New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS): A total of 24 schools across the National Capital Region (NCR) will vie for top honours in the Under-17 and Under-14 categories of the inaugural Cairn Junior Hockey Cup 2015 starting Thursday at the Shivaji Stadium here.

The Hockey Citizen Group announced the launch of the tournament here Wednesday. The seven-day tournament is aimed at providing a competitive platform for school children to showcase their talents on a national arena.

The maiden edition of the Cup will feature 24 schools from across Delhi and NCR, which will include both government and private schools. This is also the first time in Delhi that an Under-14 hockey tournament will have prize money associated with it.

Present at the inaugural briefing of the tournament were Ajit Pal Singh, captain of the India's 1975 World Cup-winning team, Indian hockey selector and member of the 1964 Olympic gold medal-winning team Harbinder Singh, former World Cup gold medallist H.J.S Chimni and K. Arumugam, founder and CEO, Hockey Citizen Group.

"The culture of hockey needs to be inculcated at the grass-root level. Kids need to be encouraged to take up the game at a very young age. Initiatives like these are need of the hour and we should all support them in our respective capacities", said Ajit Pal Singh.