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Stick with Fitness: Olympian Haley Skarupa helps kids do hockey at home

The Maryland native is partnering with the Capitals to produce at-home hockey videos for D.C.-area youth

WASHINGTON — We should be in the middle of the NHL playoffs right now, but instead, we're still living in a world without hockey. 

Players, their families and fans are all at home, but home life can still include a stick and a puck, as Haley Skarupa reminds us. 

"Hockey isn't just on the ice," Skarupa said. "You can improve and work on things and have fun off the ice as well."

Skarupa is known for her skills on the ice, having won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in the 2018 Winter games, but this three-time World Champ is now helping our area's youth work on their hockey game off the ice, during this time of isolation and social distancing.

"We kind of came up with different skills and different exercises for me to simply demonstrate in my own driveway, basement , and backyard, and then share that on the Caps platform. It's really grown, which is very exciting to see," Skarupa says."

Haley partnered with the Caps Youth Hockey Department, and together they came up with these drills and daily exercises, and then launched the "Stick with Fitness" initiative online. 

"I'm sure a lot of people are at home working on their own skills, but every day you just kind of need a different idea, and to kind of spark that interest is something we are passionate about," says Skarupa.

A Rockville, Maryland native, Skarupa, started playing hockey at a young age, and enjoys helping kids here in the D.C. area who also share her passion for the sport.

"When I got really interested in playing was when Alex Ovechkin got drafted to the Caps, so I was through-and-through a Caps fan from the beginning. Obviously them winning the Stanley Cup was a dream come true for this area, for the team, and for me as well, as a kid growing up looking up to them," said Skarupa.

Now doing her part to be a good influence on kids here in the D.C. area, Haley says she will keep pumping out these "Stick with Fitness" videos on social media as long area youth is forced to stay off the ice and do hockey, at home. 

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