STADIUM INFO

THOMAS A. ROBINSON NATIONAL STADIUM

Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium (Photo Credit: Ben Solomon/ESPN Images)

The Bahamas Bowl is played in Nassau’s state-of-the-art Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, located in the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre.

The 15,000-seat stadium, a gift to The Bahamas from the People’s Republic of China, was dedicated February 25, 2012 by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in ceremonies witnessed by thousands of Bahamians. The original Thomas Robinson Stadium was built in 1981, and work on the new National Stadium at an adjacent site began in July 2009 at a cost of $30 million.

The 190,452-square-foot facility features covered chairback seating on two sides, seating for disabled spectators, broadcast/coaches/game operations booths, a natural grass field for American football and soccer and an IAAF-certified track surface. Renovations to the stadium, including a new track and media tribune, were completed in May 2014. A brand-new Celebration Bermudagrass field was installed in November 2016.

Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium (Photo Credit: Robert Weems/Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl)

Robinson National Stadium is named after Thomas Augustus Robinson, MBE. Robinson was the sole competitor for The Bahamas on the world stage for many years. He competed in four Olympic Games, starting in 1956 in Melbourne, followed by Rome in 1960, Tokyo in 1964 and Mexico City in 1968. He became the first Bahamian to win a medal in international competition, a Bronze Medal in the 100-meter dash in the 1957 West Indian Federation Games in Kingston, Jamaica. He was also a part of the 400-meter relay team which also won a bronze medal.

At the 1958 British Empire Games in Cardiff, Wales, Robinson won a gold medal in the 220-yard dash and a silver in the 100-yard dash. He came back in the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games to win a silver medal in the 100, a feat he repeated in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. He also won a gold medal at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Robinson won nine Big Ten Conference titles as a sprinter at the University of Michigan from 1959-61. He was inducted into Michigan’s Hall of Honor in 1985 and the inaugural class of Michigan’s Men’s Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2006.

Discussions on the new stadium had begun some nine years before, with Robinson himself chairing the initial and final committee on the stadium. Robinson died November 25, 2012, just two days after the celebration of his participation in the Melbourne Olympics and before he could see the facility that bears his name in use.

The facility has been the site for track (2014, 2015 and 2017 IAAF World Relays and the 2013 and 2017 CARIFTA Games), athletics competition (2017 Commonwealth Youth Games) and soccer (2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier – Bahamas vs. Bermuda, March 25, 2015).

The National Sports Authority, under chairman Greg Burrows, manages the 450-acre Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, which includes Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. The stadium operations are overseen by general manager Quinton Brennen.