The Washington Capitals and Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) will host a press event at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4, at Capitol Heights Elementary School in Capitol Heights, Md., announcing 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.
In addition, the event will celebrate the Capitals surpassing more than 1 million students participating in the Hockey School initiative on an annual basis.
Following remarks by representatives from the Capitals, NHL and PGCPS, the Capitals Youth Hockey Development staff will lead an assembly for third- through fifth-grade students to introduce them to hockey skills including stickhandling, passing and taking a shot on net.
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.
