By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

CHRISTAL Taylor-Finlay has left the sporting community, especially softball and track and field, in a state of shock after the sudden death of the former athlete turned official on Saturday.

The 40-year-old who was employed at the Port Department and Public Prosecutions was married to Addie Finlay, the new president of the New Providence Softball Association and one of the leading umpires in softball and track and field, on August 22, 2024.

When you saw one, you saw the other in a relationship that spanned some 18 years when they first got together as a softball coach (Finlay) and player (Taylor-Finlay) in the NPSA and the Bahamas Government Departmental Softball Association. 

"She was more than just a wife. We share the same ideas. She was my soulmate around the sport of softball. I coached her and umpired with her," Finlay said. 

"We go home after a game and go over every play discussing the game until morning. She will stand her ground on what she thinks is the right call."

Among others left to mourn in her immediate family are her mother Diana Pierre, father veteran baseball player Gregory 'Rat' Taylor and her three sons Dion Major, Aden Taylor and Chaddie Finlay.

Thomas Sears, an international certified softball umpire who has worked with the Finlays, called her "a wonderful person who gave of herself to the New Providence Softball community as a player, official and executive. "Her presence will be missed from around the various ballparks and leagues where she played and officiated. Sincere condolences to her beloved husband Addie, children, family, friends and teammates. May her soul rest in eternal peace."

Martin 'Pork' Burrows, another international softball and baseball umpire, said Taylor-Finlay was like another daughter and sister to him.

"I had the opportunity to work with her mother and father. Christal was special to me because of the relationship that I had with her father Rat Taylor and her mother, who is the best florist in the country" Burrows said. 

"Because of that relationship. I paid special attention to Christal when she came into softball. Christal was a great softball player, but she was a good mother for sure. She cared for those boys."

Softball, according to Burrows, will miss "a special lady, a special person, a special mother, a special wife, a special player, a special umpire and a special friend. Christal will definitely be missed. May her soul rest in peace."

Val Kemp, president of  BACOITF said Taylor-Finlay loved track and field, but she tried to split herself between the sport and softball. , 

":She worked well with the athletes because her job was to marshal them to their events," Kemp said. "She was a kind person and worked wherever she was needed and made BACOITF function better because of officials like her, always willing."

Addie Finlay summed it up by saying that he will remember his wife as a "giant woman, who was respected by all managers, coaches and players." She will be missed but "I know she is in a better place. 

"She was my everything," he summed up.