It was a somber Labour Day weekend for sports in the country as legendary basketball player and Bahamian sportsman Peter “Macaroni” Gilcud passed; and educator and noted sportswoman Edna Forbes also died.
Gilcud, who was known for his contributions to basketball and Junkanoo in the country, and was as supportive for Bahamian sports in general as anyone, was found unresponsive in his car in front of his residence in Winton Meadows on Thursday morning around 9 a.m. and pronounced dead by a medical examiner. He was 67.
As for Forbes, she enjoyed a long career as an athlete in sports, served in the government school sector for nearly 40 years, and was one of the founding members and first female president of the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA). She died on Saturday at the age of 59.
Alfred Forbes, who was defeated for the GSSSA presidency in 2004, said he wants to express condolences to the family of Forbes, noting that she was a great sports enthusiast and leader.
As mentioned, Forbes was one of the founding members of the GSSSA in 1993, and won the presidency over Alfred Forbes in 2004. In the government school sector, she taught at R.M. Bailey and C.V. Bethel senior high schools, L.W. Young and C.H. Reeves junior high schools, and most recently at Stephen Dillet Primary School.
Current GSSSA President Varel Davis, the second female president of the local high school sports body, said that Forbes was a very hard worker and an excellent coach and teacher for many years.
“She inspired and helped many as a coach,” said Davis. “Those who knew her, know that she dedicated her life for sports – a true sports icon. On behalf of the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association, we would like to send condolences to the family of Ms. Edna Forbes. She will be truly missed. May her soul rest in peace.”
The towering Gilcud, 6’7” in stature, was well-loved in the basketball community of The Bahamas, and
well-versed in a variety of sports and sporting disciplines, often making significant contributions on sports talk shows and in the national spotlight through his many interviews. He was never short on words.
Gilcud was one of the first Bahamians to obtain a basketball scholarship to a major National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I program, paving the way for fellow Bahamians Mychal “Sweet Bells” Thompson and Osbourne “Goose” Lockhart at the University of Minnesota in the fall of 1973. He was joined by Thompson and Lockhart in 1974, and went on to play two years with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Gilcud returned to The Bahamas after graduating from Minnesota, continued a stint with the Beck’s Cougars in night league basketball, and engaged in a number of epic battles with fellow legendary basketball player Sterling Quant and the Kentucky Colonels. Quant, the first Bahamian to ever be drafted into a professional basketball league, is regarded by many to be one of the finest homegrown talents the country ever produced in basketball. Both he and Gilcud are among the 175 members of The Bahamas’ National Sports Hall of Fame. Gilcud was inducted with 10 others in the Class of 2018 at Government House by former Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling.
In his tribute to Gilcud, Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) President Mario Bowleg said that while Gilcud will always be a basketball icon, memories of his total contribution to nation building must not be overlooked.
“His was a pioneering spirit that never diminished,” said Bowleg. “The Bahamas Basketball Federation is humbled in paying homage to the life of Peter ‘Macaroni’ ‘Cud’ Gilcud. As he always reminded us, ‘there is no other like the ‘The Macaroni’.’ To not mention his engaging personality would certainly do injustice to the man basketball came to know. To point out that he held lofty, incredible ideals would adequately portray a dominant part of his personality. ‘The Macaroni’ was a basketball philanthropist and administrator. Many Bahamian athletes have benefited from his assistance in procuring scholarships in the USA; especially, to his beloved St. Greg’s. Likewise, was his will to support high school student-athletes to attend athletic camps and sports seminars abroad. The Bahamas Basketball Federation is proud of his involvement as an executive of the federation for many years; he unselfishly laid the cornerstone for many of the programs within our organization.”
Gilcud moved to New Providence from Andros as a young boy, and attended St. Augustine’s College (SAC). Following his graduation from SAC in 1971, Gilcud went on to attend St. Gregory’s College, now St. Gregory’s University, in Shawnee, Oklahoma, then transitioned to the University of Minnesota in the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he averaged 5.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game over his junior and senior seasons.
“To us, he was just a regular guy – one who loved basketball, loved sports, loved people and just loved life,” said his daughter Diana. “We’re still in shock. It hasn’t set in yet. He was certainly a public figure and cared about others. He was committed to the Centre for the Deaf, always providing support around Christmas time, completely devoted to the Saxons Superstars, and a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and Prince Hall Lodge. He thoroughly enjoyed life and enjoyed everything in life. He had a big voice and was just a happy soul. He was an entertainer, a businessman, smart, studious, and he loved Junkanoo. He will be missed.”
BBF President Bowleg said they will celebrate the life and legacy of Gilcud.
“The BBF has lost one of its favorite sons, but we will continue to celebrate his life and contributions with the exuberance that only he could portray,” said Bowleg. “He was a sterling example to basketball players for he worked and labored himself into becoming a fine basketball product and a leader. The Bahamas Basketball Federation joins his Junkanoo family (Shell Saxons) and relatives in paying tribute to the life of Peter Gilcud with fanfare and joy. That is the way ‘Macaroni’ or ‘The Cud’ would have liked it. May his soul rest in peace.”
In addition to his collegiate exploits, Gilcud represented The Bahamas in basketball at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) and the Pan American levels, competing in numerous international competitions. He is a National Sports Hall of Famer and was also inducted into the Hall of Fame collegiately at St. Gregory’s.
At Minnesota, Gilcud helped the Golden Gophers to a 12-12 (6-8 Big Ten) win/loss record in 1974, and a 18-8 (11-7 Big Ten) record the following season.
In his later years, as the chairman at Bahamas Elite Sports Academy, Gilcud helped facilitate the collegiate and professional basketball dreams of a number of young men he mentored. One of his latest protégés, Androsian Frederick King Jr., just jetted off to the NBA Academy Latin America in Mexico City, Mexico, earlier this year. King, who has dreams of playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), was the first Bahamian student-athlete to be selected to attend the elite academy, which provides basketball training for the top male and female prospects from throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, Canada and South America.
Bahamian icon Gilcud battled hypertension in his later years and was rumored to be quarantining, due to contact tracing as it relates to COVID-19, at the time of his demise.
Gilcud is survived by six children – four boys and two girls. They are Dhaska, Diana, Jeremy, Pachino, Charles ‘CJ’ (Peter Alexander) and Fayne.
May the souls of Gilcud and Forbes rest in peace.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/gilcud-forbes-pass-away/
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