director dave fitzpatrick has been roped in as a consultantmy role in the project is to add an ice hockey component to all of this the blueprint will come out as a plan leading into the futureyou need to know what we have currently thats been the first phase of this project said fitzpartrickthe first working draft is over a hundred pages right now and we are moving along quite nicely its not finished yet we still have some more information from this site visit to add to it he said photo lwihf instagramthe ice hockey association of ladakh ihal and the ladakh winter sports club have also played a key role in lifting the status of the game in the regionthere are about 30 clubs who are affiliated to us now we are at a good stage says the ihal president namgial gyapo about 90 percent of the players who played for the indian mens and womens teams are from ladakhthe sport will receive a major shot in the arm once the sports ministry approves the ice hockey association of india as a national sports federationit will definitely help if they get recognition says ladakhs joint sports director kunzang they will get more funding by being a proper federation like there are for the other sports in the countrythe most significant part of knowing ladakh in the context of ice hockey is that even in the most trying circumstances the locals and those involved with the sport take a lot of pride in their association with itwe were invited by ut ladakh to help them put together a blueprint for developing ice hockey and our endeavour has really been to work with the himalayan communities to see how can we develop the sport says bidisha dey executive director eicher group foundation which is royal enfields csr and sustainability armapart from government support if we want to develop any sport then csr plays an important role in that ever since we have collaborated with royal enfield we have taken the game to a different level said sports secretary kumarwhile all that is critical for the growth of the sport and to become technologically efficient in terms of infrastructure to spread it to other parts of india where ladakh stands out is the way the game is loved and unites the small population therethat love has kept the sport alive and kicking