India’s cash-strapped national ice hockey team turns to social media to raise money

The Indian ice hockey association has turned to crowd funding to raise money to send a team to an international tournament in Kuwait next week.

In cricket-crazy India, cricket stars earns millions. And while other sports depend largely on government funding, it is not available to the ice hockey players.

The Ice Hockey Association of India launched its campaign last week using a Twitter hashtag and setting up a website to collect funds. It already has collected half of the targeted 2 million rupees ($32,250).

Hockey association director Akshay Kumar says a 26-member team will participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation Challenge Cup.

Ice hockey is not popular in India, but the association has been sending teams to various international competitions since 2010.