Washington Capitals break barriers with Breaking the Ice
Washington Capitals have launched a new program called Breaking the Ice.
The Washington Capitals are known for their impact in their community and one thing they’re popular for is introducing kids to the game of hockey. That’s exactly what they’re doing with a new program featuring instruction videos led by an African American owned nonprofit hockey group.
The program is called “Breaking the Ice”, which is conducted in partnership with the NHL, the NHLPA, and Franklin Sports. The Caps will provide a set of low cost street hockey equipment to program registrants at age 14 and under.
The set features two straight blade sticks, one ball and a net. Participants will have access to instructional videos on CapsYouthHockey.com by coaches from DC Mamba, a Washington area non profit organization dedicated to introducing street and ice hockey to the region’s youth.
More from Capitals News
- Breaking down the Rookie Camp roster
- Hear what Magic Johnson said about Alex Ovechkin
- Capitals announce Rookie Camp schedule
- Breaking down the 2023-24 Capitals national TV schedule
- Capitals Alumni Weekend is coming back
The video instructors are DC Mamba coaches and co-founders Rahman-Rahim “Coach Rock” Ba’th, Shemar Barnes, and James Jackson, who have coached at the Tucker Road Ice Rink in Fort Washington, Maryland.
The cost to join this program is $20 and includes the equipment being mailed to your home. You can register on Thursday afternoon at https://www.capsyouthhockey.com/breakingtheice.
This is the perfect activity for kids while we are in quarantine and social distancing away from the rink and first time participants will be excited to hit the ice once they pick up the skills they learned from the instructional videos.
The coaches will teach you all the basics of hockey including proper hockey stance, how to hold the stick, stickhalding, forehand and backhand passing, and how to shoot a wristshot, slapshot, and backhand.
The Caps are the third NHL team to launch a “Breaking the Ice” program. The Chicago Blackhawks and the New York Rangers are the other two teams. The Blackhawks version provides a set of street hockey equipment and access to instructional videos by former NHL player Jamal Mayers and U.S. Women’s National Team captain Kendall Coyne-Schofield.
The Rangers program is for kids ages 6-14 like the Caps and provides a street hockey set and an opportunity to learn the basics from Rangers alumni featuring five weeks worth of virtual hockey instruction.
Washington Capitals: New AOL retro jersey video is epic. light. More
The Caps have visited schools in the past, teaching kids in elementary and middle school the basics of hockey in an assembly. With many things changing around the world, it is good they tapped into the virtual world to continue the education of hockey for the new generation.