Family Hockey

Hockey is the national game of the Coorgs. The game is played with passion, come rain or shine. Like the coffee plantations, the British introduced hockey in Coorg.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that Coorg is a nursery of Indian hockey. For the last several decades, hockey players from Coorg have found representation in the Indian team to the Olympics. Arjun Halappa has now kept up the tradition and done India proud. Those from Coorg who have captained the Indian team in the past include the legendary B.P.Govinda, M.P.Ganesh and M.M.Somaiya.

In the recent years, the game of hockey has received a new lease of life. Pandanda Kuttappa, popularly known as Kuttani, a retired State Bank of India official and a hockey enthusiast, started family hockey tournament exclusively for the Coorg’s in 1997.

In this unique tournament, members of various Coorg families, play one another. There is no age or gender bar for participating in the matches, though of late, the tournament has become highly competitive, involving high caliber hockey. Of the over 700 Coorg families, more than 200 families have been sending their teams for the tournament which is played in the month of April.  More than a sport, the family hockey has become a social event, with family members cheering up their teams with gusto. There is a festive atmosphere in the air with stalls coming up near the match venues, serving delicious Coorg dishes.
The hockey festival has already found its name in the Limca Book of Records for the largest ever hockey event to be organized in any part of the world at one stretch. The Kodava Hockey Academy is the apex body which has the final word on matters related to the tournament.  Sixty families participated in the first tournament organized by the “Pandanda” family in 1997 at Karada which was won by the Kaliyanda family.

Following the landslides that hit Coorg in 2018, the Kodava hockey festival was not held for subsequent four years. Besides the landslides, the Covid pandemic also came in the way of holding the festival. 

In 2023, the 23^rd edition of the festival was hosted by the Appachettolanda family at Napoklu which saw participation from a record 336 teams. The Palanganda family holds the record for winning the cup five times.

Kodava Hockey Festival by year^[3]

No.	Year	Name	Held at	Number of teams	Winner	Runners Up
1	1997	Pandanda Cup	Karada	60	Kaliyanda	Anjaparavanda
2	1998	Kodira Cup	Kadanga	116	Kullettira	Koothanda
3	1999	Ballachanda Cup	Kakotparambu	140	Koothanda and Kullettira	–
4	2000	Cheppudira Cup	Ponnampet	170	Koothanda	Nellamakkada
5	2001	Nellamakkada Cup	Ammathi	220	Koothanda	Cheppudira
6	2002	Chekkera Cup	Hudikeri	252	Kullettira	Nellamakkada
7	2003	Kaliyanda Cup	Napoklu	280	Nellamakkada	Konerira
8	2004	Maleyanda Cup	Madapur	235	Koothanda	Nellamakkada
9	2005	Biddanda Cup	Madikeri	222	Nellamakkada	Koothanda
10	2006	Kallichanda Cup	Ponnampet	217	Palanganda	Machamada
11	2007	Mandettira Cup	Kakotparambu	186	Mandepanda	Anjaparavanda
12	2008	Alamengada Cup	Ponnampet	216	Anjaparavanda	Koothanda
13	2009	Mandepanda Cup	Ammathi	231	Nellamakkada	Machamada
14	2010	Maneyapanda Cup [7]	Ponnampet	214[8]	Palanganda	Mukkatira(Bonda)
15	2011	Machamada Cup [5]	Ponnampet	228	Palanganda	Kaliyanda
16	2012	Iychetira Cup	Ammathi	217	Palanganda	Kaliyanda
17	2013	Madanda Cup	Balugodu	225	Anjaparavanda	Palanganda
18	2014	Thathanda Cup [6]	Virajpet	242	Kaliyanda	Palanganda
19	2015	Kuppanda Cup [9]	Virajpet	255	Palanganda	Chendanda
20	2016	Shantheyanda Cup [9]	Madikeri	299	Kaliyanda	Palanganda
21	2017	Biddatanda Cup [9]	Napoklu	306	Chendanda	Paradanda
22	2018	Kulletira Cup [9]	Napoklu	334	Chendanda	Anjaparuvanda
23	2023	Appachettolanda Cup [9]	Napoklu	336	Kuppanda	Kulletira