The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Winston ‘Gus’ Cooper, best known as a visionary leader of the Valley Boys junkanoo group, was also remembered for the role he played as a former athlete and administrator in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture as a long-time director of sports.

Cooper recently returned home from the United States where he was receiving treatment and died at the Princess Margaret Hospital on Saturday morning.

In opening the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ 2014 season on Saturday at the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, BAAA president and childhood friend Mike Sands offered a moment of silence in honour of the former Cooper, who left an indelible mark on sports in the country.

“It’s indeed a sad day in our country with the passing of Gus Cooper,” Sands said.

“It affects all of us because Gus Cooper is known as a cultural icon, but to us, the contribution that he has made as the longest serving director of sports in the Ministry of Sports from its inception to his retirement is unparalleled.

“He also served as the president of the BAAA from 1972 to 1976 and so this impacts us directly as a federation to the extend that we feel his loss just as much as his family and the junkanoo community do.”

In extending his personal condolences and that of the track and field fraternity, Sands called Cooper a pacesetter and trailblazer, having directed the hosting of the first Carifta Games here in 1976.

“During that period, Gus also taught it was fitting that the games of that calibre should have a flag that he designed,” Sands said. “So he was able to help to globalise the games like the Olympics and the IAAF that all have their own flag.”

As for his own personal exploits, many may not remember, but Cooper was a prolific 400 metre runner where he excelled while attending Morgan State University.

“Gus came back home to the sport to serve as an administrator, but he was also a lecturer at the Bahamas Teachers College, now the home of the CC Sweeting High School,” Sands recalled.

“He came with the credentials as an administrator and he took that to mold the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture in its infancy and to take the BAAA to another level as well.”

In his passing, Sands said he is appreciative of the role that Cooper played in his life, helping to inspire him as the next generation quarter-miler to go on to represent the Bahamas and come back to give back to the sport as an administrator.

“At the time I was growing up as a young boy, Gus and Tommy (Robinson) and others encouraged me,” he said.

“So I feel saddened by his passing, but I will allow the fond memories that I have of him to comfort me and all of us during this period.”

It’s still early, but Sands said his administration will seek to sit down with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture to determine what sort of tribute they can bestow on Cooper for the role he played as a former athlete and administrator.