LATE track and field coaches Eldimire Smith and Edward Hetcor have been hailed as “top-class coaches and human beings” after they passed within days of each other recently.

Smith was associated with St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) for over 40 years and was still coaching up to his death two weeks ago, and Hector did Yeoman service at Holmwood Technical for decades.

Jamaica’s track and field fraternity was rocked by the double news of the passing of both men within days of each other, having served a combined 80 years as coaches.

Smith, who served in several capacities at the Santa Cruz-based STETHS, passed on February 11 after a brief illness while Hector passed a few days later after suffering what was said to be a heart attack.

President of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) Garth Gayle told the Jamaica Observer that Hector, who was the head men’s coach for the Jamaica team at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Kingston in 2002, was “a coach extraordinaire, top-class mathematics teacher, excellent vice-principal at Holmwood Technical”.

Gayle said Hector, who was a “national coach at all levels and a member of the JAAA executive”, made his mark with the outstanding Holmwood Technical teams at the Penn Relays with the 4x800m relay teams.

“He will be missed, not just by his immediate family but by several generations of students who he taught or coached at Holmwood Tech… we in the JAAA and us in the coaching fraternity are saddened by his passing, and may his memory continue to live with us,” said Gayle.

Principal of STETHS and president of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Keith Wellington said: “The St Elizabeth Technical High School family is saddened by the passing of our long-standing staff member, retired vice-principal, retired head of department, coach up to the time of his death, and certainly a friend.

“With the passing of Eldimire Smith we have suffered a great loss. ‘Eldi’ has been a part of STETHS for more than 40 years. His children attended STETHS, and he would have contributed so much in so many different areas of school life so it is a loss that is felt all around the school family,” Wellington told the Observer.

Smith’s absence from the STETHS Invitational and last Saturday’s County of Cornwall Athletics Association Western Championships finals, which was also held at STETHS, was palpable.

A banner in tribute to Smith was placed near the finish line where athletes and officials were able to pay tribute, some of the STETHS athletes breaking down in tears as they knelt before the banner.

“We are particularly saddened that he did not stick around long enough to see some of his charges perform well at Champs and the Penn Relays, as he was really confident that he was going to help them to produce a good set of results for us,” Wellington said.

“The students who he was coaching up to the time of this death have been taking his death really hard, as you can imagine. Eldi was more than just a coach, but as someone who has been around so long he has basically been a father figure for so many of our students,” he added.

Smith’s influence stretched even further, Wellington said.

“He was also a significant mentor to some of our teachers and coaches… he is undoubtedly one of those elder statesmen at STETHS. For me as the principal, I have always felt that in terms of the sporting programmes, himself, Wendell Downswell, and Dr Junior Bennett have been the pillars on which our sporting programmes have been built — and even when they have not been directly employed to the school, they remain an essential part of our programme.

“So, to lose Eldi — who is one-third of that triumvirate — is really something that is a big loss to us and we will have to do something significant to honour his memory,” Wellington said.

“And as time goes on we continue to offer support to the kids at STETHS and the rest of the STETHS family, along with his immediate family, and we hope this is something that we will be able to get over.”