Dr Glenton Smith - contributed

Dr Glenton Smith, who served the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), the Jamaica Olympic Association and the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association, as well as other national sporting bodies as team doctor, died yesterday in Miami, Florida, at age 52.

According to reports, Dr Smith had been ailing for some time and had undergone surgery in Miami.

One of the first to express condolences to the family of the late Dr Smith was president of the JFF, Captain Horace Burrell. He described the man, who also had a stint as head of the Jamaica Boxing Board, as one of those special individuals.

"He was a jolly person and typified the phrase, service with a smile," Captain Burrell said. "He really was one who believed in service above self. In his association with the JFF as team doctor, he went beyond his prescribed role, extending his services to other members of staff - free of charge."

Captain Burrell added: "I remember on one occasion, one of our youth teams was stranded in Miami and without batting an eyelid, Dr Smith took the entire team to his house."

Dr Smith also accompanied several Jamaican teams to the Olympics and World Championships. He was a member of the Jamaican Olympic contingent to Sydney, Australia, in 2000, and Athens, four years later. He went to consecutive IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, in 2005, and Osaka, Japan, in 2007, as team doctor to the track and field team. He was also a member of the medical team at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

A past student of St Elizabeth Technical, Dr Smith was an outstanding wicketkeeper/batsman for his school during the 1970s and captained the Jamaica Under-19 team which toured England in 1976.