He had seven siblings: Carl, Georgina, Florence, Beulah, James Leonard ("Len"), Andrew, and Wanda.

[1] While attending Chatham Vocational High School, Harding won titles for pole vaulting, basketball, soccer and hockey.

[1] The Chatham Daily News reported that he "bats in third position on the line-up and is a hard man to keep off the base-paths.

"[3] The team was noticed by a local business owner, Archie Stirling an Ontario Baseball Amateur Association (OBAA) representative, who brought them to play in the league.

[1] His tryout was successful and he earned a spot playing hockey with the Windsor Staffords, a farm team of the Detroit Red Wings.

[1] This was historically significant, as Harding broke a color barrier by being the first Black player in the International Amateur Hockey League.

As a veteran of World War II, he was also part of the Royal Canadian Legion in Branch 628 where he played soccer in the 1940s.

[1] Having been born in times of racial segregation, Harding never had a chance to try out for major league teams in baseball or hockey.