The Referee Training Programme for Royal Enfield Ice Hockey Season 3 has begun in New Delhi, bringing together over 20 officials from Himalayan regions to enhance officiating skills and strengthen the technical backbone of Indian ice hockey.
The third season of the Himalayan ice hockey initiative by Royal Enfield has kicked off with a dedicated Referee Training Programme in New Delhi. The training started on December 1, 2025, at ISKATE by Roseate and will continue till December 5. More than 20 officials from Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand are participating-marking the second big on-ground intervention of the 2025 26 season after the earlier coach training camps.
Before taking to the ice, all referees attending the session first completed four virtual modules that covered the fundamentals of officiating-from gameplay rules to situational decision-making that when referees take to on-ice training, they do so from a consistent level of competence.
The programme is being spearheaded by Péter Gebei, a veteran Hungarian ice hockey professional with a storied career as a player, referee, and officiating coach. Gebei boasts over four decades of experience, 57 international caps for Hungary, and past officiating stints in top-level leagues including the Austrian Hockey League and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
As a senior instructor certified by the IIHF, Gebei's guidance brings global officiating standards to the Himalayan ice hockey ecosystem. His involvement underlines the ambition of the programme: to raise technical and governance benchmarks for Indian ice hockey.
The training program would, therefore, fall perfectly in line with the larger strategy chalked out for the 2025-26 season: transitioning from mere participation to creating a sustainable grassroots ecosystem of quality across the Himalayas, particularly in regions such as Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
After this training, the certified referees will head to their home regions and officiate in local-level ice hockey events, including “Learn to Play” sessions, early-season regional camps, and community-level tournaments.
They will also form the core officiating unit for major upcoming competitions including the Royal Enfield Ice Hockey League (REIHL) in Ladakh and the Spiti Cup in Himachal Pradesh, scheduled for early 2026.
This structured approach of combining coach and referee training, local youth outreach, and large-scale competitive events provides the base on which organisers hope a self-sustaining winter sports ecosystem rooted in Himalayan communities can be established.
