Royal Enfield announces fourth season of Himalayan ice hockey development programme

The season opens with a first-ever dedicated Goaltender Training Programme, from November 9-13, 2026, at the Nawang Dorjay Stobdan (NDS) Stadium in Leh. The calendar expands with coach, referee and player training in Leh, Dehradun and Gurugram, led by internationally experienced instructors, according to a release.

Drawing talent from Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the initiative strengthens the grassroots expertise required to sustain winter sport in the region, ahead of the developmental Leagues - Royal Enfield Ice Hockey League (REIHL) and the Spiti Cup- in January-February 2027.

The season begins with a series of specialised training programmes designed to build local capacities and elevate competitive standards. For the first time, a dedicated Goaltender programme has been introduced, led by Matt Darlow, an international goaltending coach. Darlow will train the goalies from Ladakh and Spiti, adding specialist goaltending expertise to the training pathway.

Coach and player training will be conducted as part of the seasons structured development programmes to build long-term coaching capacity. Referee training will be conducted by Peter Gebei, an IIHF-certified ice hockey professional with over four decades of experience as a player, referee and officiating coach, returning for his second year.

Bidisha Dey, Executive Director, Eicher Group Foundation, said, Ice Hockey in the Himalayas belongs to the communities who play it, and our role is to help them build the capabilities to sustain it on their own terms. In Season 4, our goal is to strengthen the local expertise that underpins the sport, equipping local players, coaches, and officials with specialised, world-class skills. Each coach and player trained this season takes us a step closer to a fully community-owned sport, laying the foundational ground for India's future on the global winter stage.

The seasons grassroots Learn to Play training will be held from December, 2026 to February, 2027, followed by Indias highest-altitude tournaments: the Royal Enfield Ice Hockey League (REIHL) in Leh and the Spiti Cup in Kaza.

REIHL, organised in partnership with the UT Administration of Ladakh and the Ice Hockey Association of Ladakh, and the Spiti Cup, organised alongside the Ice Hockey Association of Lahaul-Spiti (IHALS), are both entering their fourth year of partnership with Royal Enfield. While REIHL has grown into a key platform for emerging talent through competitive winter sport in the region, the Spiti Cup anchors grassroots engagement across remote villages such as Losar, Lalung, Keylong, Lahaul and Sagnam.

Royal Enfield Social Missions engagement with the Himalayan communities extends beyond the rink. The third edition of Journeying Across the Himalayas, taking place from December 39, 2026, at Travancore Palace, New Delhi, is a community-driven festival celebrating stories of and from the Himalayas. The festival will feature an ice hockey experience, including a locker-room setup, offering visitors an opportunity to engage with the sport and gain a deeper understanding of its significance in the lives of Himalayan communities.

The 2026 edition of the Royal Enfield Ice Hockey League and the Spiti Cup featured mens and womens competitions, while the Spiti Cup also featured an Under-18 Boys category. Teams came from Leh, Nubra, Changthang, Sham, Kharu, Drass, Kargil, Shakar Chiktan and Zanskar regions in Ladakh, and from Lahaul and the Centre, Pin, Sham and Tod zones of Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. REIHL featured 11 mens and five womens teams, with Kharu fielding teams for the first time, while Lahaul made its debut in the Spiti Cups Senior Mens category. Humas Warriors and Sham Eagles won the REIHL mens and womens titles, respectively. In the Spiti Cup, Centre Zone claimed both the mens and womens titles, while Sham Zone won the Under-18 title. (ANI)