Dowd's Crowd Continues to Leave Lasting Impact

Launched in 2018, Dowd's Crowd serves as the perfect combination of passion and experience for Nic and Paige Dowd. Through Nic's platform as a professional hockey player and Paige's education as a speech-language pathology major, their program has left and continues to leave a lasting impact on the autism community.

"Throughout college and working as an autism therapist, I gained a lot of knowledge and experience with people with autism," said Paige. "I learned working with kids and communicating with the families that a lot of things that seem normal on a day-to-day basis can seem challenging for them to do with their kids. We wanted to make hockey games less challenging, so everyone can enjoy and go together as a family."
The Dowds identify families to invite to select Capitals games throughout the season. Each family is provided a sensory kit that Paige launched in 2021 with Kodette LaBarbera, who is the wife of Calgary Flames goaltending coach Jason LaBarbera.
The Assist Sensory Kits are available at all Capitals home games and include headphones, glasses, crayons, hand wipes, a fidget toy, tissues, a social story and a popcorn voucher.

Since the kit's launch, several NHL teams have made sensory kits available to their fans. Paige hopes that one day each team in the league will provide these types of kits to fans, so "everyone can feel comfortable attending a hockey game."
"Without Paige, none of this would have ever happened," said Nic. "It was her idea, her goal. She was the one that inevitably made it happen. It was her kits and her education that allowed her to decipher what was beneficial and what wasn't."
He added, "There's a lot of people out there that want to come to hockey games and be included. I think it's my responsibility as a player and Paige's responsibility with her education to allow those people to enjoy games."
As part of the invite, the Dowds participate in a meet and greet with the families following the game. This allows Nic and Paige to not only receive feedback on the experience, but also get to know their guests on a more personal basis.

"My favorite part and Nic's as well has been hearing what a great time every family has had who has come to a game through Dowd's Crowd," said Paige. "No one has had a tough time or needed to leave early, and the families truly enjoy their experience. Everyone says how it is just nice to feel normal. The siblings also have a great time too, which is awesome."
On what the meet and greets mean to him, Nic said, "I think for me that's the biggest takeaway. I get to meet the family, meet the children, the siblings, and just realize how much fun these kids have. And honestly, the parents have just as much fun as the kids."
While each one is special in its own way, Nic found the most recent meet and greet with seven-year-old Calvin DeStefano and his family following the team's game vs. the St. Louis Blues on March 17 to be one of the best moments from Dowd's Crowd.
"The mom specifically said that without our help, they would've never been able to do this, and it really opened up avenues for their kid, which is the goal," said Nic.
After attending a game as guests of Dowd's Crowd last season but being unable to meet Nic afterward due to COVID-19 safety protocols, Megan and Nick DeStefano, along with their sons Calvin and Cooper, were invited back to Capital One Arena again this season for the game vs. the Blues.
"We used the sensory kit for the first time [last year], and I was extremely apprehensive," said Megan. "I didn't know how Calvin would do, how we would function, how we would get through an entire game. It went so well. Everything went so great. He did a great job. We felt comfortable, and it really was like the catalyst for us to be able to go places and do things."
With this newfound confidence, the DeStefanos were able to start doing more in public as a family, such as taking a trip to Disney World.
"I think knowing that [Calvin] could do this, it was proof that he has the ability to go and do," said Nick. "There doesn't have to be a limitation. We took the headphones from the kit and took them to the monster truck show that we went to, like we've used the kit other places. We sit on the couch some days and use the fidget spinner. The amount of things that Dowd's Crowd gave to us, we could've never seen it happening when we came to the game last year."
Megan added, "It truly changed our lives for the better."
The game not only had an impact on the family, but it also turned out to be just as meaningful for Calvin. When a school assignment asked him what the greatest moment in his life had been, Calvin said it was going to his first Capitals game.
This is why the DeStefanos were so thrilled when Dowd's Crowd invited them again this season.

"To Calvin, this experience is just the ability to be included," said Megan. "It's inclusion and just feeling like one of everyone else and being a part of everything."
Feeling included and being like any other fan in attendance applies to more than just Calvin, though.
"There are so many things that as a family with a kid with special needs and autism, we're limited to do," said Nick. "This lets us do what feels normal. We don't feel like there's a limitation, which is super cool."
He added, "It just feels like I'm taking my kids to a Capitals game, which is what I've always wanted."
That is exactly the type of emotional response that Nic and Paige hope to elicit through their program.
"A lot of these people are Caps fans, and they were Caps fans before they had kids," said Nic. "They just haven't had an opportunity to get to a game because of circumstances, and we're able to alleviate that stress. Seeing the family enjoy something together as a unit is probably what's most important."
The Dowds going out of their way to try to create these memories and experiences for others is not lost on families such as the DeStefanos.
"There's a sense of joy and gratitude that our players recognize what we might struggle with," said Nick. "I just want to feel seen and heard and valued, and just the fact that a player from my favorite team that I've watched for my whole life gets that, that's really cool."
In addition to inviting fans to games, the Dowds have hosted fundraisers to benefit families of DC Public Schools students with autism spectrum disorder.
Their continued work does not go unnoticed by the community, as people often approach Nic on the street and bring signs to games to express their appreciation and support.
"I think people have really gotten behind it, and they've thanked my wife and I for it," he said. "We're just happy to be the platform to get these kids and families to the game."

Paige added, "The program is really meaningful to me. Traveling, moving as much as we do, and the hockey lifestyle can make careers challenging for the wives to maintain. Being able to combine a passion of mine with Nic's passion has been really fun."
While Nic is not sure what Dowd's Crowd's end goal is, he believes they have "found a good sweet spot" with hosting families at games.
"I think the impact is that hockey is for everyone," said Nic. "We want everyone to be included and give everyone the opportunity to enjoy the game that I love and Paige has grown to love as well. I think it's a great sport, and I think everybody deserves to be able to play and or watch.
Families interested in the Dowd's Crowd experience are encouraged to complete a nomination form at
WashCaps.com/DowdsCrowd
.