James did his undergrad degree at Cardiff Met Uni studying Sports Coaching and playing for the university’s soccer team. He then went onto spend two years at top NCAA D2 side in America Carson Newman University studying for his master’s degree in Physical Education and joining a side that previously went to the national final the year prior to joining, so effectively playing for the #2 ranked team in the USA at NCAA 2. James was fortunate enough to captain the side in his final year, leading the team to a conference championship and reaching the national tournament. Accomplishments included being named in the all-conference first team two years running and all decade team, given by the university itself. James graduated from Carson Newman in 2016 with a perfect 4.0 GPA and leaving with a Master of Education (Med).