Stoudamire’s legacy honored through renaming of park in Detroit 

DETROIT -- Marlowe Stoudamire wasn’t a hockey player, but he was a player in the sport.

The Michigan native was a driving force in the launch by the Detroit Red Wings, NHL and NHL Players' Association in February 2020 of Learn, Play, Score, an ambitious $1 million pilot program to bring hockey to more than 30,000 children in the city.

Stoudamire didn’t live to see the program’s progress. The always-smiling, entrepreneurial community advocate died at the age of 43 on March 24, 2020, after he contracted COVID-19 and became one of Detroit’s early pandemic casualties.

Detroit celebrated Stoudamire’s life and legacy on Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, renaming a park near his childhood home on the city’s east side in his honor. Family, friends, city officials and members of the hockey community gathered at Marlowe D.F. Stoudamire Park to dedicate the newly renovated 1.1-acre space.

“One of the things that we realized was the importance of community to get us through (the pandemic), even in isolation,” Valencia Stoudamire, his wife, told the gathering. “That connection and sense of community was near and dear to Marlowe’s heart and who he was, whether he was advocating for access to sports like hockey in diverse communities or telling Detroit’s story through projects like the (Detroit Historical) Museum’s ‘Detroit 67’ exhibit…

“So, it is truly an honor to be able to renovate a space that once again honors Marlowe’s vision to create organic social collisions within our communities, especially one from which he came, and one where people knew him and remember him,” she said.

The park, formerly Troester-Hayes Park, received a nearly $1 million makeover through donations of $500,000 from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, $250,000 from the Gilbert Family Foundation and $150,000 from the city of Detroit. A park that previously was an open space with a few picnic tables and benches was transformed into a space with a walking loop, playground, picnic shelter, multisport athletic courts, exercise machines, and a memorial garden with a plaque honoring Stoudamire as its centerpiece.

“Naming a park after Marlowe isn’t just about putting up a sign, it’s about caring for his legacy as someone who loved this city and its people with his whole heart, said JJ Velez, a friend of Stoudamire who serves as the Director of Public Spaces for the Gilbert Family Foundation and a member of the board of directors of Ice Hockey in Harlem.

“Marlowe was a visionary, a community champion and someone who believed in the resiliency of Detroit long before it was fashionable to do. He didn’t just talk about change. He lived it.”

Stoudamire was a graduate of the city's Cass Technical High School, earned his bachelor's degree at local Wayne State University, his master's degree from Central Michigan University and attended Harvard Business School's Young Leaders program.

He worked as a community and diversity manager and then project director of international business strategy for the Henry Ford Health System; he also worked with the Skillman Foundation, a philanthropic organization that focuses on supporting Detroit's children; led the Detroit Historical Museum's award-winning “Detroit 67” project, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the city's 1967 uprising; and founded Butterfly Effect Detroit, a consulting firm.

He got involved in hockey when he pitched projects to Rob Wooley, now the NHL's vice president of legislative affairs and executive director of the NHL Foundation, when Wooley worked in the community relations and charity offices of the Detroit Lions of the NFL.

When Wooley joined the NHL, he suggested to Kim Davis, senior executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs at the NHL and president of the NHL Foundation U.S., that Stoudamire could work with the League and the Red Wings to help grow the sport within the city of Detroit. Stoudamire quickly became a lynchpin in the Learn, Play, Score effort. The initiative aims to expose hockey to more than 30,000 youth in the city through street hockey at 79 schools, 12 parks and recreation centers; by using hockey as an educational tool in schools; and through scholarships for hockey programs and open skate sessions at Little Caesars Arena.

“Marlowe Stoudamire was more than a partner to us, he was a friend, a visionary and a tireless advocate for Detroit,” Davis said in a statement. “Through the Learn, Play, Score initiative, Marlowe helped reshape how we think about access, equity and belonging in his beloved “Hockey Town” and beyond. His passion for community, his belief in young people and his commitment to making the game more inclusive left a lasting legacy. The renaming of this park is a powerful tribute to his life’s work, and a reminder that one person’s vision can change an entire city.”

His impact also stretched into Canada, where he helped organize the Greater Toronto Hockey League's Transition Game summit in November 2019. He addressed the summit, attended by more than 400 people, and explained how the world's largest minor hockey organization could appeal to a larger and more diverse audience.

“Marlowe’s impact on the Greater Toronto Hockey League—and the people who make it run—will be felt for generations to come,” GTHL executive director and chief operating officer Scott Oakman said in a statement. “Hockey in the GTHL isn’t only about chasing spots in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League), NCAA, or NHL. But if you look at who’s rising through those ranks today—their faces, their stories—many of them are there because of doors Marlowe helped open and conversations he helped us start. His influence is real, and it's lasting.”