Often it’s the case that our nation, Trinidad and Tobago, is made known internationally by our sports achievers, men and women. Three such men, after long and faithful service to the country of their birth, have left us. However, their deeds, locally, regionally and on the international sporting fields and tracks, linger with us as memories of those several occasions when the red, white and black was lifted in recognition of their efforts.
Kent Bernard, Richard Nieves and Anthony Jameson have recently waved goodbye but their deeds linger.
In the instance of Bernard, by some miracle or quirk of fate, he reportedly passed hours after returning home on his usual pilgrimage to experience life in his homeland’s annual Carnival. Moreover, it’s usually an occasion when that great Olympic 4x400 metres relay team which brought bronze to the country at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games get together to reminisce and “bus ah lime.”
The team performed a feat of near equal importance when they won gold in the 4x440 yards event at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. It’s a record that is likely to stand into eternity, as the event has been changed to the 4x400 metres.
At another level, Anthony Jameson, a quite capable lawn tennis player, outstanding coach, umpire and referee, who officiated as an umpire at two of the four Grand Slam tournaments, Wimbledon and the US Open, did the reverse to Bernard - died while on vacation in the US.
Jameson emerged from his base at the Port-of-Spain Public Tennis Courts as a player of some note in local tournaments and as a coach of hundreds of young players at the courts and across the country employed by the Ministry of Sport. Of equal importance has been his role in the formation and development of the local Tennis Umpires’ Association. He and his colleagues spread semi-professional tennis umpiring across the English, French and Spanish Caribbean and he did so without too much fanfare.
Football fans of the 1960s must surely remember the dynamic centre forward Richard “Quick Silver” Nieves, running, penetrating defences and hitting that heavy leather ball past many a goalkeeper for his college team, St Mary’s College, his club Shamrock, for North Trinidad in the North-South high rivalry Red Cross Games of the period and for T&T. Nieves, who came from a sporting family, also starred in hockey, playing for Queen’s Park Cricket Club and for T&T. He was the star forward in the T&T hockey team which won silver in hockey at the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Canada. When he retired, Nieves turned to coaching young hockey players.
Nieves left us recently but his reputation and deeds will linger for a long while by those who saw him play both football and hockey.
In the midst of all of the “trials and tribulations” of our times, it is imperative that for those who know of the efforts of these great sportsmen/organisers/administrators, to assist those who came after they left the sporting fields to know that we can take reflective pride in the efforts of our countrymen to say thanks to their memory and their unflinching efforts for Team T&T.
