(By Our Correspondent Devansh Desai)
India’s women’s ice hockey team has come a long way from rough, frozen ponds in the remote valleys of Ladakh and Spiti to winning a bronze medal at the 2025 IIHF Women’s Asia Cup. Their journey shows how hard work and determination can lead to big achievements, even when the odds are against you.
Between May 31 and June 6, the Indian Women’s Ice Hockey Team competed in Al-Ain, UAE, where they took on five international teams. With three victories and two defeats, the squad secured third place India’s first-ever medal in the Women’s Asia Cup.
The win has sparked nationwide celebration and recognition for a team that, until now, had been quietly breaking barriers on the ice.
Their journey began far from bright stadium lights. In the bone-chilling winters of Ladakh and Spiti, where temperatures fall well below freezing, young women found purpose on ice sheets that cracked under their skates. With no formal training facilities, minimal resources, and hand-me-down gear from male players, they played after everyone else had finished often in borrowed equipment that didn’t fit, on rinks they built themselves.
Mocked, dismissed, and told to give up “Try dancing,” some said. “Go home and raise children,” others advised. But these women didn’t walk away. They skated harder.
Realizing that change had to come from within, the players founded the Ladakh Women’s Ice Hockey Foundation, an organization that has not only nurtured talent in isolated Himalayan communities but also helped shape a national identity for the sport. Over the past decade, they’ve trained girls in remote villages, built local support networks, and taken Indian women’s ice hockey to the world stage.
This bronze medal means more than just a win in sports. It shows how brave and strong these women are. They kept going even when it seemed like their dream would never come true.
Every time they step onto the ice, they break old rules about what girls can and cannot do. Their journey gives hope to young girls across the country, proving that they too can follow their dreams even if they have to build their own way to get there.