About Pick Up Sticks Hockey
Pick Up Sticks Hockey is a grassroots hockey organization focused on positive and supportive community play and efforts to Grow the Game of hockey. Originally founded as a pick up hockey group for kids, women, and coed players in Gilbertsville, PA and surrounding areas, Pick Up Sticks Hockey (PUSH) rapidly evolved to take action as a sports advocacy group focused on growing the game and breaking down barriers to playing hockey. The original mission of course – was to save and improve the crumbling hockey rink at New Hanover Community Park.
In late October 2023, our pick up hockey group focused attention on saving and improving the local rink and advocating for keeping hockey accessible to kids and adults alike.
A PUSH for Hockey – Saving the Love (New Hanover)
Inspired by two girls, Natalie Van Druff and Lilly Walter (both then 11 years old), who refused to let their beloved hockey rink be demolished and turned into pickleball courts – a hockey dream was born.
The two girls stood up before a room full of adults at a meeting in November 2023 to speak and advocate to keep the rink they loved. This resulted in a heartfelt invitation to “Dream Big” – asking the girls to suggest both short-term and long-term improvements to the rink.
And Dream Big they did! The girls worked tirelessly to reimagine their space, fundraising and hustling to make connections with others who care about kids, hockey, and building something amazing for the community.
Natalie and Lilly learned their voices truly made a difference and now – after extensive work to raise awareness and funds to rebuild the New Hanover Community Park Hockey Dek – the girls and team are celebrating their hockey dream.
Flyers Charities caught wind of the inspiring girls’ mission and surprised them with a game-changing, generous $200K grant to create a brand-new, state-of-the-art hockey rink. We are infinitely grateful to Flyers Charities for this incredible gift, and we’re also thankful beyond words to the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation and New Hanover Township for making this hockey dream come true. We’ve truly met the best people and organizations on this hockey journey.
PUSH Mission
Pick Up Sticks Hockey hosts frequent coed pick up games for all ages and also ladies pickup for girls and women to enjoy some hockey of their own. For further growth, we are excited to help kids make connections with various levels of youth hockey in our area, too.
Mission: Our goal is to break down the barriers for kids who want to play hockey, get sticks in hands, and offer quality instruction through clinics and opportunities to play in a positive and supportive environment.
If you feel moved by this grassroots effort and true Cinderella story, we invite you to join us in the vision for the future of hockey and healthy, active lifestyles for all ages in our community and beyond. Reach out to us at PickUpSticksHockey@gmail.com for collaborations and connections!
Current fundraising initiatives include an equipment shed, hockey sticks and balls, gear, and training equipment. Areas of focus also include instructional hockey clinics, community hockey events, and efforts to grow the game and promote outdoor play for kids and adults across generations.
The girls’ first fundraiser was a T-Shirt and Apparel Sale with Lucky Squirrel. The store is currently closed but will open again for another round of shirt sales soon!
Growing the Game & Playing Some Hockey!!
We invite everyone to come out and try hockey! Just wear your favorite sneakers and we’ll help you with the rest. Bring a stick if you have one or we’ll happily share sticks we’ve gathered for our organization to help grow the game and bring that hockey joy to everyone we can!
JOIN THE GROUP
Facebook – You will find our scheduled pickup dates on our Facebook Group – Pickup Sticks Hockey – Coed Kids & Adults Pickup Ball Hockey (Montco Berks)
Whatsapp – If you aren’t on Facebook, you can also join our Whatsapp for the schedule – Pick Up Sticks Hockey Meetups.
Growing Your OWN Game
Also, if you aren’t local to us, we hope PickUpSticksHockey.com will be a helpful resource for getting started with pick up ball hockey and beyond in your area! Everyone starts somewhere, and usually that somewhere is playing pick up street hockey with some friends!
Finding or starting pick up games in your neighborhood is easy and we are happy to support you.
Who Runs Pick Up Sticks Hockey?
Pick Up Sticks Hockey was started by three female ball hockey players, Kate Van Druff, Heather Walter and Alexis Tarantino. Other founding members include Natalie Van Druff, now age 12, and Lilly Walter, age 11.
Actually, let’s be real – Nat and Lilly are the Hockey Bosses!
Nat’s little sister Olivia assists with video production and event planning, too.
The group formed as a response to our local dek hockey rink nearly being converted to pickleball courts, which are already plentiful nearby. It continues to create fun and supportive opportunities for kids and even adults to play friendly local hockey.
Youth Sports Activism
The young leaders have created a Kids’ Board or Kids’ Committee to help procure sponsorships and to create engaging videos and movies. They are focused on raising awareness, creating fundraisers, and finding creative financial solutions to help grow the game of hockey.
The entire team is focused on supporting access to ball hockey at all ages, levels, and physical abilities. One of our greatest goals is making free pick up hockey easily accessible to anyone who wants to Pick Up A Stick!
Besides our own efforts to revitalize a local dek hockey rink, we are glad to support your own hockey journey!
Here are just a few areas where our expertise may come into play as you work to create your own pick up hockey family.
Importance of Youth Hockey
Solid youth hockey programs are vital to the longevity of our sport! Besides being players ourselves, we are advocates and youth hockey activists for our geographic area and beyond.
We want to GROW THE GAME in Pennsylvania to be as robust and accessible as we see with our neighbors over the bridge in New Jersey. We want to see rinks within a reasonable drive of each other so teams can play in neighboring towns instead of spending upwards of 2 hours in the car EACH way.
Less driving time means more time on the rink!!!
Let’s GO!!!
All Ladies on Dek!
As three women and two girls totally immersed in hockey, we are excited to promote and grow even more opportunities for others. From volunteering with multiple hockey orgs and leading a charge to save our local hockey dek to playing in the NBHL and tournaments, to starting our own women’s pick up hockey group – we are all about connecting other women and girls to the wonderful hockey community!
We want to grow girls’ hockey and women’s hockey too! With the amazing work of the PWHL, Team USA women’s national ball hockey team, NBHL women’s elite, and others championing women in hockey just like them, we are so thrilled that girls have such inspiring places to grow through their game.
Create Your Own Pick Up Hockey Group
Don’t have a group in your area yet? No worries! Be the trailblazer you were born to be. Start your own pick up hockey group (like we did!), and we’ll hook you up with all the resources you need to get the ball rolling!
We’re so glad you’re here! Hockey families are some of the very best and pick up is an awesome way to get a little more hockey in your life!