Chapman alumnus Don Tran co-founds sports league
The Underwater Torpedo League aims to improve athletes’ physical and mental fitness. Photo courtesy of Don Tran.
Name the sport: it’s considered a mix of hockey, water polo and martial arts, and players compete 15 feet underwater, relying on 3.5 liters of air in their lungs to breathe.
It’s known as “underwater torpedo.” Haven’t heard of it? You might soon enough, if Don Tran’s idea for a new sports league goes according to plan.
Tran, who graduated from Chapman University with a degree in business administration this past spring, co-founded the Underwater Torpedo League (UTL) after seven years of training underwater in the military as a U.S. Marine Forces Special Operations Command veteran. Underwater torpedo is a new aquatic sport that challenges people’s physical and mental fitness through athletic and mindset training, he said.
“It (started as) a game we would always play in the military, called underwater football,” Tran said. “It was just different underwater games we were playing to build water confidence before we went to dive school or did any long-term water survival course.”
After months of refining the rules, the UTL came up with a clear objective for the game. At the bottom of the pool are two small hockey nets used as goals. The aim is to move a torpedo underwater and place it in the opposing team’s goal while being completely submerged. The first team to five points wins the match and a team must win two out of three matches to win the game.
In 2017, after he left the military, Tran and his co-founder Prime Hall – also a former Marine – realized the game could be beneficial for those in everyday life. The two found it was particularly attractive to people who were trying to join the military. For this reason, they started their two pool locations near the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, near Oceanside, California.
Since their launch, the UTL has grown from training solely individuals with military backgrounds to training surfers, MMA fighters, Olympic swimmers and even NFL players, Tran said.
“Every athlete can benefit from proper breath control and remaining calm when it matters,” Tran said. “Think about a fourth quarter play for a football game. People’s stress levels are high, but if you can control those stress levels and think clearly and make appropriate decisions about what you need to do, it really helps out a lot.”
Albert Cheang, a current UTL instructor, veteran and college student, joined the sport after he left the military. He said the league, particularly the backgrounds of Tran and Hall, helped him feel a sense of camaraderie again.
“It’s a group of meticulous individuals from all walks of life, a lot of them being veterans so they understood me a lot,” Cheang said. “The UTL has not only helped me with my fitness aspirations, but also with a community and network.”
While at Chapman, Tran was mentored by Mario Leone, a professor in the Argyros School of Business and Economics, who Tran said allowed him to grow as a student and an entrepreneur. After being a student in his Management Information Systems class, Tran maintained a connection with Leone throughout the creation of his business.
“He’s extremely well liked by faculty and peers and I like his business concept; it’s unique and very different from traditional offerings,” Leone said. “He’s stitched together a good group of veterans to work with him.”
The next step for the UTL: the 2028 Olympics. By utilizing viral TikToks and an upcoming crowdfunding campaign, Tran hopes the league will gain more traction ahead of the next summer games.
“We really want to see it in the Olympics soon as a spectator sport on TV,” Tran said. “We’ve been working with some of the Olympic committee to get it in.”