The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

IN his brief three-year term serving as the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the late Charles Maynard left an indelible impact on the sporting landscape of the country, which will undoubtedly continue to effect generations of Bahamians.

Among Maynard’s list of accomplishments, he boasted of the completion of the new Thomas A Robinson track and field stadium during his tenure as the crowning achievement of his political career.

Not simply completing the stadium, but seeing it filled to capacity with 15,000 Bahamians, during the opening ceremony for the $30 million gift to the Bahamas from the People’s Republic of China in February of this year, was a special moment for Maynard.

In his final interview with The Tribune just following the May 7 general election, Maynard reflected on the impact he expected the national stadium to have and his time in office.

“I’m very proud of my accomplishments over the last three years as Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture. The biggest achievement was definitely the completion of the national stadium. My ministry was very actively involved in the process, driving and making sure all of the things that the Chinese needed were provided for them, and making sure that that the planning process for the master plan and the execution of the contract was carried out,” said Maynard in the aftermath of the elections. “I think we had many achievements that will have a greater impact going deeper into the future in sports and sports tourism. I believe we have gone a long way and we have had some solid commitments from sporting bodies interested in coming to the Bahamas, so I hope whoever it is that will come in will finish the job that we started.”

Maynard also played a vital role in bringing the National Sports Authority into existence.

He oversaw Team Bahamas at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where the Bahamas captured a silver medal in the men’s 4x400m relay and Leevan “Superman” Sands won bronze in the triple jump.

Under Maynard, the Bahamas also experienced its best finish at the CARIFTA Track and Field Championships in almost 30 years with 40 medals won this April in Turks and Caicos.

Despite his successes on the local, regional and international level, Maynard was perhaps most keen on the development of sports tourism.

The Battle of Atlantis, Bahamas Women’s Open and Marathon Bahamas all have become staples on the local sporting calendar and have already shown their potential to benefit the Bahamas through sports tourism. However, the national stadium remained at the top of the sports tourism agenda for Maynard.

With the national stadium intact, the Bahamas was able to get significant bids for major regional and international events such as CARIFTA in 2013, the first IAAF World Relay Championships in 2014 /2015 and a number of other events that have not yet been announced but are in the works for the near future.

“I had no disappointments,” he said. “I believe that I was able to make sure that we lived up to all of our projects in our manifesto that we promised in 2007 as it relates to youth, sports and culture. So I feel good about the service that I rendered to the Bahamian people.”