CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Monsters have launched a new floor hockey program to introduce kids to hockey in a fun and accessible way as part of their mission to grow the game.
“It’s a great sport, but there’s a lot of barriers to entry, so doing stuff like this, introducing kids, giving them the stuff that they need to kinda get going, it’s really important,” said Monsters left-wing Justin Pearson.
“Hockey’s expensive. It’s a tough sport to get into, so if we can make that happen for some kids, then it’s always fun,” said Monsters center Hunter McKown.
The Monsters will visit six schools in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District throughout the season. Students will get the opportunity to learn and play alongside Monsters players and staff. The team’s first stop was at Campus International School in Cleveland on Monday.
“It was awesome. The kids were very excited. I don’t think a lot of the little ones really knew that they were playing with a pro athlete, but they’ll appreciate it in due time, if they don’t already,” said physical education teacher Jerrell Johnson.
After the clinic, the participating schools will get to keep the equipment they use. They’ll also receive a lesson play so they can incorporate floor hockey into their curriculum moving forward.
“I love floor hockey units in PE, so I’m grateful to have a new curriculum to use and be able to share it with students,” said Johnson.
“This is the game that I love, and we all love so much, so to be able to kinda help grow it in this way, it’s pretty special to be out here,” said McKown.
“To introduce a sport like hockey to them, it means so much. I think sports has been such a valuable part of my life, and to see the joy and even the teamwork that brings - it’s so important,” said Pearson.
The Monsters are off to a 2-4 start in their young season. Cleveland hosts the Toronto Marlies at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
Carly Mascitti is a sports anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @carlymascitti.
