Royal Enfield has announced the fourth season of its ice hockey development programme in the Himalayas, continuing its efforts to build local expertise through comprehensive training for players, coaches and match officials.
The season will commence with the inaugural dedicated Goaltender Training Programme from November 9 to 13, 2026, at the Nawang Dorjay Stobdan Stadium in Leh. The programme’s schedule further includes training sessions for coaches, referees and players in Leh, Dehradun and Gurugram, conducted by internationally experienced instructors.
Drawing participants from Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the initiative aims to strengthen grassroots expertise to sustain winter sports in the region ahead of the developmental Royal Enfield Ice Hockey League (REIHL) and the Spiti Cup, scheduled for January to February 2027.
The season begins with specialised training programmes designed to enhance local capabilities and raise competitive standards. For the first time, a dedicated Goaltender programme will be led by international coach Matt Darlow, who will train goalkeepers from Ladakh and Spiti to provide specialist expertise.
Coach and player training will form part of the season’s structured development efforts to build long-term coaching capacity. Referee training will be conducted by Peter Gebei, an IIHF-certified ice hockey professional with over 40 years’ experience as a player, referee and officiating coach, returning for his second year.
Bidisha Dey, Executive Director of the 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 season’s grassroots Learn to Play training will take place from December 2026 to February 2027, followed by India’s highest-altitude tournaments: the REIHL in Leh and the Spiti Cup in Kaza.
REIHL is organised in partnership with the UT Administration of Ladakh and the Ice Hockey Association of Ladakh, while the Spiti Cup is conducted alongside the Ice Hockey Association of Lahaul-Spiti. Both tournaments are now in their fourth year of collaboration with Royal Enfield. REIHL has become a key platform for emerging talent through competitive winter sport in the region, while the Spiti Cup fosters grassroots engagement across remote villages such as Losar, Lalung, Keylong, Lahaul and Sagnam.
Royal Enfield’s social mission extends beyond the rink in Himalayan communities. The third edition of Journeying Across the Himalayas, scheduled for December 3 to 9, 2026, at Travancore Palace in New Delhi, will celebrate Himalayan stories through a community-driven festival. It will feature an ice hockey experience including a locker-room setup, allowing visitors to engage with the sport and appreciate its significance to Himalayan communities.
The 2026 editions of the Royal Enfield Ice Hockey League and Spiti Cup included men’s and women’s competitions, with the Spiti Cup also featuring an Under-18 boys category. Teams came from multiple regions in Ladakh-Leh, Nubra, Changthang, Sham, Kharu, Drass, Kargil, Shakar Chiktan and Zanskar-and from Lahaul and various zones of Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.
The REIHL featured 11 men’s and five women’s teams, with Kharu fielding teams for the first time. Lahaul made its debut in the Spiti Cup’s senior men’s category. The Humas Warriors and Sham Eagles won the REIHL men’s and women’s titles respectively, while Centre Zone claimed both men’s and women’s titles in the Spiti Cup and Sham Zone won the Under-18 title.