After more than 300 career appearances as a winger for clubs including Nottingham Forest, Gillingham and Dulwich Hamlet, Kevin James is back where it all started at the Charlton Athletic FC Academy.
A former trainee at the club himself, Kevin is sharing his experience and enthusiasm with the next generation as Under-18s Assistant Manager, a role he has held full-time for 15 months after participating in the Premier League, EFL and PFA's Professional Player to Coach Scheme.
As someone who has been there and done it, south-London born Kevin is a relatable role model for the club's current youngsters and the Sparrows Lane Academy has a rich history of producing talent, with graduates including Ezri Konsa, Joe Gomez, Jonjo Shelvey, Paul Konchesky and Scott Parker.
"I just want people to think, 'If Kev did it, maybe I can do it,'" Kevin tells VERSUS as part of the Premier League's No Room for Racism initiative.
"I share bits about my own playing journey, and I hope it inspires others, but I want them to be better than me and to achieve more than me.
"I want them to understand that they can do all of these great things. If you can grab onto that mindset within football or everyday life, the sky's the limit."
One player who Kevin has influenced is Brentford and Jamaica defender Ethan Pinnock while Kevin was a player-coach at Dulwich Hamlet.
"That is someone who didn't go professional until the age of 23," Kevin says. "Helping him on that journey and seeing the potential in him but also enabling him to see it within himself. That is what I want to continue to achieve in my coaching career.
"I think relatability in whatever way possible is key to making players feel like they belong and can be themselves. I am grateful I can do that for others.
"When I was a teenager, we shared facilities with the first team and I was fortunate to have role models around like Paul Mortimer, Shaun Newton and Keith Jones.
"They had great people skills and taught us a lot. Then the likes of Mark Bright and John Barnes joined the club and were influential to me."
Professional Player to Coach Scheme
The Professional Player to Coach Scheme forms part of one of the key pillars of the Premier League's No Room For Racism Action Plan. It is one of a number of programmes designed to improve pathways for coaches from under-represented backgrounds.
Run in partnership with the PFA and EFL, the Professional Player to Coach Scheme is designed to increase the number of Black, Asian and minority ethnic players, as well as women, who transition into coaching by offering participants a 23-month work placement within a professional club and personalised development plan.
Kevin, who was enrolled in the Professional Player to Coach Scheme in 2021, said: "It benefited me hugely. It was very insightful.
"The best parts for me were mostly away from the grass. Going to companies like Google, learning about leadership and how to have difficult conversations.
"It could not have come at a better time for me. I had spent a good time [working at semi-professional level] with Dulwich Hamlet before going on to Cray Valley Paper Mills, where we won the League and got to the FA Vase Final at Wembley.
"For me, it was about the next step into the professional game. Could I transfer what I know into an elite environment? I wanted to test myself."
Speaking of his future ambitions, Kevin adds: "I love coaching. You want to just help people reach their potential. That is what I constantly want to achieve.
"I would love to coach as high as possible. I believe I have a decent amount of knowledge and experience to be able to influence any environment. I would love to manage if that eventually came about."
