Capitals Announce Capital Impact Fund Grant Cycle Beneficiaries
Five Washington, D.C., area nonprofits awarded $10,000 each in support of missions and impact toward diversity in hockey
Bowie Hockey Club, Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena, George Mason University Ice Hockey Alumni Foundation, Navy Youth Hockey Foundation and Titans Youth Hockey are the five Washington, D.C., area nonprofits that will receive $10,000 each. The organizations were selected by the Capitals based on their missions and impact toward diversity in hockey, as well as on their plans to use the funding to further advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the sport.
In 2020 the Capitals and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation created the Capital Impact Fund to provide grants to organizations that can assist in eliminating cost barriers faced by individuals of color in the hockey community. The Washington Capitals and MSE Foundation Capital Impact Fund Grant provides financial support to local nonprofit organizations dedicated to further advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in hockey. The objective of the grant is to provide access to the sport in all forms and should concentrate on, but not be limited to: equipment, ice time, school programs, program fees and access to the game. The fund aims to help minority youth players reach their greatest potential and create more equal playing fields for all.
The beneficiaries include:
Bowie Hockey Club
The Bowie Hockey Club, established in 1971, has been providing quality hockey instruction to players ages four through 18 for more than 50 years. The club provides a wide range of programs, from instructional hockey for beginners to competitive travel teams. Bowie Hockey Club's recreational teams compete in the Capital Corridor Hockey League (CCHL) and travel teams play in the Chesapeake Bay Hockey League (CBHL) and Eastern Junior Elite Prospects League (EJEPL). The club also runs a spring hockey program and summer clinics.
Bowie Hockey Club will use the grant to support a deaf youth player who requires an ASL interpreter on the ice. The player's goal is to become the first Black deaf player in the NHL. The player began Bowie's Instructional/Learn to Play program as a four-year-old and in 2021-22, participated in the organization's 8U half ice travel program. This season, the player will move up to 10U and play full ice hockey. The grant will be used for the ASL Interpreter Service fees as well as special equipment to use during games.
In addition, Bowie plans to field a girls hockey team for the first time in 50 years to attract more female players to hockey, ensuring that there is a focus on recruiting BIPOC participants, and providing additional Instruction/Learn to Play and Try Hockey for Free programming. A portion of the grant will be used to cover costs including ice fees and jerseys.
Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena
The mission of Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena (FFDIA) is to provide increased opportunity, education and inspiration to youth in Washington, D.C. through ice skating and education activities. FFDIA is a nonprofit established in 1996 to rescue the Fort Dupont Ice Rink in Southeast DC from closure. It revitalized the arena and operates the facility, providing a traditionally underserved neighborhood with an NHL-size ice rink, recreational and cultural activities, skating instruction and regular physical education programming for District schools.
The Fort Dupont Ice Arena is the only public indoor ice arena in the District and the only skating facility in the region that provides free skating programs to children residing in heavily underserved neighborhoods. Friends of FDIA created the Kids On Ice® (KOI) program, providing free or subsidized figure skating, synchronized skating, hockey and speed skating lessons to youth in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Its KOI Learn to Play Hockey (LTPH) program introduces skaters to ice hockey by offering beginning hockey skill development which leads to league play.
This grant will be used to serve children in its KOI LTPH program. The funding will serve children who live in Wards 7 and 8 in Washington, D.C., to help remove cost barriers to hockey participation.
George Mason University Ice Hockey Alumni Foundation
George Mason University Ice Hockey Alumni Foundation's mission is to support the interests of Mason Ice Hockey with financial support in the furtherment of the Mason Ice Hockey Program and its charitable endeavors in the community to support those community-focused organizations whose 501(C)(3) efforts provide assistance to those in need.
The foundation will use the grant to provide financial assistance and scholarships to cover player costs for minority players in need. In addition, the funding will also support a team-involved program designed to create opportunities for underserved communities in Fairfax and Woodbridge, Va. The program will include street hockey venues to introduce youth to the sport and also see Mason players host the children for a team skate.
Navy Youth Hockey Association
Navy Youth Hockey Association is dedicated to the development of a life-long love and passion for hockey. The program teaches hockey skills and teamwork to players of all ages and skill levels while building self-confidence, character, sportsmanship and citizenship. Navy Youth Hockey has been dedicated to bringing youth hockey to the families of Annapolis and the surrounding area since 2007. With a close connection to the United States Naval Academy, Navy Youth Hockey mirrors the community's commitment to family, service and citizenship through hockey.
Navy Youth Hockey will use the grant to purchase gear for players and to support participants in need of financial assistance.
Titans Youth Hockey
The mission of Titans Youth Hockey is to make ice hockey fun and accessible to any child, no matter their background or financial need. Based at Fort Dupont Ice Arena, the only public indoor ice arena in Washington, D.C., Titans Youth Hockey is a no-tryout program that was founded in 2010 and has teams in the Capital Corridor Hockey League. Titans players live in wards across the city, and they come from a wide variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Titans Youth Hockey will use the grant to help recruit more minority players and provide financial aid for players in need while ensuring their costs are not prohibitive compared to other area hockey programs. Funding will also be used to purchase more ice time that will support more non-league games, jamborees, clinics and full ice opportunities.
