Alvin James is a retired Jamaican-American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played professionally in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

and National Professional Soccer League. He coaches youth soccer in South Florida.

Youth

Born in Jamaica, James moved to South Florida with his family as a young boy. He grew up playing soccer with the U-19 Lauderhill Lions FC winning 2 State Championships in 1984 and 1985. In 1985, James graduated from

Boyd Anderson High School Boyd H. Anderson High School (also called "Boyd Anderson", or "B.A."), is a suburban public high school located in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. It is a part of Broward County Public Schools. Boyd H. Anderson serves: all of Lauderdale Lakes, and p ...

. He attended

UNC-Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

, playing on the Spartans 1985 and 1986 NCAA Men's Division III Soccer National Championship Team. He transferred to

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

where he completed his collegiate career with the Golden Panthers in 1987 and 1988 and graduated with a degree in Economics. James later went on to sign with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers professional soccer team winning a National Championship in 1989.

Professional

In 1989, James turned professional when he signed with the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

of the American Soccer League. That season, the Strikers won the league championship. James played for the Strikers in 1990 and 1991. On October 31, 1991, James signed with the

Illinois Thunder The Illinois Thunder were an indoor soccer club (based in Rockford, Illinois) that competed in the National Professional Soccer League. After the 1991/92 season, the team became the Denver Thunder Denver () is a consolidated city and cou ...

of the National Professional Soccer League, but tore the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in his right knee in February 1992. He had reconstructive surgery on May 19, 1992, and lost the entire 1992 outdoor season.James’ Knee in Shape After Long Recovery
/ref> He came back and played for the Strikers in 1993.

Coach

James coached for the Weston Soccer Club from 1999- 2011 winning 4 State Championships for the Club putting them on the map as a viable and competitive club Nationally. The club was then awarded Academy Status where he coached the 1993/1994 U-16 squad. Many players under James garnered athletic scholarships most notable where Alejandro Bedoya, Scotty Campbell, and Jean Alexander. James then went on to coach American Heritage School (Delray Beach, Florida) winning another 3 State Championships. He left

Weston FC Weston FC is a soccer club in Weston, Florida competing in the USL League Two. They are also one of the largest soccer clubs in the country for youth soccer. The club was founded in 1998 as a youth soccer club. They have approximately 1,100 pla ...

and coached at West Pines United for 2 years from 2011-2013 before starting and becoming the DOC of his own club, Miramar United Elite FC in Miramar Florida in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Alvin Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1988–89) players American Professional Soccer League players FIU Panthers men's soccer players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) players Illinois Thunder players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players UNC Greensboro Spartans men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Year of birth missing (living people) Soccer players from Broward County, Florida High school soccer coaches in the United States People from Mandeville, Jamaica Sportspeople from Manchester Parish