Marilyn Bayley, at age 15 years and a few months, was chosen to represent Trinidad and Tobago as the goalkeeper of the national senior hockey team.
She is still the youngest person who played for the national senior team in any sport.
But Marilyn was not just a great hockey player she was the champion and record holder in the javelin for the country, and the champion in the discus and the shot putt as well.
Marilyn Bayley! The younger Trinidad and Tobago citizens would wonder whom am I talking about until I say, "you know, Marilyn Gordon."
How did this young woman become so renowned as an athlete? She told me that she had been feeling really low when she was preparing for the College Exhibition Examination (now the Eleven plus) so her mother took her for a check up. Dr. Fistein told her that she should cut down on her studying and play some sports.
He even made her mother promise to bring her back to him after the exam. When he learned that she had won an exhibition and would attend Bishop's, Dr. Fistein made her promise to take part regularly in some sport.
"He could not know that he was talking to the converted. At that time I pitched marbles, played cricket and football. The school I went to had the idea of developing the whole person. Sport was the vehicle that did that for generations of young people. It made us all have a sense of loyalty to the team, to the House and a sense of commitment so that one did not let down those who depended on you," said Marilyn Gordon.
So at age 12 she went to 'big school' and met the person who would have a terrific influence on her life, a physical education teacher, June Wetherburn (now Kenny), who was also a hockey player and would be on the Trinidad team to Jamaica when Marilyn Bailey made her debut.
The young Bayley, pigtailed and wearing spectacles, was a natural and in addition to representing the country in hockey, was also the record holder and champion in throwing the javelin, putting the shot putt and throwing the discus.
At Bishop's her first sportsmistress was a Mrs. Hill who encouraged her to run, play netball, badminton, lawn tennis and other team sports and by the time she came in contact with Miss Wetherburn, she was competing for the Victrix Ludorum title in the middle school.
Twice in her time at Bishop's she was the Victrix Ludorum, at middle and at senior school and that earned points for her House. In the meanwhile, she had begun throwing things around and started excelling in the javelin and the discus.
She dominated field events in Trinidad for the short period of her life in local athletics. She won all the throwing events at the Southern Games, the Eastern Games, the BP Games and the Trinidad Games in the years between 1960 and 62. She won a Government Scholarship in 1962 and was lost to Trinidad and Tobago athletics thereafter.
This young athlete, and it must be stressed as, in the throwing events, the older, stronger athletes usually do much better set the national javelin record of 123 ft, 4 1/2 inches. This stood for 11 years.
She was off to Jamaica in 1960 for the British West Indies Championships and won silver in the shot, bronze in the javelin and discus. When she returned to Jamaica for the Caribbean and Central American Games she just failed to get a medal, finishing fourth in the javelin with the same distance as the bronze winner. The Spanish-speaking athletes proved to be a class above the rest of the Caribbean.
Her active participation in local sport ended when she left for England to pursue her education. Her participation in sport did not end there as she continued at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne to play and study. She represented the University in hockey, netball and athletics, gaining full colours in track and field and in netball and a half blue in hockey.
Wen asked how she was able to get an honours degree and take part in so many sports, she said, "Having to work for scholastic goals and at the same time for athletic goals helped me to focus on what had to be done and to do it."
The young Bayley became a teacher when she returned to T&T, became Marilyn Gordon and later, a senator and Minister in the Trinidad and Tobago Government.
She was pivotal in the setting up of the West Regional Park, now the Jean Pierre Complex and the Hasely Crawford Stadium. She did not turn away from sport even in her teaching days, remembering the effect her mentors had on her and did as much for the boys and girls who were fortunate enough to have her teach them.
She fondly remembers the days when national teams were really competitive and the men who helped them; old famous athletes like Joe Goddard, Bunny Diffenthaler and John Donaldson among them.
I asked her what she thought should be done to improve athletics and to encourage young girls to take part. Without hesitation, she said, "Whatever you do must start in the primary schools. You have to encourage and attract girls at an early age to compete and to enjoy sports. There must be a way to get the interest that was there when the school, the parents, the friends were interested in what the young athletes did. Until that comes back, you will not have the benefit that can be derived from sports."