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The landscape of high school hockey in Prince George’s County is a sparse one. While DeMatha Catholic High School has the only varsity team, there are just two squads representing the public school ranks: cooperative club programs Bowie and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Both teams participate in the Maryland Student Hockey League and are not officially affiliated with their high school, and in turn they have struggled with participation and results on the ice. Hockey is not a recognized varsity sport by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, but is played on the club level throughout the area.

“You cannot even compare DeMatha to us,” said Bowie coach Bill Schmidt, who also coaches for the Bowie Bruins youth hockey organization. “All of their players are top club players and half of our teams are made up of kids that have never played hockey before. Public high school hockey here is behind the rest of the state and that is because of the demographics.

“Most people in the county don’t even want to get into the game. Interest has risen a little bit over the past few years with the success of [NHL star Alex] Ovechkin and the Caps, especially in the club level, and that will pay off down the line. But it is so tough to get players and make it affordable. It is no secret hockey costs thousands of dollars to play.”

Eleanor Roosevelt coach, graduate and former player Herb Meadows agrees.

“It has been extremely difficult,” he said. “We both are co-ops and take kids that are affiliated within any school in the county. We had just 12 guys last year and this year is 15 or 16. Participation has been sparse and most guys are coming in with very little experience.”

This winter, Bowie (2-9 as of Tuesday) — which also includes students from Henry A. Wise and Southern — and Eleanor Roosevelt (3-6), which has players from Laurel, High Point and Elizabeth Seton, steadily have improved. The teams play in different conferences, but had a rare contest against one another Wednesday, which ended after The Gazette went to press.

Although each squad has numerous players with minimal hockey experience, they each have a couple of top-flight club players.

For Bowie, freshman forward Joey Shavatt, who also suits up for Team Maryland, is the only player to record double-digit goals (16) and leads the team in scoring by nine points (24).

“We aren’t terrible, but we just don’t have a lot of overall experience,” said Shavatt, who started playing at hockey at age 4 for the Chesapeake Bay Chiefs and Tri-City Eagles. “We’ve improved so much since the beginning of the season. There is just not many hockey fans or players in the county.”

His counterpart at Eleanor Roosevelt, senior forward Casey Meadows, who plays for Tri-City, sees a similar situation on his team. Meadows has accounted for 49 percent of his team’s offense with 24 points (18 goals, six assists).

“Our [less-experienced] players have gotten so much better,” said Casey Meadows, who plans to attend the University of Maryland. “P.G. high school hockey isn’t the strongest, but it isn’t terrible. There isn’t much we can compare ourselves with, but we have to recruit.”

The more refined players such as Shavatt and Casey Meadows not only lead the way on the ice, but also help guide their less-experienced teammates.

“We have a skill range, from no idea what to do to a couple guys that play on travel teams all up and down the East Coast,” said Bowie junior defender Caroline Moore, who Schmidt said has improved significantly. “We’ve all been able to come together and the talented guys have been such a help teaching us the game. When you mess up and say, ‘Oh my gosh that was terrible,’ they are there to back you up.”

Added Schmidt: “It can be difficult at times to coach a team with such a wide range, but the bottom line is, Herb and I are teaching and the kids are playing hockey and growing the sport.”

kzakour@gazette.net