It was their shot at greatness.
A new generation of hockey fanatics showed off their shooting skills on New York Islander defenseman Nick Leddy at the City Parks Foundation’s street hockey clinic at Sunset Park on Nov. 17. Tuesday’s event was the culmination of a six-week long pilot street hockey program run by the team and foundation that parents said has their kids dying to get into ice skates.
“It really sparked their interest,” said Ann Edwards, mother of second-grader John and fourth-grader Daniel. “Two of my sons were involved, and now both want to learn how to skate and start playing.”
Each week, kids learned a new aspect of the game, such as general rules, ball and stick control, and each position’s role on the ice — or in this case, the asphalt. On Tuesday, kids got to take shots with Leddy in goal and get some pointers from the Stanley Cup champ.
Leddy also signed autographs, and each kid left with an Islanders jersey and a ticket to the Islanders’ Dec. 15 game against the Florida Panthers at Barclays Center.
The program ran at Sunset Park, St. John’s Park in Crown Heights, and John J. Carty Park in Bay Ridge. Roughly 125 kids were involved in the program, all ages 8 to 12, according to the foundation.
Organizers chose street hockey because it gives kids a chance to learn the game without having to buy expensive equipment or learn how to ice-skate. Plus, kids can set up their own games with little more than sticks and a ball, one honcho said.
“We thought the best thing was to start with street hockey to introduce neighborhood kids to the game in an accessible way,” said the foundation’s Jonathan Gamberg. “Less than 20 kids had played hockey or knew what the game was about going into the program, but by the end, they had developed skills we couldn’t even imagine at the start.”
