
Sports bar honours top local athletes
Sports bar honours top local athletes
Stephen Wright, Assistant Sports Editor
Make text smallerMake text larger
Proud moment: Ashley Couper, a multiple Bermuda Day Half Marathon Derby winner, poses in front of her photograph at the Boundary Sports Bar and Grille Wall of Fame last night (Dept. Of Communications)
Past and present: Clyde Best, the former West Ham striker, and Bermuda goalkeeper Freddy Hall, pose in front of the Wall of Fame at the Boundary Sports Bar and Grille during its unveiling last night (Photograph by Stephen Wright)
Unforgettable achievements: Deon Breary, the two-times Bermuda Day Half Marathon Derby champion (Dept. Of Communications)
The great and the good of Bermudian sport have been honoured in a Wall of Fame at the Boundary Sports Bar and Grille at the Fairmont Southampton.
Many of the 25 athletes included in the photography exhibit, whose framed pictures adorn the opposite walls of the restaurants entrance, gathered at its official unveiling last night.
Among those in attendance were Clyde Best, the former West Ham United striker, Bermuda goalkeeper Freddy Hall, former boxing world champion Teresa Perozzi, Dominique Mayho, a former amateur cyclist in Belgium, and Bermuda Day Half Marathon Derby winners Ashley Couper and Deon Breary,
The idea was the brainchild of Brent MacLean, the Boundary maître d, who approached local sports photographer Lawrence Trott about curating the display.
Trott, who is also a sports reporter for The Royal Gazette, enlisted the help of fellow photographer Ras Mykkal, with the pair pooling together a selection of the favourite moments they have captured of local sport.
Previously, portraits of overseas sporting stars had decorated the walls of the restaurants entrance.
I thought it would be a good opportunity to honour and recognise our former athletes and those still competing, Trott said.
I got Ras involved right away because I knew he would be able to provide photos that I didnt have. Were always out there shooting together and talking about our work. Hopefully this could be the start of something. I know theyre talking about a Hall of Fame.
Mykkal said it was important for the island to celebrate its sporting stars, past and present.
Lawrence asked me if I would contribute some pictures and Im very grateful to him for giving me an opportunity to be part of this, he said. Any time my pictures hang on somebodys wall, Im happy.
Best, a trailblazer for black footballers in England, praised Trott and Mykkal for helping highlight some of the islands top sporting achievers.
This is something worthwhile, said Best, whose picture with local footballing icon, Earl Townsey Russell, features prominently in the exhibit and is one of Trotts most treasured.
I like to see our athletes get the recognition they deserve. We need to keep doing it until we get what we need a Bermudian Hall of Fame.
You look at Eldon Raynor [who is photographed playing golf with fellow former Bermudian cricketer Winston Coe Trott], if it wasnt for him I probably wouldnt have been able to do what I wanted to do in sport.
Mayho, who is bidding for a third Sinclair Packwood Memorial Race title tomorrow, said he felt privileged to have been included. Its an honour to be pictured on the wall with the likes of Clyde Best and Flora Duffy all these great athletes.
Things like this do give you more motivation and energy to keep training. It shows you that people do see what youre doing.
Shelley Meszoly, the regional director of sales and marketing at Fairmont Southampton, said the designers of the restaurant, which opened last November, were American and had not recognised the significance of using portraits of Bermudian sporting heroes.
[Brent] realised we had made a big mistake and that it needed to be Bermudian sports heroes rather than overseas sports stars, she said. We made the switch.
You must be registered or signed-in to post comment or to vote.
Sports bar honours top local athletes
What you
Need to
Know
2. Please respect the use of this community forum and its users.
3. Any poster that insults, threatens or verbally abuses another member, uses defamatory language, or deliberately disrupts discussions will be banned.
4. Users who violate the Terms of Service or any commenting rules will be banned.
5. Please stay on topic. “Trolling” to incite emotional responses and disrupt conversations will be deleted.
6. To understand further what is and isn’t allowed and the actions we may take, please read our Terms of Service
7. To report breaches of the Terms of Service use the flag icon