Kittitian former professional footballer (born 1985)
Atiba Erasto Harris (born 9 January 1985) is a Kittitian football administrator and former professional footballer. He captained the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team.
As of August 2021, he serves as President of the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association.
Career
Club
Harris played for St. Peters FC as a youngster, captaining them to the SKNFA Premier League Finals, and became the first player from St. Kitts to sign with a Spanish club when he signed in Spain with Cádiz in 2004–05.
In 2006, he became the first St. Kitts player to sign with Major League Soccer.[citation needed] He signed with Salt Lake and scored four goals and recorded one assist in 12 starts.
In December 2007, Harris was traded to Chivas USA for a third-round pick in the 2008 SuperDraft.[2] After a season and a half with Chivas USA, the Goats traded Harris in July 2009 to FC Dallas in exchange for Marcelo Saragosa.[3] Harris ended his Chivas USA career with 42 appearances, 5 goals, and 7 assists.
On 12 September 2009, in a match against Los Angeles Galaxy, Harris scored his first goal with FC Dallas off a Dax McCarty cross. He went on to score another goal vs Seattle finishing the season with two goals and five assists for FC Dallas and four goals and seven assists overall for the 2009 MLS season. Harris was a key player for Dallas in 2010 scoring four goals during the season and helping the club reach its first MLS Cup final.
He was selected by the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft.[4] Harris suffered an injury and missed most of the 2011 season. He stayed with Vancouver throughout the 2012 season before being traded to Colorado Rapids in December 2012 in exchange for an international roster spot.[5]
After one season in Colorado Harris was traded to San Jose Earthquakes in January 2014 in exchange for Marvin Chávez.[6]
Harris stayed one season in San Jose before entering the 2014 MLS Re-Entry Draft in December 2014. He was selected in stage two of the draft by FC Dallas.[7] During his second stint in Dallas, head coach Óscar Pareja mostly used Harris as a right fullback.
International
Harris has played for the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team since 2003 and served as team captain. He played in five of St. Kitts' 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying games, and in its 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Belize on 6 February 2008.[8]
Post-playing career
In May 2021, following his retirement from playing, Harris declared his candidacy for president of the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association,[9][10] which he won on 29 August.[11]
Under his leadership, the St. Kitts-Nevis Men’s Senior Team has qualified for its country’s first major tournament when they qualified for the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup in the United States.
Personal life
Harris is from Monkey Hill, Saint Kitts. He is the son of Sonia Williams of Gingerland, Nevis, and Egbert Harris of St. Peter's, St. Kitts. He has two older sisters along with a younger brother, Kareem Harris, who is also a footballer. He and his wife Rachael Harris have four daughters.
He is the cousin of English former footballer Micah Richards.[13]
Legacy
On 14 February 2020, the sporting facility in his hometown St. Peter's was renamed the Atiba Erasto Harris Sporting Complex. This facility hosts a football field along with both a basketball and a netball court.[14] On 29 August 2021, Harris became the youngest president of the SKNFA at the age of 36.
1st President to lead his country to a major tournament when the St. Kitts-Nevis Senior Men’s Team qualified for the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup in the United States.
