Tampa Bay Lightning street team brings hockey to life at Haile Middle School

EAST MANATEE -- Joshua Hunsader struggled to get the right grip on his stick. Julia Sinacore couldn't keep the ball near her. Ricardo Colon-Luna had never picked up a stick before.

But those three and the rest of the students at Haile Middle School will now have a chance to refine their street hockey skills through a new program with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"Equip the Thunder," a new outreach program from the team launched in October, aims to bring a new sport to children who may not otherwise have the opportunity to play. Members of the team come in, work drills with the students and play in a scrimmage game with them for a day. The students get their own stick and ball to take home with them, and the school gets to keep a set of sticks and balls as well, so that physical education teachers can continue training.

"It gives them a whole different game to experience," Haile PE teacher Betty Tracy said. Tracy hasn't been able to use hockey for a while because the previous hockey sticks would scratch up the gym floor. The rubberized bottoms of the Bauer sticks they got Monday likely won't have that issue, Tracy said.

The Equip the Thunder program has donated 18,612 hockey sticks so far at 80 schools, said Josh Dreith, the community hockey coordinator for the Lightning.

Tracy heard about the program through the district's in-service training day in January, where representatives from the program came to speak to PE teachers. Although mostly geared toward elementary students, the program is also designed for sixth-graders, so Tracy worked with the other PE teachers at the school to get the program in motion.

"This was a great opportunity to get a lot of equipment for the kids," Tracy said. "We'll continue this lesson throughout the week."

Thirteen-year-old Joshua Hunsader had never played hockey before, and spent some time trying to figure out the right grip.

"I didn't know how to hold the stick at first, I'm still figuring it out," he said. "But it's fun."

His classmate, 12-year-old Ryan Seems, has played ice hockey before. Playing in the four-on-four scrimmage game, he scored a couple goals.

"This is a lot easier," he said.

Among the instructors Monday was former Lightning player Jassen Cullimore, who played on the 2004 team that won the Stanley Cup. Cullimore assisted in the workshop, and gave out signed cards to the students. Each student was also given a ticket voucher for a Lightning game.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Tampa Bay Lightning street team brings hockey to life at Haile Middle School ."