We are taking baby steps towards the Olympics | By Padma Chorol

My elder brother used to play ice hockey and he was very good in it. When he won medals and trophies, he used to be appreciated by our parents, neighbours.

I was also proud of him, flaunting his medals to my friends. I was naturally drawn towards the sport – I went to see his matches as a kid.

But I started off as a figure skater initially, when my brother gifted me a pair of skates one day.

In that very year, I finished third in a race and was selected for nationals in speed skating. I have been skating since then until 2013 at the national level.

Ice hockey, for me, began sometime in 2015 when the women’s team began to take shape.

When we started playing, we did not have any equipment. We had to borrow it from the men’s team. Even those were extremely oversized, not fitting us in perfectly.

My mother was never in support of my pursuits. She was very scared of the sport and used to tell me, "Ye sirf ladko ka khel hai (This sport is only for the boys)". She was also not aware of it. She thought I might break my head or get hurt and held me back.

But I used to just wander off with my brother to play matches, hiding it from my mother.

Then ice hockey started to gather some steam with the formation of Ladakh Women’s Ice Hockey Foundation in late 2015. It brought in some changes gradually.

Initially, just getting an opportunity to play was massive for us.

Our first big break came in 2016, when we were selected to represent the country. It was the first ever Indian women’s ice hockey team. It was a time of great joy…we were playing for our country after all.

But playing there at the Asia-Oceania Cup, we realised we are very far from global standards. Our performance was very low when compared to the opponents. We had lot of self-doubts and thought we would never be able to compete at this level.

However, the next year we bounced back.

We got a training camp in Kyrgyzstan for a week or two before Asia Oceania Cup in 2017, which bettered our performance. From losing every match in 2016, we won a match the next year.

We have only improved from there. In 2019, we won bronze. This year, we are again going to compete in the Asia Oceania Cup at Abu Dhabi in April.

We believe that we have the chance to win a gold medal this time around. We’ve had a good training camp for 10-15 days after the winter sessions.

Just when the ice melted and all of us got back to our regular jobs, ice started forming again and we got some practice session in the mornings.

Once ice completely melts, we’ll move to gym and work on our strength and conditioning.

When we go to compete, we usually feel the stress. We start questioning ourselves as to why we did not do certain things in practice. We do not want to have that feeling and are working individually to better ourselves.

The year gone by was one of the best seasons in my career as a player. Maybe because I am getting more practice sessions and getting more time on the ice.

Last year, we competed in multiple tournaments – Asia-Oceania in April, Open C’ships in Dubai in October. So, we got a lot of training opportunities.

I also got the opportunity to go to Tashkent for referee clinic. I was the first woman referee there.

I actually went to train as a linesman, but they inducted me into the referee clinic, maybe because of my good skating – I am just assuming it.

I know I will give five to six years more to ice hockey but then younger generations will take over – whom we are training with the aim of making it to the Olympics.

Refereeing is something I have always found interesting, so I am taking it as a secondary option. It has also helped me improve my game.

It was also my dream to qualify for the Olympics, but unfortunately it hasn’t happened yet. But we are taking baby steps.

The girls coming up now they have all the required equipment. We provide them with everything which are donated to our foundation.

Not only equipment, but they are also getting a lot of opportunities. The Royal Enfield League has been ongoing for two seasons – they provided a training camp to players before the league. Since there’s lot of training opportunities, and playing opportunities, the performance is also getting better. The sport has developed very much in the two years due to this.

I remember once when I had a bad fall while speed skating. I took the flags on the side down with me. Back then the rink we had was also not the best. There were no boards on the edge. It was very scary that time.

When kids these days get scared, I start thinking "ye toh kuch bhi nahi hai (This is nothing)". We have done it in worse conditions.

That time there was no fear. But when I look back now, I ask myself 'how did I do it?'

The younger generations have a lot of opportunities. I try to impart whatever I have learnt to them.

I used to work as a teacher with an NGO before. But now I have left it and started my own venture.

I rented a small piece of land from our village monastery this winter and started training young kids on my own for free. It was not a success because the surface wasn’t in a good condition. I am just hoping it succeeds next year, and I’ll train more kids.

One of my students in recent interview said "Aache jaisa banna h (I want to become like my teacher)."

When they say something like this, it makes me happy that I am doing something for the younger generation.

It is not a very big goal, but this is it for me. 

As told to Abhijit Nair. 

As Bidisha Dey, Executive Director – Eicher Group Foundation, Royal Enfield's Social Mission, says:

"In 2024, Royal Enfield Social Mission, at the behest of the Hon’ble LG of Ladakh, published the Blueprint for the Development of Ice Hockey to foster structured progress through multi-stakeholder collaboration. Titled the ‘Gamechanger’, it lays out a holistic, bottom-up action plan to enable India’s participation in the 2042 Winter Olympics. International technical experts and inputs from the International Ice Hockey Federation through interactions of key national and local stakeholders have prepared the Blueprint. It presents a strategy by understanding on-ground realities. It focuses on four key aspects: management and governance, infrastructure, equipment, and developmental programmes. At its core, the focus is on grassroots development. Through Learn to Play programs and the Royal Enfield Ice Hockey League, we’re creating competitive platforms and introducing more young players to the sport."