Our Story
Our Philosophy. Our Ritual.
We know rituals matter. A certain pair of hockey socks. A lucky mouth guard. A pre-game song that gets you in the zone. Here at Ritual Hockey, it’s the same. We’re ritualistic about design, every single day.
We didn’t set out to manufacture hockey gear for the masses. There are plenty of brands making good sticks, but we wanted to make the best sticks. Hockey equipment for elite players. Beautifully crafted, designed with precision and engineered to the millimeter. Each of our sticks is built for a specific style of play, with precise hitting ability and supreme feel. Gear that looks sharp, without sacrificing performance.
Our rituals involve months (sometimes years) of calibration and development. Our designers and engineers work through prototype after prototype, mixing high-tech materials with leading-edge sports science and creative flair. If a product doesn’t meet our lofty benchmarks, we don’t release it. Simple as that.
This is hockey gear for athletes and edge-seekers, used by some of the best players in the world. It’s hockey gear for people who understand: rituals are everything.
Design
Eye-catching design is one thing. High-performance engineering is another. This is where the art comes in: blending sharp aesthetics with real science.
We spent years assembling a world-class team of sports scientists, designers and product engineers who work together to build the perfect stick. Ritual Hockey gear is designed in Australia, crafted by specialists around the globe and stress-tested by International hockey players. Every one of our products goes through a rigorous prototyping phase. And we mean rigorous. A single stick can take over 10 hours to actually craft.
Each Ritual stick is also designed for a particular style of play. There are no ‘generic sticks’ in our range. We’ve designed a stick for low and fast aerial maneuvers and one for more upright, traditional players. There’s a stick for drag-flicking specialists and another for goalies. It’s all about tailoring a stick to your personal game.
Design
Eye-catching design is one thing. High-performance engineering is another. This is where the art comes in: blending sharp aesthetics with real science.
We spent years assembling a world-class team of sports scientists, designers and product engineers who work together to build the perfect stick. Ritual Hockey gear is designed in Australia, crafted by specialists around the globe and stress-tested by International hockey players. Every one of our products goes through a rigorous prototyping phase. And we mean rigorous. A single stick can take over 10 hours to actually craft.
Each Ritual stick is also designed for a particular style of play. There are no ‘generic sticks’ in our range. We’ve designed a stick for low and fast aerial maneuvers and one for more upright, traditional players. There’s a stick for drag-flicking specialists and another for goalies. It’s all about tailoring a stick to your personal game.
Nathaniel Nelson
Founder
Nat si definisce un vero ‘maniaco dell’attrezzatura’. Dopo la laurea in scienze, ha seguito la sua passione per l’hockey lavorando nella gestione, vendita, progettazione e sviluppo per alcuni dei principali marchi di hockey. Nat ha dedicato la sua carriera all’hockey. Questo lo ha portato in tutto il mondo, a unirsi a comunità hockeystiche e incontrare produttori di attrezzature professionali. Oggi è considerato un vero esperto del settore. Ritual è il risultato dell’esperienza, della passione e della (leggera) ossessione di Nat per l’hockey.
Sabrina Heesh
Marketing & Sponsorship
Sabbie is an elite hockey player and (just quietly) goalie for the England women’s national team. She is also our Ritual marketing guru. If you’ve ever contacted us for customer support or sponsorship enquiries, you’ve likely chatted with her. Sabbie studied Exercise & Sports Science at university and quickly found her feet in sports marketing. She’s currently specialising in digital marketing and plotting England’s world hockey domination.
James Jeffrey
Luggage & Soft Goods Design
The bag man. James is an Australian who’s been in the bag game for years. He’s lived and worked all over the world, designing supreme-quality bags for Crumpler, Knomo and Bellroy. He runs his own bag and brand development HQ in Torquay, Australia.
Trudi Nelson
Brand Manager
Trudi ha plasmato il nostro marchio fin dall’inizio. Collabora strettamente con Nat sulla strategia aziendale di Ritual, sul design dei prodotti e sull’identità complessiva del brand. Prima di entrare nel mondo dell’hockey competitivo, ha lavorato per 11 anni come Brand Manager per un importante marchio online australiano, supervisionando attentamente il team marketing.
Fran Bacardit & Arnau Vila - Cinematography
Fran Bacardit & Arnau VilaCinematography
Fran and Arnau are Ritual multimedia experts. They bring the brand to life on film. Working out of their studio in Barcelona, Fran and Arnaud have shot on location pretty much everywhere, from remote South America and industrial USA to sun-soaked European beaches. They also run the cinematography team at Film Easy.
Pasha Gademan
European Sales Manager
Pasha is a man of many talents. He has degrees in Journalism and Communication Science, and is also highly regarded hockey coach. Pasha works closely with Sabbie to manage our team of international athletes, as well as looking after our European sales. Pasha coaches at Almeerse Hockey Club and is involved with the Dutch men’s international program.
Raoul Luescher
Composite Materials
There’s nothing Raoul Luescher doesn’t know about carbon. He’s our composite materials expert, with over 20 years of experience in high-performance engineering. Raoul has worked with Boeing Aerospace, the Australian Defence Department and the Australian Institute of Sport, plus several top Olympic athletes.
Josh Emrich
Graphic Design
If we make hockey players look good, Josh makes us look good. He's our branding and design guru, based in Indiana. We work closely with Josh on all aspects of the Ritual Hockey brand identity.
Joel Wells
3D Industrial Design
Ingegnere di Product Design nato e residente a Melbourne, Joel ha coltivato la sua passione per l’innovazione nello sport anche durante gli studi universitari in Industrial Design presso la RMIT. Professionalmente, Joel ha fondato con successo diverse società di consulenza nel design, specializzandosi in settori che vanno dall’elettronica di consumo all’arredamento, dallo sport d’élite ai dispositivi medici. In dodici anni di carriera ha lavorato sia in Australia che all’estero per clienti come Nike, Adidas International, Under Armour, Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard e Ford, oltre a tenere lezioni di Product Design Engineering presso la Swinburne University.
Elmar Krop
Photography
Based in Amsterdam, Elmar has an impressive list of clients under his belt. Our elite athletes love working with Elmar and really appreciate his personal care and professional approach. Not to mention his amazing photography skills!
