Ice skating in Ladakh

Since Ladakh is one of the few places in India that freezes, skating and ice-hockey are hugely popular. The natural ice is good for skating every January, plus a week or two of December and February. (There is no man-made ice in Ladakh as of 2008.) Led by the Indian Army, a few Ladakhi men played ice hockey as early as the 1970s, and by the 1990s the annual ice-sports tournaments organised by the Ladakh Winter Sports Club were the most exciting event of the winter in Leh.

Thanks to skates donated to SECMOL, boys and girls from remote Ladakhi villages get the chance to learn skating and ice hockey.

The SECMOL women's team won the Lalok Ice Hockey Trophy (Women's) in 2008.

History of women's skating in Ladakh

However, at that time there was no women's hockey in Ladakh. SECMOL initiated women's skating in Ladakh in 2001 by soliciting 60 pairs of donated skates. We kept 20 pairs for our Campus girls, and gave 40 pairs to the Centralised Residential Government High School in Changthang (a remote economically disadvantaged area near the Tibetan border), so they could form two girls' ice-hockey teams.

Thus in January 2002, women's ice-hockey was played in Ladakh for the first time, and was included in the Chief Minister’s Cup, the state-level tournament held in Leh. The SECMOL girls’ team won the women’s trophy, a “running trophy,” which means they were supposed to hand the trophy over to the next winners in 2003.

However, in 2003 the tournament organisers and related government body changed its mind and denied that there had ever been women’s hockey, and even denied the existence of the trophy on our shelf. Adding insult to injury, the girls were 'allowed' to perform a dance at the halftime of the men’s final instead. Blood boiling, they accepted the offer and secretly planned two protest songs with dances. They changed the words of a Ladakhi song to tell their sad story, and their second song was to be We Shall Overcome in Ladakhi, with protest banners. However, the incensed organisers snatched away the banners and did not allow them to complete the 5-minute song. Trained in non-violent protest, the young women held their ground to the joy of the cheering crowds. Finally, at the very end of the match, the banners were returned and they were allowed to display them. The team captain, Ms Stanzin Dolkar, showing extraordinary courage, handed the Running Trophy back to the chief guest, a minister in the state government, who praised their courage in his closing speech.

Ever since, women's hockey has been included in at least one tournament per year in Ladakh.

Skating at SECMOL

Since 2005, SECMOL has had girls’ and boys’ teams each winter, with volunteer coaches. In 2006, when more skates had been donated, we gave about 20 pairs to the Kargil Ice and Snow Sports Club in Chiktan, because they wanted to start training girls in skating in their remote, mostly conservative Muslim region. Our students went for a friendly match there, and we have also combined with girls from their group to form a team to compete in tournaments.

The rink at SECMOL Campus is two-thirds of the full size. We have another site that will be full size, but it needs extensive work.

We flood the playing field with water at night, and skate in the morning.

Skates and equipment are very welcome

The biggest obstacle to ice-hockey in Ladakh is the shortage of skates, but SECMOL has many pairs donated by friends. When extra skates are donated, we donate the excess to a remote area that is organising to teach girls skating and hockey. So far we have donated skates to girls' teams in Changthang and rural Kargil District. Smaller sizes, such as are suitable for Ladakhi girls and women, are especially useful, but a few in larger sizes are also useful.

We still don’t have enough protective gear for a whole team, so these are needed. Sticks are also in short supply. And inline skates would be a great addition to allow off-season practice.

You can send boxes by surface post through the regular postal system (not private courier) to this address, or contact us about other possibilities.

Volunteering

We’d love to have a volunteer coach for ice hockey or figure skating. You should come by mid-December to get to know the place and the students and start training before the ice starts, since the season is so short.

 

Heartfelt thanks to

Nancy Cochran for a real skate sharpener in 2007, and the VIS group for carrying it from the US. This has made a great difference!

Curtis Koren and friends of VIS, for dozens of pairs of skates and equipment on many occasions starting in 2001.

Hanover High School (NH) Varsity Women’s Ice-Hockey team for equipment in 2006, and to Conor Brannen for organising it.

Kyle Banks and the Falmouth Ice Arena, for more than 20 pairs of skates in 2001.

Håkan Berthas for making the film Thin Ice about the SECMOL girls’ team captain 2004, Stanzin Dolkar. (You can see a preview on YouTube)

The dozens of SECMOL students over the years who have learnt skating enthusiastically and shared their equipment with other teams.

Stobdan of Spituk, one of Ladakh’s hottest hockey players, for coaching SECMOL girls and boys for free in 2006 and 2007.

Deb from USA for volunteer coaching in 2005.

Luke and Anne from Alaska for coaching, skates and equipment in 2008.

Aman Ali of Chiktan, for organising skating lessons for girls in his remote Chiktan region of Kargil and encouraging collaboration.

The Ice Babes team from ICG Stars, of Copenhagen, Denmark, and their friends, for donating 60 pairs of skates (which are still stuck in Delhi).

But no thanks to Michael Kramer of AWSM for getting our hopes up and then dashing them. If you have found this page by searching the internet because he has offered to sponsor your women's hockey team, forget it! He did the same to the Ice Vixens of Manila in the Philippines, too.