Arlington, Va. – The Washington Capitals and Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) announced today a partnership through which the Capitals will introduce hockey to more than 93,460 students across the county’s 167 elementary, middle and charter schools through the Capitals Hockey School program. Through the partnership, the Capitals Hockey School program will surpass 1 million students reached per year through the program’s presence in schools across more than 20 counties across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
To celebrate the announcement and milestone, the Capitals hosted a hockey school clinic on Jan. 4 at Capitol Heights Elementary School in Capitol Heights, Md.
Following remarks by representatives from the Capitals, NHL and PGCPS, the Capitals Youth Hockey Development staff led an assembly for third- through fifth-grade students to introduce them to hockey skills including stickhandling, passing and taking a shot on net.
To kick off the event, director of youth hockey development Peter Robinson made remarks on the partnership and PGCPS’s participation in the hockey school program marking more than 1 million local students introduced to hockey by the Capitals since the Hockey School program’s inception. National Hockey League senior director of youth hockey and industry growth Matt Herr also made remarks on the Capitals and NHL’s efforts to introduce children across the region to hockey. Capitol Heights Elementary School principal Shawna Berry also spoke toward the importance of the Hockey School program providing the opportunity for students to interact with the sport and what it means for Prince George’s County Public Schools to partner with the Capitals. Capitals manager of youth hockey development Andrew Nash also presented the school system with a gold stick in honor of the program surpassing 1 million students engaged with hockey through Hockey School.
The Capitals Hockey School program is aimed at providing access to the sport of hockey by introducing it to children in elementary and middle school. 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. In addition, the Capitals Youth Hockey Development staff visits schools to host assemblies surrounding the game. 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 Industry Growth Fund (IGF).
There are currently 1,601 schools in the Hockey School program, reaching 1,052,294 students across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. 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. For a complete list, click here.
