In 1997, Pandanda M Kuttappa, a retired bank employee, wanted to channelise this hockey craze to unite Kodavas and explore the potential of the talent in the region.

It was a sunny Saturday morning when this reporter reached the General Thimmayya stadium at Napoklu village in Kodagu district. The men, women and children gathered at the stadium were eager to showcase their hockey playing talent.

More than 3,000 hockey talents from Kodava community (with a population of around 1.5 lakh) converge in a Kodagu village during the summer months to vie for the coveted family hockey title. This time it was the turn of the Appachettolanda family to host the hockey festival at Napoklu from March 18 to April 9.

Ask a Kodava, he/she proudly says that it is a festival, and does not call it as a tournament. So the organisers have aptly named it as hockey ‘namme’ (festival in Kodava language).

It is better to know a bit about Kodavas. A majority of people from Kodava community live in Kodagu district of Karnataka.

When you interact with Kodavas, they take pride in their representation in the armed forces — which include the personalities such as Field Marshall KM Cariappa and General KS Thimmayya — and in sports, especially in hockey.

There are more than 800 families of Kodavas with each having a unique name. Of them, 336 families are participating in this year’s hockey festival. The size of the families ranges from 100 to 400 people.

Interacting with businessline on the sidelines of the event, Pandanda Bopanna, President of the Kodava Hockey Academy, says “Hockey is in the blood of a Kodava.”

History of Kodava family hockey so far

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Festival objectives

In 1997, Pandanda M Kuttappa, a retired bank employee, wanted to channelise this hockey craze to unite Kodavas and explore the potential of the talent in the region. Kuttappa and his brother Pandanda Kashi Ponnappa started a family-led hockey festival in Kodagu keeping four objectives in mind.

According to Pandanda Bopanna (Kuttappa’s son), the first objective was to bring harmony within the Kodava community and families. Though many Kodavas were participating in national and internation hockey matches, they were not seen playing in their homeland.

The second objective of Kuttappa was to give an opportunity for local Kodavas to witness in real-time the game of their national and international players.

Thirdly, Kuttappa wanted to provide a platform for youngsters in the community to showcase their talent, and take a step forward in their sporting career. Fourthly, the event also acted as a matrimonial platform and ended up in marriages in many cases.

Invests retirement benefit

Bopanna says that his father had invested his retirement benefits for hosting the first edition of the family hockey festival.

The first edition of the event, hosted by the Pandanda family, was named as Pandanda cup, and it saw the participation of 60 family teams. (The event was not organised in 2019 due to the 2018 Kodagu floods and landslides. Covid forced the organisers to refrain from hosting the event in 2020, 2021 and 2022.)

On the record participation of 336 teams this year, Bopanna says nowhere in the world would any hockey festival or tournament be played with such a large number of teams and players in one location.

Gender, age no bar

Gender and age are not a bar in this event. Men, women, and children can be the members of a team.

The only condition is that they should be from the same family. Women have the option to represent the family they are married to, or their paternal family. This year’s participation includes people in the age group of 6 to 84 years.

Highlighting her experience, Shivachaliyanda Dechakka, a 10th standard student from a sports hostel, says her family team won the first match, and lost the second one. She says it was a good experience for her to play with seniors.

While many teams have at least one woman representation, there are a few without them. In fact, the Kethira family had representation of five women, including the goalkeeper, in their team of 11.

Aman Poonacha from Palanganda family, an 8th standard student from Bengaluru, says he made his first entry as a player in his family team in a match on Saturday. However, he was not happy with his performance.

Confluence of youth and experience
Several stars from Indian hockey make it a point to be the representative of their families in the family cup.

KK Poonacha of Koothanda family, a former international player and former coach of Indian women’s team, who had just finished a match earlier on Saturday, says that he has been attending the family hockey cup matches since 1998, and his family team has won the cup in four editions.

Showing the five stars on his family hockey jersey, Ajay Ayyappa of Palanganda family, who works in the Department of Central Excise and GST in Bengaluru, says that he makes it a point to attend the hockey festival every year, and adds that his brother Amar Aiyamma, a former Indian player, will be playing in the next matches.

According to Pandanda Bopanna, former Indian team players such as Nithin Thimmaiah of Mekerira family, Pradhan Somaiah of Pudiyokkada family, PL Thimmanna of Puliyanda family, PU Bopanna of Pullangada family, and the former India Junior player KP Somaiah of Kuppand family are participating in the matches this year.

Terming this hockey festival as a good platform for beginners, KK Poonacha says they will get to play with the experienced players of national and international repute. This will be a good scouting ground for hockey talent also.

Stating that youngsters are motivated to play when they witness players of national and international repute, Ajay Ayyappa says it is like giving life to hockey again through this hockey festival, as people at the grassroots level are playing less these days.

Behind the scene

Appachettolanda Manu Muthappa, coordinator of the Appachettolanda Hockey Festival, says that his family has around 180 members, and they are actively participating in the smooth conduct of this event.

On resource mobilisation for organising the event, he says contribution of the amount from the family members and support from the public and corporates help them generate resources for the event. The State government has also been helping with funds for the event for some years.

A special gallery has been set up at the venue at a cost of around ₹35-40 lakh, and it can accommodate up to 25,000 people.

Deepak Chengappa of Nayakanda family, who is the Tournament Director, says that 21 matches are being conducted every day. The event has five jury members. Around 200 members, including the technical teams of Hockey Coorg and the whole Appachettolanda family, are helping him in the smooth operation of the event.

The event has four national referees, and 15 state referees. With an intention to encourage youngsters to take up refereeing as a profession, nine degree students are undergoing training here, he adds.

‘Encourage talent’

Kishor Cariappa from the Ammatanda family says that even though a lot of promising players take part in the Kodava Hockey Festival, their talent goes unnoticed once the tournament is over.

“Steps should be taken by Hockey Karnataka and Hockey India to hand-pick potential talent and start grooming them. Even though 336 teams took part this year, Hockey India officials were conspicuous by their absence. Organisers should make efforts to invite hockey think tanks in India to the event,” he adds.

Kishor Cariappa feels that the Karnataka government can help build two hockey venues with stands for Kodagu Hockey Festival in south and north Kodagu so that organising committees don’t have to spend lakhs of rupees on curating pitches every year.

Do you know who hosted the event?

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Future plans

Pandanda Bopanna says that three families have been finalised to host the next three editions of the hockey festival.

“We are encouraging other families who have not hosted so far to come forward and host. It is an opportunity to gain experience. It is not easy to host such a big event. It gives the family time to bond and also gives their youngsters a chance of hosting an event,” he adds.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> Sports / by A J Vinayak / April 04th, 2023

The Kodava hockey festival is a vibrant, month-long celebration held between March and April. The festival exudes the ambience and excitement of a mela with its draped festoons, welcome arches, and numerous stalls.

Come summer, and it’s hockey festival time in Kodagu. When schools close for summer vacation and coffee plantations take a break, Kodava families from around the world head home to participate in the Kodava Hockey Namme (festival) held in Kodagu (Coorg). It is time for Kodavas to battle with their hockey sticks at this tournament held in their home turf. With hundreds of families participating, the tournament is recognized as one of the largest field hockey tournaments in the world and finds a mention in the Limca Book of Records.

The Kodava hockey festival is a vibrant, month-long celebration held between March and April. The festival exudes the ambience and excitement of a mela with its draped festoons, welcome arches, and numerous stalls selling everything from automobiles to food. It is also an occasion for the Kodavas to dress up in traditional attire and participate in the procession and cultural programmes. Dancing and music add to the fun and frolic. One has to be here during the festival to experience the fierce pride of Kodavas in their glorious heritage, which they jealously guard.

The genesis of the hockey festival can be traced back to 1997. It was the brainchild of late Pandanda Kuttappa, a former banker and State league referee. He is said to have conceptualised the festival after realising the deterioration in the standards of hockey played in the district. He hit upon the idea for a tournament among the families in order to encourage more youngsters to take up the sport. 

The first editions of the festival were held in the village of Karada with 60 families competing. The festival has no permanent venue, something organisers are striving to achieve, and the festival has been held across the district in previous years.

The tournament started with the dual purpose of paying rich tribute to the sport in the region, and bringing together players in thousands in order to identify the best talents for the country. Over the years, more than 50 Kodavas have represented India in international hockey, earning their district the title of ‘Cradle of Indian hockey’. Hockey is to Kodagu what cricket is to India. It is common to find hockey sticks in every home. 

This annual festival is hosted by a different family each year and will be known by the name of the host family. A family may not host the event more than once. Families apply to the Kodava Hockey Academy expressing interest and are allotted the tournament after evaluation. In a lifetime, a Kodava will only get to see their family host the cup once. For the 800-odd families in Kodagu, it has become a matter of pride and honour to host this iconic tournament. This is one of the reasons why family members from far and near take leave and arrive in droves to participate in the much- awaited festival games. 

The hockey festival has accomplished what perhaps nothing else could have — uniting distant families. It is the time for annual family reunions in their ancestral homes. What makes this festival distinctive is that it remains a family-oriented event, which has morphed into a major sporting event and festival in the country. Besides uniting warring relatives and families torn by strife, the hockey event is also a platform for community members to discuss and transact trade and business, besides scouting for marital alliances. 

After a hiatus of four years due to floods and the pandemic, this year the hockey festival kickstarted with renewed vigour and energy. “This year (the 23rd edition)  the Appachettolanda family is organising the event under the aegis of Kodava Hockey Academy. The festival is held at an estimated cost of Rs 1.5 crores, raised through contributions from the families, a grant from the Karnataka Government, and through sponsorships. More than 350 teams will participate in the festival this time. While the winning team will be given a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, the runner-up will get Rs 2 lakh, and the teams that came third and fourth will get Rs 1 lakh each,” said Manu Muthappa, convener, Appachettolanda Hockey Festival.

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An interesting feature of the festival is that both men women take part in the matches and there is no restriction on age. The only rule for forming a team is that all members must be from the same family and can include children and grown-ups from both genders. Young boys and girls, fathers, mothers, uncles, professionals, and even former Olympian heroes are all players. The women have the choice of playing for their in-laws’ team or their parents’ team. There have been instances when three generations of players have played together in a single match.

The festival is also ideal for talent spotting. Sometimes, officials from the Sports Authority of India arrive here to select players who are then offered training and equipment. Some of them have gone on to become state and national players. Plans are afoot to set up a hockey stadium to offer more facilities to budding players from the district. It is heartening that there is a growing interest among the younger generation in the hockey festival. But there is a need for more stadiums and turfs to facilitate more players to practise regularly.

Schedule of the hockey festival: General Thimmaiah Stadium, Napoklu, from March 18 to April 10. 

Misty Woods Resort is an ideal place to stay to cover the hockey festival as it is within driving distance from the venue.

All pics by Susheela Nair. 

Susheela Nair is an independent food, travel and lifestyle writer and photographer contributing articles, content and images to several national publications besides organising seminars and photo exhibitions. Her writings span a wide spectrum which also includes travel portals and guide books, brochures and coffee table books.

source: http://www.thenewsminute.com / The News Minute / Home> Features> Sports & Culture / by Susheela Nair / March 27th, 2023