USA Hockey Magazine

"If I get picked (for a role) and there's a conflict with hockey I get sad," Keivonn explained through his inter- p r et e r o f fi ve y e a r s, N a t e Croney, who has helped him overcome his disability and adapt to hockey. It bothered Keivonn, nick- named "Hollywood" for his goal celebrations, a lot when his work on "The Last of Us" conflicted with him playing for a Bowie 10U travel team. Keivonn had to spend three months in Calgary filming the HBO series, so he ended u p s k a t i n g f o r a 1 0 U r e c team instead. "He is a very talented play- er," Chris Pozerskic, Bowie's 10U coach, said. "He's proba- bly the fastest kid on the ice on our team and most other teams. He could easily play travel hockey." Croney added: "He's a leader on and off the ice. He wins at least 65% of his face-offs. I've seen him grow so much from when he was struggling with the puck to scoring hat tricks." Ja c k s o n -Wo o d a r d a n d Ke i v o n n d o n 't know where they would be in hockey with- out Croney. Croney has been a coach to the 10-year-old in many ways. Croney has played men's pickup hockey since 2015. Before Croney, it wasn't all smooth skating with interpreters when Keivonn hit the ice in February 2018. Bowie relied on a student interpreter from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., for two months. The prob- lem was the interpreter didn't know how to skate and was not allowed on the ice for insurance reasons. Eventually, Bowie decided Croney could be a great fit. Croney has played men's pickup hockey since 2015, and he started interpret- ing for Keivonn in April 2018. It still took about two months for everyone to adjust seeing as Croney had only interpreted for adults. With the help of Jackson-Woodard, every- body learned to communi- cate effectively. For Keivonn's first four y e a r s o f s k a t i n g w i t h Bowie, Croney was on the ice during practices and s c r i m m a g e s w h e n h a l f the ice was used. Croney would relay instructions f r o m t h e c o a c h o n a visual basis. Croney also worked with Keivonn on h i s s k a t i n g , s t i c k h a n - dling and shooting. Fr o m 2 0 2 1 t o 2 0 2 3 — during Keivonn's two sea- sons of 10U rec hockey— Croney interpreted from t h e b e n c h b e c a u s e t h e length of the ice was used for games. "I was trying to do my best to make sure he is the best hockey player he can be, Croney said. "I just honed him in. We explained that when you come to practice you've got to mean business. He was fooling around on the ice. When hockey started to get more competitive, the light bulb went on." Croney stressed to Keivonn that he need- ed to practice shooting and stick handling at home. Keivonn got the message, and his mother saw a transformation start to occur. " T h e u n i v e r s e k i n d o f a l i g n e d f o r Keivonn when he met Nate," Jackson- Wo o d a r d r e c a l l e d . " We w e r e ve r y fortunate for Keivonn to have an interpreter like Nate and build a relationship together. Nate learns from Keivonn and Keivonn learns from Nate. They make s u c h a g r e a t team." The Bowie organization made things easier for Keivonn on the ice during the 2022-23 season. They bought a light system and paid for Croney's services using part of a $10,000 Wa s h i n g t o n C a p i t a l s a n d Mo n u m e n t a l S p o r t s & E n t e r t a i n m e n t Fo u n d a t i o n 's Capital Impact Fund diversity grant. The system has three lights, which are stationed at both ends of the ice and on the bench. The lights, which are operated by Croney on the bench, turn yellow for a line change and red for a stop in play. The lighting system shortened Keivonn's stints on the ice because the yellow and red colors easily let him know of a line change or stop in play. "Within two games you could see a differ- ence," Pozerskic said. "Instead of him staying out there for two or three minutes, it was a minute and a half. By the third period, he could still skate hard. Before that, he would stay on the ice for three minutes. It drove me nuts. Now, he had the same endurance and speed the whole game." The Capitals' grant only paid for this sea- son and Bowie Ice Hockey President Lori Jones isn't sure if the grant will be renewed. 38 // JULY 2023 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS BY Daniel Kucin Keivonn Woodard has been nominated for a 2023 Emmy Award in the best guest actor in a drama series category for his appearance in the HBO hit "The Last of Us." Woodard is the youngest actor to be nominated in the guest actor category. >> Read More And the nominees are... K E I V O N N W O O D A R D

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