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AVONTE JONES prefers to stay away from home. He says his northwest Washington, D.C., neighborhood isn't a safe place to be outside, so he spends as little time as possible there. Even though the same can be said for the area surrounding the Fort Dupont Ice Arena in the southeast part of the city, Jones considers the arena his home away from home. He's perfectly comfortable there. The 17-year-old spends up to 40 hours a week there playing on two teams, coach- ing younger players and also working as a skate guard. A junior at Dunbar High School, Jones lives with his mother Tonya, but he fre- quently stays with grandmother Debra Levi because she lives close to Fort Dupont in a safer neighborhood. " Ho c k e y h a s h e l p e d m e b e c a u s e t h e neighborhood I live in is not very safe," said Jones, whose father Jason was fatally shot when he was 4 years old. "It allows me to get away from my neighborhood. I have games and practices there all the time. I'm just not home a lot." Like many kids in the area, Jones walked through the doors at 8 years old and signed up for the oldest minority youth hock- ey program in North America—the Fort Dupont Cannons. The program provides free and subsidized hockey. More than that, the game gives back to the kids in many ways. For some, it's protection from the dangers out on the streets. There's also the countless benefits that come with playing what many consider to be the ultimate team sport. So, when the rink's non-profit board, Fr i e n d s o f Fo r t D u p o n t I c e A r e n a , announced they were in danger of having to close the arena's doors, Jones and many of his friends were understandably concerned. But now, there's hope for both the rink and the future for hundreds of hockey players like him as the facility is poised to undergo a massive renovation that will rebuild the current rink and potentially add a second ice sheet. "We are the only full-size indoor ice rink in the city open to the public," said Fort Dupont Ice Arena Executive Director Ty Newberry. "We are home to the Cannons. We also run our program Kids On Ice, where we put 3,000 kids on the ice through hockey, speed skating, learn to skate and enrichment pro- grams. Over half of the kids come from the most underserved parts of the city." T h e Wa s h i n g t o n C a p i t a l s, N a t i o n a l Hockey League and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation stepped up with a donation of $300,000 to renovate and expand the arena. The Capitals are helping raise an additional $500,000 through a GoFundMe campaign and another fund- raiser that brought in $50,000. " Youth hockey across our community is very important," said Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. "Fort Dupont is an integral part of Washington, D.C. Youth hockey is a long-standing program there, and it's in a community that we all want to continue investing in. It's basically that the kids love the game of hockey, and the coaches and leagues there are trying to introduce a whole new generation of players to the game." Every dollar counts because the rink's board must raise $3 million by Feb. 1, 2020, as part of a deal with the D.C. City Council. Ty Newberry and the players who call the Fort Dupont Ice Arena home are in a race against time to save their beloved rink. J USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM // 35