In an effort to show support for her son?s friend and teammate Divine Apollon following a racist incident on the ice, Tammi Lynch, the founder of Players Against Hate chose to design a special logo in the hours following the incident. Putting her amateur graphic design skills to use, Lynch opened up Microsoft Word and superimposed a hockey stick crossing out the word ?Racism?.

The team placed the stickers on their sticks for the remainder of the tournament, with parents and other supporters donning the logo on their shirts.

What began as a simple show of support quickly picked up tremendous momentum. Apollon, Sr., Divyne?s father and co-founder of Players Against Hate, posted a picture of the stickers on social media and was inundated with messages of support from across the country. Along with messages, Apollon received hundreds of requests from other hockey teams wanting stickers for their players? helmets.

News of the incident even reached former Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly and defenseman John Carlson, who invited Divyne and his teammates to a game. Following the game, Smith-Pelly, Carlson and several other Capitals players spent time with the team to show their support for Divyne and commend the players for standing by their teammate.