Around 20 plastic hockey sticks were laid to the ground across the Capitol Heights Elementary School gym in early January. Within the sticks sat an arrangement of red hockey balls along with a custom Capitals pop-up net.
The sticks sat while four basketball hoops stood idle locked onto the gymnasium’s walls that had been installed years back to the school’s opening.
The eyes in which this foreign hockey equipment was set up in front of turned into a curiosity and amusement many had not seen or thought of before.
Washington Capitals Youth Hockey Development Manager Andrew Nash took two steps to the front of the gym and locked eyes with the crowd in front of him.
“Who’s ready to play some hockey!” he shouted.
Capitol Heights Elementary School turned into Capital One Arena with a multitude of third- through fifth-grade students erupting to a tune similar to an Alex Ovechkin goal.
This is the Capitals Hockey School program’s whole objective and plan to build the next generation of hockey players and fans across the DMV.
The Washington Capitals efforts across the youth hockey community have not gone unnoticed.
Since its inception in 2007, the Capitals have officially introduced more than 1 million students to hockey.
There are currently 21,949 USA Hockey registered youth and adult players in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., including 12,749 youth players. Since 2005-06, there has been a 70% increase in ice hockey participation.
The Capitals’ recently announced partnership with Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) made it official, introducing hockey to more than 93,460 students across the county’s 167 elementary, middle and charter schools.
There are currently 1,601 schools in the Hockey School program, reaching 1,052,294 students across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
The Capitals Hockey School program was designed to provide access to hockey for children in elementary and middle schools who may not have had the opportunity elsewhere.
The Capitals donate hockey equipment including sticks, nets, balls and pucks to each school, and P.E. teachers receive a standardized curriculum following SHAPE America’s national requirements.
To date, the Capitals have donated 63,386 sticks, 2,820 nets 41,660 balls 11,708 pucks to each school.
Most of these kids have never held a hockey stick in hand or learned how to use it properly. With the right guidance and curriculum, their potential passion for the game is sky high.
“We have the opportunity to give our kids something other than basketball, football, baseball; it’s great for them to know there are other things out there in the world and other opportunities,” said Capitol Heights Elementary school principal Shawna Berry. “Hopefully this will spark something that will want them to play hockey and have additional opportunities beyond school.”
The PGCPS programming, which will become a core unit in the county’s physical education curriculum, is part of the Capitals' investment of more than $3.5 million toward the development of youth hockey in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and is funded primarily by the National Hockey League's and National Hockey League’s Players Associations' Industry Growth Fund (IGF).
During the 2015-16 season, the Capitals launched initial IGF Fund programming with DC Public Schools, introducing a hockey curriculum to more than 48,000 DCPS students across more than 110 schools.
In 2018-19, the Capitals launched a partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools to donate equipment and a physical education curriculum to introduce hockey to more than 75,000 students across more than 150 schools. There are more than 20 additional participating counties in Virginia and Maryland.
“There’s only so many rinks, so this is an important part to expand our game,” said Matthew Herr, Capitals Alum, and National Hockey League Senior Director of Youth Hockey and Industry Growth. “I think the NHL and NHLPA over the last ten years with the industry growth fund and clubs like the Washington Capitals are putting sticks in hands for these kids and they are learning valuable life lessons for their lives. I think that is the most valuable piece.”
Nash, along with Youth Hockey Development Director Peter Robinson and the entire Capitals Youth Hockey staff, have brought the game of hockey to life and not only created a fun and competitive sports environment, but also a space for leadership, socialization, companionship and valuable life lessons.
For these kids, taking up hockey outside of the classroom is monumental, but the Capitals are far more determined in building better people and what the game can offer for their futures.
“Teamwork is the biggest thing,” said Nash. “One of the things that we say with our clinics when we get to the game side of things and we’re done with all the skill demonstrations and we're just going to play games, is that hockey is a team sport. So, you learn all these individual skills, now how do you bring it together and work with your team and your other players on your team to be able to have success as a group?”
“Teamwork is a huge element of it,” Nash added. “I think responsibility, accountability. It's keeping yourself accountable with not only the equipment but what you do with the ball or the puck.”
The Caps with the help of the IGF have partnered with 25 counties and their schools.
“It's nice that you have not only the backing from the league, but also backing from your own organization,” Nash said of the Capitals and NHL’s continued support. “It's the agreement that the Players Association has with the NHL, that this is going to exist as long as it needs to be able to have these programs and keep them afloat.”
Nash and his team came up with a three-to-five-year plan to support the remaining 19 counties in the DMV that have yet to have hockey as part of their curriculum.
““The plan is to work with the rest of those 19 counties and then the Hockey School program will be in every county in Maryland, and every county in Virginia, all the way down to Richmond and the District of Columbia. I think it's a really nice radius.”
To celebrate the 1 million individual reach, the Capitals gifted Capitol Heights Elementary a golden stick that’ll be hung and commemorated for the next generation to witness.
The golden stick signifies the emergence of hockey in the community and where the future of the game is going.
For the Capitals, its youth hockey development team, and public schools across the state – here’s to the next million and next great players and people.
