Local nonprofit organization raises funds for ice rink
K
ristin Watts didn’t catch the ice hockey bug until her son’s second season. During that season, Ian Watts’ team did not have a good regular season, but made a deep run in the subsequent tournament. That’s when Watts became really connected to the team. She, alongside other players’ family members, created signs and got together inside and outside the arena to support the team, and a camaraderie was born. “It was so emotional,” Watts says.
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The Pickerington Prowlers is a new under-14 club that kicked off its inaugural season in 2020. Members of the Center Ice Foundation of Central Ohio helped formed the club as it works toward raising funds for an $8 million ice rink in the area.
Ian, who’s now 14 years old, has been playing hockey since he was 7, and his younger brother, Connor, 10, is following in his big brother’s footsteps. Watts’ husband, Christopher Watts, played the sport growing up and now coaches the Pickerington Prowlers’ under-14 club, which started in 2020. Being a hockey family in the Pickerington area, however, is not easy.
The family often commutes to the OhioHealth Chiller’s Easton facility for hockey practice because there are not many ice rinks in central Ohio. There are eight ice rinks in the central Ohio area, and before the Chiller added a new sheet of ice at an existing facility last year, none had been added for more than 20 years, Watts says. www.pickeringtonmagazine.com
Photos courtesy of Center Ice Foundation of Central Ohio
By Brandon Klein
