Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697645922780.pdf (Bahamas)
Errol Bodie Member of the National Hall of Fame Class of 2009 Errol Bodie was governed by a dispensation in line with an ancient proverb which in- forms that sacrificing one’s conscience for ambition is synonymous with burning a priceless Picasso masterpiece in search of ashes.

He transported such a system of beliefs into his role as a leader of boys into manhood and girls into womanhood, using a coaching vocation I as insistent upon developing champions as it was upon imparting life skills.
Bodie enjoyed his first fourteen years in New Providence.

His mother hailed from West End, Grand Bahama, so firm roots were established for him there where he returned after matriculating from Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland.

His high school days had been spent as an outstanding athlete in the New York City school system, graduating from his- toric Benjamin Franklin High in 1965.
During his tenure there, his skills in the 400 meters were so honed to allow him to combine with team mates to establish a number of relay records in the 4 x 400M Relay.

Notable here is that his most outstanding high school at the world renown Madison Square Gardens, a house that gained worldwide notoriety at the hands of his famous compatriot from Bimini, the irrepressible Yama Bahama, who established himself there as a televi- sion icon in the earliest days of NBC’s Friday Night Flights.
Bodie further distinguished himself as a champion sprinter at Morgan State University where he marshaled its 4x400M re- lay team to ratings among the most accomplished in the Eastern Seaboard States of America.

At a time when the 400M world record was circa 46.0 , he approached that mark with a personnel best of 48.0 seconds.

His greater claim to elevat- ed national status through was the role he played in establishing Grand Bahama as the sprinting capital of The Bahamas shortly after his return in 1974.
Upon completion of his studies at Morgan State, he had previously assumed duties at Mu- sic & Arts High School, and subsequently at Hunters College, both located in New York.
Bodie’s return to the Bahamas was historically significant because it issued in the birth of Grand Bahama as a national force in track and field, a development having national implications since it resulted in a cross-pollination of the natural talent of Grand Bahama athletes with that of those from the other Island to unleashed the integrated power of these col- lection of Islands to create a new order in Caribbean track and field.
His international exposure and personal dedication combined to produce this country’s first CARIFTA Gold Medal and international record at the youth level.

In addition, he formulated a Grand Bahama contingent indispensable in this country’s surge to its first title of the CARIFTA Games in 1978.

Bodie also sacrificed his teaching time at Hawksbill High to develop championship basketball skills in teams there.
In fact he led the Grand Bahama Hawks to national championships at the Annual Hugh Campbell Basketball Tournament in New Providence.

Among his greatest contribution through was the number of athletic scholarships he authored, especial- ly in golf.

He also enjoyed tenure as coach of a number of track and field teams that represented The Bahamas at the junior and adult level.

Such obligations took him to the Montreal Olympics in 1976 and to large number of regional cham- pionships .
His other telling assignments included expanding opportunities for Bahamian youth to excel in squash and as the perennial track coach and trainer of his Island’s Police Force team.

Conclusively then Errol Bodie never sacrificed his conscience for personal ambition, aware as he was of the stultifying ef- fluence of burning a Picasso just6 to obtain some ashes.