Less than three weeks before what would have been JP Medeiros' 43rd birthday, a scholarship fund named in his memory awarded its 100th scholarship to Mount Hope High School senior Tommy Godbout.
Godbout played on the Mount Hope High School ice hockey team until he underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia during his sophomore year of college.
“The community around me has been amazing. … I think I get a text message every day from at least one person on the team,” Godbout said. “I don't know much about the communities in other sports, but I know the hockey community has been amazing in supporting us, and I think JP's parents know that too. That's why this scholarship means so much to me.”
For Godbout, ice hockey was a reminder of not only his teammates, but also the sportsmanship that goes into the sport.
“We were selling shirts that said 'Fight for five,' and coaches were sending me pictures. There was even a team in Maine wearing my shirt.”
“It's a big community and a very supportive community. To me, the sportsmanship extends beyond the game and I think that's one of the biggest reasons why I love the sport.”
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The JP Medeiros Jr. Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to local student-athletes who are pursuing a graduate education. Godbout received his scholarship along with fellow senior Kayden Carney at Mount Hope High School's Senior Class Night on June 5. Two other students from Barrington High School, Adam Gorman and Arden Wilkes, also received scholarships this year, bringing the total number of scholarships awarded to 102.
Mount Hope High School graduate JP Medeiros passed away while attending Quinnipiac University in April 2002, and the scholarship fund was established shortly thereafter. The first scholarship was awarded just two months later from donations raised at a memorial service where JP was buried wearing his now-retired Mount Hope High School No. 17 hockey jersey.
“The way we have chosen to overcome the pain of loss is [was to] “Turn it into a blessing for other young people, it's medicine,” said Mariem Medeiros, JP's mother. “When you can do something for another child in your child's name, it gives them a little bit of a sense of connection and they know what they can give back without expecting anything.”
The scholarship fund was established to honor JP's love of hockey (he played club hockey and cheered on the varsity team during his time at Quinnipiac University) and his character: in his yearbook he wrote, “I try to make someone smile every day,” and his mother remembers this being a kind of personal philosophy for JP.
“This is a celebration of his life,” Marie Medeiros said. “This is about the good things, because everybody has some kind of pain. They have to deal with things at their own pace. There's no manual.”
His mother remembers JP being passionate about ice hockey since he was in middle school, and recalled a time when he and his middle school teammates, their parents and coaches were at a School Committee meeting when budget cuts threatened the continuation of the high school hockey program, and the team “chose to fight for a program they hadn't even joined yet” because they planned to join once they got to high school.
The teamwork and dedication to the sport that this group of players developed throughout middle school ultimately led to Mount Hope's first ever district championship during JP's senior season, a season in which JP served as co-captain along with Jeff Day and Thomas Ferrara.
“They were young people from all different backgrounds, but when they put on their helmets they really became like brothers on the ice,” Mariem Medeiros said, “and they were determined.”
The Mount Hope and Barrington football teams have a rivalry dating back to the 1940s, playing each year on Thanksgiving Day, and JP and the other captains wanted to take on the same challenge on the ice.
Twenty years after JP passed away in 2002, his wish was granted through the annual “Thanksgiving on Ice” hockey game between Mount Hope and Barrington schools. Co-Captains Day wanted to do something in memory of JP and putting together this tradition seemed like the perfect way to remember him.
Thanksgiving on Ice, held each January, has become the primary venue for donations to the JP Medeiros Scholarship Fund, which is designed to award scholarships to senior students based on “what they do on the ice, what they do in the classroom, what they do in the community — not the small details, but how they conduct themselves,” Mariem Medeiros said.
Thanksgiving on Ice symbolized community to JP’s family and friends, and in his mother’s eyes, it symbolized the sportsmanship and friendship that are so essential to ice hockey and life.
“It was an illustration of how no one wins alone,” Mariem Medeiros said. “It mainly brought out my son's sportsmanship and character, but we tried to share and blend that with the young people who follow in his footsteps and play in his memory.”
In the first few years of the scholarship program, the foundation only awarded scholarships to Mount Hope ice hockey players, but the Medeiros were asked to include Barrington players as well, and in 2006 they began awarding scholarships to Barrington students because the Barrington players were “very good players” at the Thanksgiving on Ice game.
At its peak, the JP Medeiros Jr. Scholarship Fund awarded seven scholarships. Due to a medical event occurring on the eve of the 2022 Thanksgiving on Ice Game, JP Sr. and Mariem will no longer be promoting the annual game as much as they used to, nor will they be taking on roles they have had in the past.
Instead, a skills competition has been held for the past two years, but as Mariem Medeiros said, nothing beats the “excitement” of competing in the annual rivalry games.
Although donations have dropped since the Thanksgiving on Ice competition shifted to a skills competition, Medeiros isn't worried about her son's legacy.
“We'll see what happens next year. Hopefully people will remember us and know what we do,” she said. “If not, we'll probably have to say goodbye to this memorial to him, but in the meantime, we'll continue to work quietly in his memory.”
As for Godbout's future, he will begin studying biomedical sciences and will be a pre-med student at Quinnipiac University in the fall.
Outside of the classroom, Godbout is looking forward to cheering on Quinnipiac University's ice hockey team, whose men's team won the NCAA national championship in 2023, and is also interested in playing for the school's intramural team.
“All of my best friends my whole life, I've always met them through hockey, I've always made them through hockey, and I don't think that's going to be any different in college,” Godbout said. “I plan on going to every home game. … I want to go and make friends and memories.”
