On behalf of administrative and technical staff of all Departments of this Ministry, mine is the remorseful task of confirmingmy Ministry’s awesome gratitude for the tremendous contributions rendered to nationalsports development by our retired colleague and our fallen immediate past Deputy Directorof Sports and the husband of our Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Cora Bain-Colebrooke, the lateKevin Colebrooke.
A graduate of St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina, Kevin was an outstandingtrack and field athlete of the 1980’s. He joined the Public Service as a member of staff of theMinistry of Youth, Sports and Culture on the 2nd of March, 1981, where he spent his entirecareer of 38 years contributing to the development of sports in The Bahamas.
For throughout his tenure in the Department of Sports of this Ministry, Mr. Colebrookehonestly pursued the profession to which he aspired, and when he faced challenges inrealizing those aspirations, he painstakingly created the framework for achieving them inwhatever the capacity of his service.
Mr. Colebrooke consistently exhibited such a constructive approach throughout his years ofproductive service, beginning from his entry in this Ministry as a youthful Sports Officer, inwhat was then the newly-minted Department of Sports, which was under the supervision ofthe founding Director of Sports, Winston "Gus" Cooper, a pioneer in this country's questtowards national sports development.
In such a regard, Kevin also proved himself to be another revolutionary figure in nationaldevelopment through sports. For in his extended tenure with my Ministry, he himself,serving as the liaison officer for a number of national Core Sport Associations andFederations, among which were Golf, Table Games, Rugby, Swimming and the Royal LifeGuard Association. His ultimate focus centred on Swimming / Life Guarding however, nodoubt a reflection of his keen interest in the propagation of that sport in a country two-thirdsof which is comprised of water but as much two-thirds of its youth unable to swim.
Perhaps further reflection of Kevin‘s passion for growing the sport of swimming is reflectedin his joyous acceptance of his assignment to dedicate himself to representing the interests ofthe Department of Sports by understudying all aspects of the construction of the Betty KellyKenning National Swim Complex at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Center in 2010. Inassuming such a demanding task, he inhabited the construction site from start to finish,resulting in him becoming intensely familiar with all the many complexities of that facility'scomputerized infrastructure, all its systems of operation and all best practices in an ordainedmaintenance programme.
Equally as nationally notable is that Kevin was more than supportive of the decision by thelate Betty Kelly Kenning, a genuine nationalist who maintained her pledge to construct theNational Swim Complex, undeterred by the escalation in the cost of completing the project,from the initial $3.5 Million to $5.0 Million and then to $7.5 Million. No doubt suchdetermination to complete the project emanated from her personal experiences and exploitsas a member of this country's first national swim teams in the early days of the 1940's.Likewise was Kevin in Kelly-Kenning's confidence when she eschewed kinetic lobbying toinstead construct the Swim Complex on a private school property some miles to the east,away from the densely population centers surrounding the Queen Elizabeth Sports Center.
Conclusively then, in the course of his superlative career, Kevin played a major role in theorganization and execution of every Bahamas Games held in 1989, 1991, 1995, 1998, and in2001, and was actively engaged with the planning of the Golden Jubilee Bahamas Gamesscheduled for 2023. Kevin also provided the impetus for the Bahamas to host the JuniorCommonwealth Games in 2017. Also, he implemented a number of developmentalprogrammes at the National Swim Complex and provided the framework for many others.
Among them were:
- Learn-to-Swim programme for all Public School pupils.
- Learn-to-Swim programme for Sports Ministry staff,
- Learn-to-Swim programme for employees of the wider Public Service.
- Development of public programmes promoting water safety.
- Hosting of courses in Life Guarding and Water Safety.
- Hosting of Summer Learn to Swim Programmes for Adults.
- Development plans for an Annual Inter Community/Constituency Summer SwimChampionships.
- Liaison Relations with the Royal Life Guard Society.
~ Relations with the Bahamas Red Cross.
- Study and proposals for the development of proper swim facilities in select FamilyIslands and,
- Liaison Relations with the national swim community and with both local OlympicSailing Clubs.
In closing then, my prayer is that the entire Ministry and the national sports community joinwith me in committing into the bosom of The Almighty, the soul of our brother andcolleague, Mr. Kevin Colebrooke. Thank you in advance for your kindest consideration forhis dear wife and our esteemed colleague, Mrs. Cora Bain-Colebrooke, his daughters, andmembers of their extended families. Thank you for your usual consideration and firmsupport.
May his soul rest in peace.
On behalf of administrative and technical staff of all Departments of this Ministry, mine is the remorseful task of confirming
my Ministry’s awesome gratitude for the tremendous contributions rendered to national
sports development by our retired colleague and our fallen immediate past Deputy Director
of Sports and the husband of our Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Cora Bain-Colebrooke, the late
Kevin Colebrooke.
A graduate of St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina, Kevin was an outstanding
track and field athlete of the 1980’s. He joined the Public Service as a member of staff of the
Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture on the 2nd of March, 1981, where he spent his entire
career of 38 years contributing to the development of sports in The Bahamas.
For throughout his tenure in the Department of Sports of this Ministry, Mr. Colebrooke
honestly pursued the profession to which he aspired, and when he faced challenges in
realizing those aspirations, he painstakingly created the framework for achieving them in
whatever the capacity of his service.
Mr. Colebrooke consistently exhibited such a constructive approach throughout his years of
productive service, beginning from his entry in this Ministry as a youthful Sports Officer, in
what was then the newly-minted Department of Sports, which was under the supervision of
the founding Director of Sports, Winston "Gus" Cooper, a pioneer in this country's quest
towards national sports development.
In such a regard, Kevin also proved himself to be another revolutionary figure in national
development through sports. For in his extended tenure with my Ministry, he himself,
serving as the liaison officer for a number of national Core Sport Associations and
Federations, among which were Golf, Table Games, Rugby, Swimming and the Royal Life
Guard Association. His ultimate focus centred on Swimming / Life Guarding however, no
doubt a reflection of his keen interest in the propagation of that sport in a country two-thirds
of which is comprised of water but as much two-thirds of its youth unable to swim.
Perhaps further reflection of Kevin‘s passion for growing the sport of swimming is reflected
in his joyous acceptance of his assignment to dedicate himself to representing the interests of
the Department of Sports by understudying all aspects of the construction of the Betty Kelly
Kenning National Swim Complex at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Center in 2010. In
assuming such a demanding task, he inhabited the construction site from start to finish,
resulting in him becoming intensely familiar with all the many complexities of that facility's
computerized infrastructure, all its systems of operation and all best practices in an ordained
maintenance programme.
Equally as nationally notable is that Kevin was more than supportive of the decision by the
late Betty Kelly Kenning, a genuine nationalist who maintained her pledge to construct the
National Swim Complex, undeterred by the escalation in the cost of completing the project,
from the initial $3.5 Million to $5.0 Million and then to $7.5 Million. No doubt such
determination to complete the project emanated from her personal experiences and exploits
as a member of this country's first national swim teams in the early days of the 1940's.
Likewise was Kevin in Kelly-Kenning's confidence when she eschewed kinetic lobbying to
instead construct the Swim Complex on a private school property some miles to the east,
away from the densely population centers surrounding the Queen Elizabeth Sports Center.
Conclusively then, in the course of his superlative career, Kevin played a major role in the
organization and execution of every Bahamas Games held in 1989, 1991, 1995, 1998, and in
2001, and was actively engaged with the planning of the Golden Jubilee Bahamas Games
scheduled for 2023. Kevin also provided the impetus for the Bahamas to host the Junior
Commonwealth Games in 2017. Also, he implemented a number of developmental
programmes at the National Swim Complex and provided the framework for many others.
Among them were:
- Learn-to-Swim programme for all Public School pupils.
- Learn-to-Swim programme for Sports Ministry staff,
- Learn-to-Swim programme for employees of the wider Public Service.
- Development of public programmes promoting water safety.
- Hosting of courses in Life Guarding and Water Safety.
- Hosting of Summer Learn to Swim Programmes for Adults.
- Development plans for an Annual Inter Community/Constituency Summer Swim
Championships.
- Liaison Relations with the Royal Life Guard Society.
~ Relations with the Bahamas Red Cross.
- Study and proposals for the development of proper swim facilities in select Family
Islands and,
- Liaison Relations with the national swim community and with both local Olympic
Sailing Clubs.
In closing then, my prayer is that the entire Ministry and the national sports community join
with me in committing into the bosom of The Almighty, the soul of our brother and
colleague, Mr. Kevin Colebrooke. Thank you in advance for your kindest consideration for
his dear wife and our esteemed colleague, Mrs. Cora Bain-Colebrooke, his daughters, and
members of their extended families. Thank you for your usual consideration and firm
support.
May his soul rest in peace.
