THE late Anthony Harford was a man of class and a true professional. Such was the sentiment shared by former All Sport Promotions project officer Nicholas Lochan, who spent five years of his administrative sporting career working alongside the veteran sport promoter.
Harford, 68, died on Saturday. He left a legacy in media, broadcasting and sports administration and was an ex-marketing manager and director at All Sport Promotions who played a leading role in helping propel local sports.
Lochan worked with Harford from 2011-2016 and boasted that Harford always maintained sheer professionalism even when faced with unexpected and uncomfortable challenges.
He described Harford as selfless.
'Tony conceptualised events, called a team who would discuss it, see what ideas you had and he would have his links, where he could, call on a sponsor to assist and pull it off.
'I'll be honest, a lot of the times these events didn't make money, but some did. The fact is, even if it didn't make money, he would never cancel the event.
'And it was sort of hard for the staff to accept because you want to make money. At the end of the day, it's not entirely about only giving players opportunities. But for him, it was giving opportunities before all other things.'
During his five-year tenure, Lochan, who is now a sport officer at the University of TT, worked on multiple projects with Harford and Richard Piper, another project officer.
His first event with Harford was the 2011 UWI half-marathon. From there, All Sport Promotions did jobs for TT Football Association marketing and even held the 2012 Quadrangular T20 tournament which featured TT, Barbados, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
They also hosted two Australian tours which Lochan claims gave youngsters like Nicholas Pooran, Joshua Da Silva and Keagan Simmons an opportunity to compete on the international circuit, among a host of other events designed to help develop local sportsmen and women.
A rare tribute to Harford, however, came from the Grenada Olympic Committee (GOC) on Saturday.
GOC secretary general Veda Bruno-Victor said Harford spoke at their award ceremony some years ago, organised competitions on the island and even introduced them to Carriacou-born wicketkeeper Emmanuel Stewart, who now plays for Windward Islands.
Lochan said Tony had a love for children and was integral in working behind the scenes to give Stewart a fighting chance of developing his cricket career.
'He had a love for kids. Even when we did events, and sometimes were under-budget, we would cut meals or refreshments and he would be adamant that the children had to eat, and to prioritise that first.
'It was a different theory from what I understood, coming from school. In theory, you pay for the most important things first, but for him, it was reverse. Lunch and water for everyone was always catered for before referees, officials and you were paid. He even convinced businesses on tight budgets to put a me
