The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Robinson family was pleased to see the transformation of the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium as the Bahamas welcomed some of the top athletes on the planet for the hosting of the inaugural IAAF World Relays over the weekend.

However, one member of the family has indicated that they are peeved that nobody from the Local Organising Committee extended an official invitation to their family to be a part of the VIP delegates who were afforded the opportunity to view the two-day competition.

“I’ve been thinking long and hard about coming to you, but truth be told, I decided to wait until the relays was completed to complain,” said Robbie Robinson, the son of the late legendary track icon Tommy Robinson, whom the new and original stadiums are named after.

“First of all, I must say that as a spectator, I was impressed with the product that we got. I’m sure some things may have gone wrong behind the scenes, but it had nothing to do with me because I was a spectator. But I don’t know if I’m disappointed, saddened, but as a family of the name whose name is placed on the stadium, we couldn’t get one ticket from the LOC or whoever was in charge.”

Although he bought six tickets for his family in February when they first went on sale, Robinson said he contacted both the LOC and the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) to find out if there was any provisions to accommodate the family of Robinson, who died on November 25, 2012.

“I know they can’t expect to remember everybody, but I would expect that the gentleman whose name is on the stadium, his immediate family would have gotten some respect by getting some tickets or whatever they were giving out to those persons who got special invitations to attend,” Robinson said.

“But right is right and wrong is wrong. I reached out personally and asked Lionel Haven, the managing director of the LOC and Mike Sands, the president of the BAAA, and the two of them indicated that there are about six tickets that they have for our family, but they never got back to me.”

Robinson, a former sprinter like his deceased father, said he was hoping that their family, which includes the late Robinson’s sister Brenda Archer and brother Kingsley Robinson, would have at least been afforded the opportunity to represent his father.

“I don’t know who to push the blame on because I really don’t know who was responsible,” the younger Robinson said. “But I can say that I asked. Even the Minister of National Security, Dr Bernard Nottage, the government liaison to the LOC, was a former team-mate of my father. So I don’t think that we should have had to beg for the tickets.”

Robinson said his family was not even given a parking ticket.

According to Robinson, this was not the first time that the Robinson family felt slighted by the organisers of events at the stadium.

He recalled the official opening of the stadium by the Free National Movement, who three days prior to the event took his father off the programme as a speaker.

“I haven’t forgotten that. It was for political reasons,” Robinson said. “The only reason he showed up was because me and my sister convinced him to go. Up to two hours before the event, he decided to go. They told him that there are people coming from out of town to support him, so he had to show up.

“What was surprising was after the opening, I heard some people were saying that they thought he was already deceased because he wasn’t involved in the opening. I received calls from the minister of sports at the time, the late Charles Maynard, who called me and asked me to try and convince my father to come.”

With the biggest sporting event to be held in the Bahamas, Robinson said he and his family were distraught that they couldn’t get one ticket.

“I don’t feel that I am entitled to anything, but at the end of the day, with the stadium named after my father because of what he did, I would think that if only as a gesture, they could have given at least two tickets to our family. I’m sure they will say it’s an oversight, but if I ask the people who are in charge, I can’t see why they say they have some tickets for us and we never got them.

“I guess out of sight, out of mind. But I think if they could go as far back as to have the first Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Rev Kendal Nottage, to serve as the patron, they could have remembered my father, who along with the late Winston ‘Gus’ Cooper, were responsible for the completion of the construction of the stadium before they both died.”

Despite the fact that his family were peeved, Robinson said he made sure that he attended the relays, waving a large Bahamian flag as he got a chance to witness the high level of competition exhibited by all of the athletes, locally and internationally. Even though his father is gone, Robinson said he would have been proud of what transpired.

“Just to see the transformation of the track and the facility and to know the number of athletes who were here representing their countires would have been something that daddy would have been extremely proud of,” the younger Robinson said. “He always wanted to create a better opportunity for our younger athletes. Having a meet like this at home was one of those ways he felt the younger athletes could be inspired to follow the dream.”

The late Robinson can be remembered for representing the Bahamas at four consecutive Olympic Games, starting in 1956. He also competed at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games where he won four medals, including a gold in the 220 yards and three silvers in the 100 yards. And he won a CAC Games gold medal in the 100m in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1962.