The 16th Kodava hockey festival in Coorg will start from April 21st and end on May 13th this year in Ammathi. The MR Anil Iychettira family will be organising this year’s kodava hockey festival. Iychettira Hockey Cup Around 250 teams and over 3 lakh people are expected to witness this tournament.
The Kodava hockey festival was started in the year 1997 and was the brainchild of 69 year old Pandanda Kuttappa who was a first division hockey referee and an ex-employee of State Bank of India. He conceived the idea of creating a platform in which the different Kodava families can get together. Realising the passion of hockey in Kodagu, he decided that a hockey festival would be a good event to bring Kodavas together. He also chose the hockey festival because he was disturbed about the growth of junior hockey players from Kodagu.The finances required for the inaugural tournament were provided by Kuttappa himself. The response however was lukewarm and this tournament held at Karada and called as Pandanda Cup attracted only around 60 families. Some rules were framed which included that all the team members must belong to the same family (surname) and participate in a full hockey attire. Even women could be a part of the team and it was left to the woman to decide whether she wants to represent the father's family or that of the husband's.
After the inaugural tournament, an academy called as The Kodava Hockey Academy was started to oversee and have the final say in all matters related to the future tournaments.
See Live Score of Iychettira Hockey Cup 2012
Book online Coorg resorts of Ammathi , Kodagu in advance.
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