The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MICHAEL ‘Scooter’ Reid, former high/long/ triple jumper turned basketball slam dunk champion and popular community activist, passed away on Boxing Day after spending the past eight weeks in the Princess Margaret Hospital battling cancer.

The 57-year-old father of four and grandfather of seven was a fun-loving and hard working employee of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, who organised a number of tournaments, including the annual Father Marcian Peters for primary and high school teams.

His older brother Apostle Carlos Reid said he will always remember Reid, who was one of the first Bahamians to clear seven-feet in the high jump in track and field and to emerge as the slam dunk champion in basketball.

“Everybody knew Scooter,” said Reid, whose brother got the nickname Scooter for the way he ran on the track as a middle distance runner. I don’t know if anybody hated him. My phone was ringing off the hook. So many people from all over the Bahamas were calling me to say how sad they are to hear the news.”

Reid, a graduate of St John’s College, went on to secure an athletic scholarship to attend Liberty Baptist College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he continued to play basketball. On his return home, he did a number of coaching stints in high school before he was employed at the Ministry of Sports.

“This year, I cried so much after our mother, Elizabeth Reid, died in August and one of the things she told me was to take care of my little brother,” said Reid, the founder of Peace on the Street and pastor of The Hope Center.

“I spent Christmas Day with him. I gave him Christmas dinner as we watched some NBA. So I was looking forward to him getting better. Then I got a call early this morning (Monday) to come down to the hospital. It was so surreal. I was hoping that he would have gotten better.”

Reid, a former basketball player as well, remembered how he stopped at his brother’s house only to find out that he didn’t have any movement in his leg. He took him to Dr Robin Roberts, who recommended that he be taken to the hospital for treatment.

Predeceased by their father, John ‘Pink Panther’ Reid, the Reid brothers also have four sisters.

Although they were not biological brothers, Rev Stephen ‘S’ Brown said he and Reid grew up as they were and became even closer when they started working together at the Ministry of Sports.

“That’s my buddy. In terms of friendship, he treated me like his brother,” said Brown, who is now an ordained preacher and physical education teacher in San Salvador. “When I went to the Ministry of Sports, he trained me well.

“I could never repay him for what he did. I had a chance to work with Andy Ford and Sharon ‘the General’ Storr, but Scooter Reid did a lot for me when I was there. We got to travel to a number of islands to organise basketball tournaments.”

Brown remembered how one day after he had given his life to Christ that he came to work and Reid was a little disturbed about something. He said after they sat down and talked about it, Reid thanked him for helping to restore his faith in God.

“Sitting with him and living with him on the job, Scooter was a giant of a man.” Brown said. “He was always willing to help, especially young people in trying to motivate them. I am overwhelmed because a real brother died. He always had that faith to believe. I lost a good buddy.”

Prior to joining the staff at the Ministry of Sports, Brown said he and Reid, known as the ‘Big Brothers,’ worked on organising the Park League Tournament at Christie Park. They did the same on a number of islands when they were reunited at the Ministry of Sports.

“I just want to thank him for the time we shared on this side of the vineyard,” Brown said.

Marvin Dames, the Minister of National Security, also praised Reid for the role he played in helping to organise some activities for the residents of his constituency as the Free National Movement’s Member of Parliament for Yellow Elder. “My wife and I send our heartfelt love and sympathy to you and your family on Scooter’s passing,” Dames wrote. “He was indeed a community builder. I could recall how he ensured that we worked together to maintain a team in the NPBA (New Providence Basketball Association).

“We had discussed other ways to work with the young men in the area to get them off the streets. That was never to be. Nevertheless, he has left a legacy that you and your family should be proud of.”

Reid, employed at the Ministry of Sports as a sports officer for over 30 years, will be missed, according to Tim Munnings, the Director of Sports.

“We in the Ministry of Sports are deeply saddened by the passing of Michael ‘Scooter’ Reid,” Munnings said.

“He is a valuable long standing member of our team. He has been an integral part of the ministry long before I got there.

“He has been instrumental in the execution of the Father Marcian Peters Basketball Tournament, which was geared towards primary school and junior high men and we expanded it to include girls’ teams.

“He was a community activist who enjoyed being outdoors helping young people get involved in sports, particularly basketball.”

Munnings, a former men’s 4 x 400m gold medallist, said Reid was also a keen high jumper, who represented the Bahamas in track and field at the international level.

“He got really ill at the end of the year, but we were shocked and saddened by it,” Munnings said. “We know that he is in a much better place. We will surely miss him when we return back to work.”

The Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) also expressed its sentiments on Reid’s passing. A statement by president Mario Ford reads as follows:

“The basketball world is astounded and shocked by the passing of Michael ‘Scooter’ Reid, despite his recent hospitalisation. The man was a true basketball aficionado.

“On behalf of the Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) and the sporting community, I take this opportunity to express grief, sadness and a sense of loss for such a principal contributor to basketball growth and development in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Scooter’s sports involvements extend from being a collegiate and national basketball team player to a fine administrator of the sport of basketball: whether it was as a coach both male and females, at the high school and club levels, a referee, a tournament organiser (North Long Is. Basketball Tournament, various ‘park leagues’, the prestigious Fr Marcian Peters Basketball Invitational ..) or as a full time officer at the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture. The Federation laments Reid’s death.

“Unquestionably, the BBF and the country will miss Michael ‘Scooter’ Reid’s unceasing appetite to assist and hands on attitude in and to move basketball forward.

“In my official capacity as the President of the Bahamas Basketball Federation I extend heartfelt condolences to his family, sporting colleagues and friends!

May “Scooter’s” soul rest in peace.”