Like many a young cricketer, Harwood Williams had dreams of finding international stardom on the cricket field and, such was his ability with the bat, he came much closer than most.
A half century for St. Kitts and Nevis against the touring England side in 1994 saw him elevated to the full Leeward Islands team, but that is as far as it went. Three games to make a mark before the selectors decided to look elsewhere.
It is a story that is told time and again by players who had their hopes dashed for one reason or another, at least the good news here is that there was an opportunity.
An opportunity to play, an opportunity to be seen, and an opportunity to see how far your talent could take you. Sometimes the game simply provides an ideal distraction for young people who might otherwise find themselves going down the wrong path.
And it is that desire to see future generations enjoy the same opportunities and provide the same distractions, that has driven Harwood.
“I came from a place where, were it not for sport and cricket in particular, I could be somewhere else,” Harwood admits. “Maybe even at His Majesty’s pleasure, so cricket was hugely important to me.
“And that is why I got involved with cricket coaching and support because I thought if I could help any boy or girl by creating a path by which they could be better individuals, then that would be ideal, and cricket allowed me to do that.
“When I first came to the UK in the 90s, I played as an overseas pro for Dunnington CC, but I also worked in inner city schools and did cricket coaching there which was funded by local government but that funding has now gone.
“With many schools not offering cricket, it is often up to the clubs to pick up the challenge and get them playing.”
That is exactly what Harwood has been doing by organising and helping to run the Leeds Caribbean Cricket Club, a rare example of a West Indian club that not only played regular cricket since its founding in 1948, but also has its own ground on which to play at Scott Hall Road. Having the ground is one thing, but making it an inviting place to play with facilities to match is quite another and that is where Harwood and others have helped make significant change.
“The club is a joy to behold now,” smiles Harwood. “The ground wasn’t in great shape and as the numbers of Black cricketers fell away so too did the facilities.
“It needed some love and it needed some investment and giving up was not an option. We worked hard to convince the powers that be that it would be worth putting something into the facilities and finally we had a breakthrough so we now have a fantastic building, part funded by the ECB, that the whole community can use.
“We are all changemakers here because we do what we can for the love of the club and the game and the community. We want to help make things better than before.”
The new clubhouse was opened in April of this year and sitting at a table with a can of Red Stripe in his hand was founder Alford Gardner aged 98. Perhaps the original changemaker when it comes to making things the way you would like to see them.
Gardner sadly passed away at the start of this Black History Month, but his legacy lives on in the club and in the work that Harwood is trying to do in order to complement the new building.
Using links with Yorkshire and the Northern Superchargers, Harwood was proud of the sessions they were able to run for young kids from African Caribbean heritage from nearby Chapeltown.
But now that he’s got them in, the challenge is how to keep them playing and engaged in cricket.
“Our catchment for the club is quite a deprived area. Lots of families don’t drive,” he says. “We had a period of time when we had the use of a community bus, and we picked up kids which made things a lot easier.
“Whether it is travel, or kit, or lots of other things that need funding, you have to try and find the money from somewhere to try and keep the game accessible to everyone.
“We’ve got a beautiful building, and we are getting the kids through the door. Our job is to keep them playing and enjoying the game and we have to make it as accessible as we possibly can.”
Written by sports media consultant and journalist, Dean Wilson.
Photography by Tyra Mills.