Herbert George De Lorme Macdonald (1902–1991),

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

, was a Jamaican footballer, tennis player, writer, sports administrator and promoter.

Early life

He was born on 23 May 1902. He attended Wolmer's Boys School where he excelled at a number of sports. Later he represented

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Career

He became the president of the

Jamaica Olympic Association Jamaica Olympic Association (IOC code: JAM) is the National Olympic Committee representing Jamaica. It is also the body responsible for Jamaica's representation at the Olympic Games. History The Jamaica Olympic Association was founded in 1936 an ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Olympic Association, the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association and the Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica. He was in the Jamaican Olympic delegation in 1948 and became the manager of the Jamaica team to the Olympic Games in Helsinki, 1952 and the subsequent three games. In 1959 Jamaica was awarded the right to host the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...

of 1962. Macdonald was reported to have approached

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Norman Manley Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate ...

and opposition leader Sir

Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Early life and education He was ...

with the suggestion of building a stadium for the Games. They agreed and after discussion, a £100,000 downpayment was paid for 80 acres (32.4 hectares) of

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

land. The

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

wrote off the remaining £200,000 as an independence gift. He was a principal organiser - with

Roy Anthony Bridge Roy Anthony (Tony) Bridge, O.B.E. (4 February 1921 – 13 December 2000) was a Jamaican member of the International Olympic Committee ("IOC"). Bridge was active in sport from 1947 until his death in 2000. He was appointed to the Internati ...

- of the 1966

British Empire and Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

which were held at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

. For many years he was chairman of National Sport Ltd. (Institute of Sports Ltd NSPORTS. At the Mexico Olympics of 1968, he carried the

Jamaican flag The flag of Jamaica was adopted on 6 August 1962 (Jamaican Independence Day), the country having gained independence from the British-protected Federation of the West Indies. The flag consists of a gold saltire, which divides the flag into fo ...

at the opening ceremony - instead of an athlete - to the dismay of many in the team who then boycotted the ceremony. He was also vice-president of the Jamaican Football Association, a member of the executive of the Jamaica Cricket Board of Control and the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control. He was chairman of National Sports Ltd. (INSPORT) and he managed the National Stadium. He wrote a history of the Boys' Champs, Kingston Cricket Club and a history of the British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Awards

Macdonald was the first Jamaica National Sportsman of the Year. In 1967 he was awarded the

Olympic Diploma of Merit The Olympic Diploma of Merit was an award given by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to recognise outstanding services to sports or a notable contribution to the Olympic Games. By 1974, the last time the awards were granted, just 58 peop ...

and was made

Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his life's work after the hosting of the Commonwealth Games.

Legacy

A bust in his honour was created by Jamaican sculptor

Alvin Marriott Alvin Tolman Marriott (29 December 1902 – 20 September 1992) was a Jamaican sculptor. He worked in Europe, North and Central America, and Jamaica. Many of his carvings and statues are on public display and in administrative buildings in Jama ...

and it is now in

Independence Park Independence Park may refer to: * Independence Park Botanic Gardens, a botanical garden in Baton Rouge, Louisiana * Independence Park (Charlotte, North Carolina), a park in Charlotte, North Carolina * Independence Park (Chicago), a park in Chicag ...

. There is also a tunnel named after him at the National Stadium which he promoted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Herbert 1902 births 1991 deaths Jamaican footballers Jamaican male tennis players Jamaican male writers Jamaican sports executives and administrators Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Men's association football players not categorized by position