MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith announced a new partnership with the Washington Capitals, intended to increase street hockey in the physical education curriculum, at a press briefing April 15.

The team will donate hockey sticks, balls, pucks and nets to all MCPS elementary and middle schools, as well as provide teachers with a street hockey curriculum that will be implemented in the upcoming school year.  

“It’s a great plan because when we were in middle and elementary school street hockey was always hard,” sophomore RAMS Hockey member Evelyn Leighton said. “There were never enough sticks for all the kids to participate.”

The Capitals have similar programs in surrounding school districts, aiming to get more students involved in hockey.

“Hockey gave me a lot of opportunities and it was so important to me,” former MCPS student and Capitals Director of Community Relations Peter Robinson told Bethesda Beat Magazine. “I hope this partnership opens the same doors for Montgomery County students.”