The New York Islanders are set to expand its successful floorball outreach program on Long Island and in New York City throughout the 2016-17 school year. The Islanders have once again partnered with Generation Floorball in New York City to help facilitate the program. The decision to use floorball equipment lays in the nature and design of the sticks. The fast-paced version of floor hockey uses sticks and training balls that do not scuff/damage gym floors and other surfaces.

Last spring, the Islanders introduced the beneficial floor hockey activity to several hundred students at numerous after-school programs throughout Brooklyn. Not only did the students take part in the fast, fun and explosive version of floor hockey, they also received an opportunity to visit the Barclays Center and the watch several Islanders games. In February, Islanders forward Ryan Strome visited the program's kick-off event in Bergen Beach, where Strome showed the participants some elementary hockey skills and engaged with the fans.

This time around, over 100 elementary and middle schools in Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens will take part in the program. Students will engage in a two-week floorball unit at their respective schools, led by their own physical education teachers. Each school will receive a complete equipment package with sticks, accessories, as well as the instructional material needed in order to conduct the fun unit. Once the two-week unit is completed, the program and equipment will rotate to a new set of schools. Sparky and other representatives from the Islanders will make appearances at various schools throughout the program. Select students will also receive an opportunity to visit an Islanders home game at Barclays Center.

"The floorball program was a huge success last year and we are excited to expand into more schools this season," Islanders President and General Manager Garth Snow said. "It has always been a goal of the organization to grow the game of hockey in the community. By working with Generation Floorball, this program allows us to do just that."

In addition to the 100 schools taking part in the program, the original after-school program in Brooklyn is also going strong. The initiative that started off with eight elementary and middle school in the spring of 2016, is slated to expand with an additional two schools this fall.