TAMPA BAY - The Tampa Bay Lightning made their 1,000th school visit on Thursday, marking the conclusion of their Equip The Thunder program. The Lightning presented a 1,000th jersey and trophy to Nelson Elementary School in Dover, Florida and conducted six ball hockey clinics throughout the morning for the school's 350 first-, second- and third-grade students.
The visit to Nelson Elementary capped the Lightning's Equip The Thunder program, supported by Chase, which saw the Bolts' community hockey department hit their goal of donating over 200,000 hockey sticks and balls to first through eighth graders in the Tampa Bay area over a seven-year period. Sixty-five percent of the schools visited by the Lightning were Title I schools where students received free or reduced lunch. Each year, the Equip The Thunder program branched out to markets outside of the organization's normal reach, extending into Orlando, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville and Pensacola.
In September of 2015, Lightning Chairman and Governor Jeff Vinik introduced a series of community hockey initiatives to be delivered to young people in Tampa Bay under the leadership and guidance of Jay Feaster, the team's Stanley Cup-winning general manager from 2004. As part of that programming, the team, along with partner Chase, committed to distribute 100,000 street hockey sticks and balls to students and offer more than 10,000 hours of progressive training for aspiring players.
Since 2015, the Lightning, with the help of their partner Chase and in conjunction with the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association, invested more than $6 million to grow the game of hockey and teach life skills to Tampa Bay's youth. Highlights from this initiative include:
- Distributed over 200,000 sticks and balls to 1,000 schools, doubling the program's initial goal
- Completed 20,000 progressive ice and street hockey training hours through hockey camps and clinics, doubling the program's initial goal
- Increased the number of youth hockey players ages seven through 13 by 1,000 over a five-year period
- Established a mentorship program for 100 economically-challenged youth from diverse backgrounds
- Created a 10-team Junior Varsity hockey program within the Lightning High School Hockey League
- Built 10 brand new outdoor street hockey rinks reaching all five counties surrounding AMALIE Arena: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee and Polk
- Developed an indoor ball hockey rink and off-ice training facility, the Lightning Made Training Center, where Lightning alumni and staff run several different sports programs
The NHL and the NHLPA have lauded the Lightning's Equip The Thunder efforts, encouraging teams across the 32-team league to develop similar programs across North America aimed at growing the game and its fanbase.
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May 18, 2022 at 02:00PM
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Lightning celebrate 1000th school visit to cap Equip the Thunder program - NHL.com
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