If the ice at a hockey rink ever melted, players might want to ask Cranberry resident Debbie Ramage for some pointers on how to play underwater. Ramage, 60, has played underwater hockey for 30 years.

She took and taught a class in 1979 at Seneca Valley School District. A core group of members, including Ramage, then started an open community league. They played at several different pools and started playing full time at the Pine-Richland High School pool in 1999. The Pine-Richland Stingrays practice each week on Tuesday night.

Underwater hockey is similar to ice hockey, but only because the team carries sticks and the puck must enter a goal. The underwater version involves less contact and more passing. And instead of pads and ice skates, the team wears snorkels and fins.

 In ideal condition, teams play a fifteen-minute half in eight feet of water and a fifteen-minute half in 12 feet of water. Normally, there are penalties, advantages and game expulsions, but Ramage's team does not exactly play by the rules.

"Our rules are more sandlot baseball vs. regulation baseball," she said.

The Stingrays split up into two teams and the first to score 10 points wins. They only play in the 12-foot end of the pool. At practice on Dec. 21, six players showed up, so the team played three on three. Throughout the fall, the team was consistently getting 12 players for a game of six on six.

The players at Tuesday's practice collectively have played the game for almost 100 years. A father and son team, Dale and John Wagner, have each played for almost 20 years. Mike Kernan began playing in 1994. Ben Holtzman has played for six years. And Guillaume Besson, who moved to Pittsburgh from Paris in March, has played for two years.

Ramage is the only female on the team, but she said over the years other women have come and gone. According to Ramage, the team has not had another female player for at least five years. The sport is open to women and men of all ages, and the league is always looking for new players.

"It you are comfortable under water, you can do it," Ramage said. "We love having new players."

And, according to Besson, more players means a better game.

"There is more passing, and it is a more colorful game," he said.

Besson lives in Oakland, but another team member brings him to Pine Township to practice each week. He said he could only find two underwater hockey teams in Pennsylvania, one near Philadelphia and the Stingrays.

The sport is relatively new – the first tournament was held in the 1950s – and Ramage said new players either love it or hate it. But underwater hockey leagues have been formed throughout the United States and the world.

Holtzman has played in leagues in five different countries, including Canada, Italy and the Netherlands. He found the sport when studying for a bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois. According to Ramage, Holtzman is teaching the team "the proper way to play."

"If you know where to look, [underwater hockey leagues] are easy to find," Holtzman said. "People play all across the world and all across the U.S."

John Wagner also played the sport internationally. While studying abroad in Germany, he made friends by playing in underwater leagues, whether it was hockey or rugby.

He was introduced to the sport at a young age. His father, Dale, began playing the sport in 1991 and he would always bring John along.

"I was brought along to practice before I could even swim, and started playing as soon as I could," John Wagner said.

The team members enjoy playing together, and they all agree it is good exercise. Ramage said she does not plan to quit playing for quite awhile.

"When I swim laps at the YMCA, I always swim a lap under water," she said. "And if I can still do that, I will still play underwater hockey."

The team practices on Tuesday night at 8:30 pm in the pool at Pine-Richland High School. The cost is $3 per night per player.