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We Must Stop My Hometown from Converting the Hockey Rink into Pickleball Courts
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As you know, pickleball is a scourge that continues to spread across the region like wildfire. It must be confined to specific areas, like Bounce Pickleball Club in Malvern, where Pagan ran a wonderful charity event a few weeks ago.
But Bounce is the outlier, because what we’ve seen in recent years is the spotted lanternfly of racquet sport. Pickleball infests local communities and takes over their sporting facilities, resulting in the conversion of existing space into myriad 20×44 rectangles. Tennis courts go the way of the Dodo Bird and Passenger Pigeon, and that’s exactly what could happen in my hometown of Gilbertsville.
A petition titled “Save New Hanover Community Park’s hockey rink- prevent pickle ball conversion initiative” explains the situation like this:
Kate Van Druff, a player and parent of a player in our ball hockey community, found out New Hanover has recently been discussing a pickle ball conversion to the hockey rink in the park. Their discussion will continue at their board meeting this Wednesday, November 1st at 6:30 PM at 2943 North Charlotte Street, Gilbertsville, PA 19525.
Kate has lived in Gilbertsville and has been using the hockey rink since 2007. We regularly host pick up games there in the tournament off-season for the kids in our local hockey program. Kate even started a Facebook group to organize weekly pick up hockey games here. This offers a no-risk setting for busy parents and newcomers who are not ready for organized league play. There are also many children who use this rink. Residents come primarily from Boyertown, Pottstown, Gilbertsville, Limerick, and the surrounding areas. Many, but not all, play for local ice, roller, and ball hockey leagues like PAL, Jesters and Boyertown. If this initiative is passed, many players will have to drive over half an hour (over an hour, for other players) to the nearest ball hockey rink. This community resource is so valuable in getting kids and adults active.
Last year, our Jesters Ball Hockey youth program saw a 75% drop in participation in practices when our rink in Phoenixville closed and we were forced to move to a rink in Reading, about 45 minutes away. This rink has been an invaluable asset to keep our kids playing.
According to pickleheads.com, there are an estimated 15 pickleball courts within a 20-minute drive of New Hanover Park, the closest one being Boyertown Community Park, just 10 minutes away (offering 3 courts.) There are only 3 other hockey rinks within a 45 minute drive from the same park, and 2 out of the 3 do not offer pick up hockey. The nearest hockey rink in Pottstown charges over $100 per season, with no youth or coed options. There are over 22 ball hockey complexes in southern New Jersey, which shows how underrepresented our sport is in our area. Taking away this rink will severely undercut our efforts in keeping organized youth hockey alive.
A petition update notes that organizers have spoken to the township manager, who is looking for “concrete testimonies from New Hanover Township residents.” As such, there will be a vote on the repurposing of the hockey rink at Wednesday night’s board meeting. I am planning to attend and will chain myself to the front door after gluing my head to the floor while live streaming the entire thing.
In all seriousness, there are a lot of places to play pickle, but not a lot of places to play hockey. This particular park is off of 663, near Swamp Pike, so look at the map and tell me where you see a hotbed of hockey activity taking place around here:
Right. We grew up on the bumblefuck border, basically where the Philly suburbs turn into the hinterlands.
On the flip side, a quick search reveals that there are pickle courts in the following nearby locations:
Two YMCA locations, a park, and a church, all within 10 minutes of the New Hanover location.
You want more pickleball? Okay, but let’s not do it at the expense of something else. Pickle and hockey can co-exist in the same location, so that should be the focus of the township meeting, i.e. – how do we make this work for everyone? How do we make everyone happy? Let’s find a compromise! 20 years ago, we sold hoagies to raise funds to get the skate park built. Then we all graduated before it was finished, but that’s beside the point. The point is that community input should steer the direction of this thing, and then you act on the feedback.
What cannot happen is a silent pickleball takeover. I encourage everyone to sign the petition and let your voices be heard. Show up to the community meeting. It’s democracy in action! Fight the power!
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com