The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

TWO days after the Grand Bahama sporting community laid to rest the late coach Errol Bodie, longtime philanthropist and sporting enthusiast Basil Neymour passed away 11:50am Monday in the ICU at the Princess Margaret Hospital. He was 71.

Known as the ‘godfather of sports’ in the country, Neymour made contributions to just about every sporting body that approached him for sponsorship.

And he played an integral role in the life of many athletes who needed assistance in getting off to school or just to go to various events to compete.

While track and field seemed to have been the greatest benefactors because of his love for the sport, Neymour has made significant contributions to basketball, karate, tennis, swimming and baseball. Junkanoo and the church was not left out of his generosity either.

From a national perspective, Neymour was the major sponsor of the 2002 CARIFTA Games at the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium.

However, a number of islands, including Cat Island, San Salvador, Crooked Island, Moore’s Island and Andros, have received substantial infrastructural contributions from Neymour.

ZNS sportscaster Ricardo Lightbourn said Neymour’s death came as a big blow to Grand Bahama, considering the fact that they just buried coach Bodie on Saturday.

“It’s a tough time when we see some of our icons and persons who have been instrumental in sports leaving us,” Lightbourn said. “Both of them have left their mark on sports, especially here in Grand Bahama. We will really miss them because they have made some valuable contributions.”

Lightbourn said Neymour went beyond the call of duty.

“Basil has been fighting for the rights of children on the islands, trying to make sure that they are given the same rights as children in the capital,” he said. “It didn’t matter what it took, Basil made sure that if he had the opportunity to do so, he would help every athlete and every cause to better their conditions.”

As a devoted Christian, Lightbourn said Neymour was just as generous to the church.

“He loved his church and as he gave to the church, he always told the church that they need to give back more to the community,” Lightbourn said.

His eldest son, former FNM Member of Parliament and Minister of State, Phenton Neymour, said his father gave unselfishly “millions of dollars” to the children of the Bahamas.

“The Bahamas knows Basil Neymour for the contribution to the Bahamas, but very few people know the real Basil Neymour,” he said. “If they know him, they will understand his generosity, they will understand his commitment, they will understand his honesty, they will understand his boldness and they will understand his dedication to the people of the Bahamas.”

As an orphan, whose father passed away when he was two years old and his mother when he was eight, Neymour said his father grew up with his family, but he learned how to become a man and thus he started building roads to help earn a living.

“He was also an athlete, but because he was poor and there was no way that he could get any sponsorship to continue his career, he vowed that he will make a difference wherever he went throughout the Bahamas when he started his own business as a road builder.

“He was also a founding member of the FNM and after running for Parliament four times - three with the FNM and one with the PLP - and not coming close to getting into Parliament, he decided that he will run for an even greater cause and that was for the people of the Bahamas.”

Having worked on islands like Cat Island and Crooked Island, Neymour said his father built tracks for the residents to compete on when he left, in addition to building computer labs and providing bicycles for children to ride to and from school.

Neymour said his father even discovered and helped athletes like the late Vernita Rolle, who eventually became the women’s national 800 metre record holder and Olympians Andrae Williams and Michael Mathieu, whom he treated as if they were his sons.

Last year alone, Neymour said his father secured scholarships for 31 students from Andros to attend the College of the Bahamas. And through the Neymour Track Club in Grand Bahama, he provided scholarships for potential track athletes to attend private schools.

In assisting so many athletes to get off to schools and colleges in the United States, Neymour said his father’s only request was that “every Sunday, he wanted them to call him.”

The late Neymour was also the major sponsor of the Majestic Crusaders junkanoo group in Grand Bahama.

“He was very tough as a man and a father, but he had a soft side of him as well,” Neymour said. “He demanded the best from everybody that he came in contact with and in whatever way he could assist, he made sure that he made a contribution to everybody, no matter what the problem was.”

On a personal note, I can always remember whenever I went to Grand Bahama to cover any sporting event, Neymour would jokingly say that “you’re in the right place. Grand Bahama will treat you better than they treat you in Nassau.” He always felt that there was so much more that could be done for Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.

While the Grand Bahama community mourns his death, last respects were paid to the late coach Bodie on Saturday.

Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations president Mike Sands and ousted first vice president Iram Lewis were among the dignitaries who travelled for the service at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church. He was interred in the Grand Bahama Memorial Park II.

The funeral service for the late Neymour will be announced at a later date.