Who Remembers the Founder of Stonehill Hockey?
By John P. Kuzmiski '73
Stonehill College rightly takes pride in its traditions.
The College celebrates milestones, honors achievement, and tells the stories of the individuals whose vision and leadership helped build the institution we know today. Those stories matter because they remind us that every successful program, organization, and tradition began with someone willing to create something that did not previously exist.
Which raises an important question: Who remembers the founder of Stonehill hockey?
In 2023, I nominated Tom McGrimley '71 for induction into the Stonehill Athletic Hall of Fame. To the best of my knowledge, the nomination was never seriously considered.
My purpose is not to criticize the Hall of Fame Committee or diminish the eligibility criteria used to accept any current inductee. Rather, it is to ask whether Stonehill has overlooked an important part of its own history.
Tom McGrimley was not simply a player on an established team. He helped create the team.
In the winter of 1968-69, Stonehill hockey did not exist. A group of students paid for their own ice time in Brockton and organized themselves into what would become the College's hockey program.
Instead of accepting that reality, McGrimley helped organize the effort and became the program's first captain.
Every program begins somewhere. Every tradition begins somewhere.
If Stonehill hockey has value today, then the people who created Stonehill hockey have value as well.
No Hall of Fame can recognize everyone. But it is difficult to understand how the founder and first captain of a program can go more than fifty years without meaningful recognition while the program he helped create continues to thrive.
The students who built Stonehill hockey are now in their seventies. The opportunity to recognize their contributions is today.
More than half a century ago, a handful of students laid the foundation for Stonehill hockey.
Among them was Tom McGrimley, the program's founder and first captain.
Stonehill should remember him.
About the Author: John P. Kuzmiski '73 played for Stonehill hockey during the program's formative years.
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