"With the Washington Capitals, we've been fortunate to be a partner for several years now," said Miles Makdisi, Playworks' development manager. "We both want to see kids get out, have fun with each other, learn how to build positive relationships and be learning sports skills and getting physically active while they do it."
Students were taught basic hockey skills at a variety of stations including stick-handling, passing and shooting. After a short break for refreshments and snacks, the kids were split into teams to play scrimmages while utilizing the skills they were taught. They also had the opportunity to try on hockey gear and pose for photos with their teammates and Slapshot. Additionally, each student received a Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation branded T-shirt and a Capitals rally towel.
"I think once you get kids engaged in any sport, and we hope it's going to be hockey, obviously, because we have a vested interest in liking the sport so much," said former Capitals left winger Errol Rausse. "It's good to get them out and active and away from the TV. It makes for happier and healthier kids."
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation supports the charitable efforts of the professional teams under its umbrella: the Washington Capitals, Mystics, Valor and Wizards and the Baltimore Brigade. MSE Foundation is committed to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and focuses on the following five pillars to maximize its impact and engagement with the community: youth basketball, football and hockey, education and scholarship, pediatric health and fitness, military and veterans' affairs and hunger and homelessness.
Playworks, Washington, D.C., is a national nonprofit organization that transforms schools by providing play and physical activity at recess and throughout the school day. Its mission is to improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play. Playworks currently partners with 18 public and public charter schools in Washington, D.C., serving 7,100 students each day.
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