Former national athlete and Sports Hall of Fame inductee Richard “Quicksilver” Nieves will be laid to rest Thursday following a funeral service from 10.30 am at St Finbar’s RC Church, Morne Coco Road, Westmoorings, thence to the Long Circular Crematorium.
He was the husband of Carol Nieves and the father to former national players Keith Nieves, Gayle-Ann Nieves, and Dean Nieves, who now resides in Australia.
A former Shamrock and T&T footballer as well as a T&T Pan American Games hockey silver medal winner, scoring six of the team’s 13 goals in Winnipeg, Canada, Nieves was inducted into the First Citizens Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in November 2011 for both hockey and football and passed away quietly at home at the age of 84 a week ago (Thursday, February 13).
Born on October 17, 1940, in Port-of-Spain, Nieves, who was also called “Man on Wheels,” attended St Joseph’s Preparatory School and then St Mary’s College from 1951 to 1958.
From early on at St Joseph’s Prep School, his footballing talents were evident as he was part of their 1950 under-12 winning team.
At the Northern Amateur Football League, Nieves made his debut in 1957 and helped Hotspurs to the league and knockout titles and also earned selection to the Northern League team.
All this was still while a student at St Mary’s College, where he was draughted into their team to play the Intercol Final after the coach saw him playing for Hotspurs, and in his first game for the ‘Saints,’ he scored the winning goal in the Decle Cup match, making them earn their team the crown.
He lifted another title with St Mary’s in 1958, and a year later he helped Shamrock sweep all titles, earning himself the Footballer of the Year.
He continued to ply his trade with Shamrock until the club folded in 1967, during which time he donned the national colours from 1960 to 1966 and then joined Queen’s Park Cricket Club in 1968, where he was instrumental in returning both hockey and football back to the club and also served in the capacity as captain of both the hockey and football teams.
Among his other notable contributions to sport were as coach, manager, and mentor to the highly successful Magnolias Hockey Club and the Fatima Hockey Club for decades; manager and administrator of the Queen’s Park Oval; supporter and motivator for the Futuristick Youth Hockey Programme.
