Community activist.
Born on 18 April 1945 at Dundee, Scotland to Catherine Kearns (1912-1970) and Henry Harwood (1909-1967), he immigrated to Canada in 1972 with his wife June, with whom he had two children.
At Winnipeg, he worked for a number of years in the construction field as a carpenter, but his true love was soccer. He served as a coach and convenor for the St. Charles Community Club in the 1970s, and was President of the St. James Youth Soccer Association in the 1980s. In 1985, he was appointed Executive Director of the Winnipeg Minor Soccer Association (Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association), a position he held until his passing. He devoted his life to the betterment of the game for the youth of Winnipeg. He was the founder of such tournaments as The Golden Boy, formerly known as the Folklorama tournament, and the Children’s Hospital tournament, which continue to attract teams from all over the world. He dedicated countless hours to the development of the game in Winnipeg and was affectionately known as Mr. Soccer within the soccer community. Under his guidance, youth soccer grew from 400 teams to 1000 teams, with over 17,000 registered players.
In his spare time he enjoyed playing golf, watching soccer, and travelling to British Columbia to visit his family. At the time of his death, he had become frustrated with the personal politics of the game over recent years and had been looking forward to an early retirement with his family in Kelowna.
He died at Winnipeg on 23 June 2006. He was inducted posthumously into the Manitoba Soccer Hall of Fame (2018).
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 26 June 2006.
“Harry Harwood,” Manitoba Soccer Association Hall of Fame.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 23 November 2022
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