it was only when Emrys reached his mid-teens that he realised he could take this further than just a hobby: 

“When I was about 15/16 my coach said I have a real opportunity- the Under 19’s World Championships were coming up and he believed I was good enough to represent Great Britain, this was when I began to take it a lot more seriously.” 

Emrys believed he had a fantastic chance of being selected for the competition, but the COVID 19 pandemic put an end to any hopes he had, and the tournament was cancelled. 

He says this made him more determined than ever to be selected this time around: 

“Throughout COVID I just tried to get as fit as possible to make sure I was ready this time around. 

“It was announced that the next World Championships would be held in 2024, so I really put my mind to it and told myself I’d make it, and here we are!” 

Along with 11 other players, Emrys made the trip to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday night, ahead of this weekend’s opening ceremony. 

The group have undergone training sessions throughout this week, in preparation for their first match of the tournament on Saturday morning, when they take on Malaysia. 

The competition will run from Saturday to Saturday, with Great Britain facing off against five other sides in a group format, before the knockout stages begin later in the week, culminating with the final on Saturday. 

Emrys is hopeful his side can secure a medal at this year’s event, and he is already looking forward to representing his country in the future: 

“Hopefully we can come back with a medal, ideally a gold one, but if not, there is another World Championships taking place in two years’ time- I’ll still be eligible for the Under 24’s by then so I definitely want to try and secure a place on the team again. 

“The elite side also have a competition next year and I’ll be training with them to try and improve my game as much as possible- hopefully I can represent them too when I’m old enough.” 

Emrys hopes to continue playing underwater hockey for as long as possible, but admits this could be tough due to the current state of the sport: 

“It’s not a professional sport at the moment, it’s not well known enough- it’s more of a hobby for everyone involved. 

“Your life and job come first unfortunately, but for me personally, I don’t see my life getting in the way of me playing- I love it so much and I want to represent my country as many times as I can. 

“My favourite thing about the sport is the community, everybody knows each other- I’m going to Malaysia with 11 people who I would never have met if it wasn’t for hockey and it’s so nice to meet people from such different backgrounds with the shared love for the sport. 

“It’s a great conversation starter as well, if you’re ever doing icebreakers where you have to say something interesting about yourself, I always say I’m an underwater hockey player. 

“Everyone is always fascinated by it and want to know more.” 

Despite its benefits, Emrys admits the sport does have its drawbacks: 

“There aren’t too many negatives but one of them is the lack of funding, all of us that are competing have had to fund our own travel to Malaysia which has been tough- a lot of us have had to set up GoFundMe pages to help with this as it has been very expensive, that’s the only downside I can think of though, it’s a fantastic sport.” 

As well as his talent for underwater hockey, Emrys is a keen runner, and back in April he raised just over £1,600 for the UK based charity ‘Cavernoma Alliance’ by running in the Manchester Marathon. 

The charity supports those affected by cavernomas, a condition that affects the brain. 

Emrys said he wanted to give back to the charity after it supported his mother when she suffered with the condition: 

“I raised money for the Cavernoma charity after it supported my mum, when a Cavernoma was discovered in her brain, after multiple seizures.  

“They gave her, and our family, support before, throughout, and after the surgery to remove the Cavernoma. 

“Cavernomas are rare- whilst my mum doesn’t feel that she is exactly the same person as she was before all of this, she isn’t left with any debilitating issues. Not all sufferers are so lucky. This amazing, yet small, charity deserves as much support as possible.” 

If you would like to keep up with Emrys and his team’s journey in the upcoming Underwater Hockey World Championships, updates will be posted on both Facebook and Instagram on the Team GB Underwater Hockey pages. 

The matches will also be streamed live on YouTube.