Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education, the Flyers, and Flyers Charities open new street hockey rink in Kensington

“One of our organization’s core values is growing the game and this project is an incredible opportunity to do just that,” executive director of Flyers Charities Cindy Stutman said.

Scott Tharp, from left, Cindy Stutman, Dan Hilferty, Sean Couturier, and Bill Whitmore present a check for a Learn to Play program at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the outdoor street hockey rink at the Joseph Scanlon Recreation Center on Monday, May 1, 2023.Read moreGiana Han / Staff

by Olivia Reiner

Published May 1, 2023, 9:07 p.m. ET

Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education, the Philadelphia Flyers, and Flyers Charities continue to strive toward their shared goal of growing the game.

On Monday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for a new outdoor street hockey rink, a refurbished playground, and a new sports wall at the Joseph Scanlon Recreation Center in Kensington.

According to commissioner of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Kathryn Ott Lovell, Snider Youth Hockey & Education invested over $1 million in the project. In February 2022, Flyers Charities donated $400,000 to help fund the construction of the new rink.

“We’re so excited to get this started and to be able to enhance and deepen the services we provide to the children, youth, and families of this neighborhood,” Snider Youth Hockey & Education president Scott Tharp said.

The Flyers and Flyers Charities also announced that they will sponsor a “Learn to Play” summer ball hockey program at the new Scanlon rink, and will supply all the equipment. Registration will open in May, along with the program (exact date to be determined).

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, executive director of Flyers Charities Cindy Stutman, Comcast Spectacor CEO Dan Hilferty, and Flyers center Sean Couturier also presented Snider Youth Hockey & Education with a $300,000 check to be used on their next project together.

“This project is an incredible example of what the partnership between Snider and the Philadelphia Flyers is all about - growing the game of hockey and impacting the lives of young people here in Philadelphia,” said Hilferty in the official release. “These facilities will further allow Snider to make a real difference here in Kensington not only through hockey, but also through the amazing educational resources Snider provides for their student-athletes.”

In addition to the rink at Scanlon, Snider Youth Hockey & Education operates seven other sites throughout the city. Tharp said that the organization hopes to replicate the Scanlon project at those other locations in the future.

“One of our organization’s core values is growing the game and this project is an incredible opportunity to do just that,” Stutman said. “We know that hockey is such a great sport, but it’s also expensive. And being able to give kids the resources to be able to learn about the game, play the game and have access to all the other resources that are here and a part of Snider is so important to us.”

Student-athletes in attendance got to test out the new rink, the upgraded playground, and the new sports wall for the first time alongside Couturier, who is also an ambassador for Snider Youth Hockey & Education.

“We’ve just been talking about this for so long and to see it all in action and to see kids on the playground and to see kids on the rink, this is what it’s all about,” Stutman said. “The months of work and the fundraising and all of the collaboration, it was really about creating this for these kids.”

Late Flyers founder Ed Snider created what was originally called the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation in 2005 with the goal of uniting communities in Philadelphia through hockey and education. The organization aims to create opportunities for under-resourced youth of the Greater Philadelphia Region to set them up for success in life.