Tajio James (born 17 December 2003) is a
Barbadian footballer who plays as a
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 ...
for the
Central Arkansas Bears
The Central Arkansas Bears and Sugar Bears represent the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in NCAA Division I's Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA football) as a member of the ASUN Conference. The athletic program is supported b ...
and the
Barbados national team.
Club career
As a youth James was part of the KFC Pinelands Football Academy and Pro Shottas United. With the latter he won a number of youth titles.
For the
2020 Barbados Premier League
The 2020 Barbados Premier League is the 75th season of the Barbados Premier League, the top division football competition in Barbados. The season began on 1 February 2020. The season was suspended on 17 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
T ...
season he was part of the youth movement at
UWI Blackbirds FC
UWI Blackbirds FC, is a Barbados association football club based in Cave Hill, Saint Michael, Barbados. The team is the football division of the UWI Blackbirds athletic program. In 2016, the team won their first Premier Division title.
Honours ...
.
He scored his first two Premier League goals on 3 March 2020 in a 4–0 victory over
Brittons Hill FC.
In August 2021 it was announced that James and fellow-Barbadian
Devonte Richards had received a scholarship to play
college soccer
College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...
in the United States for the Golden Eagles of
Feather River College
Feather River College (FRC) is a community college in Quincy, California. The school serves an annual full-time enrolled student body of approximately 1,500 students.
History
Feather River College was established in 1968 to support the need f ...
.
During his first season with the team, James tallied nine assists and a team-high thirteen goals as Feather River College won the
CCCAA
The California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) is a sports association of community colleges in the U.S. state of California. It oversees 108 athletic programs throughout the state. The organization was formed in 1929 as the Calif ...
Golden Valley Conference Championship.
Late in the season he was leading the conference in both goals and points.
Following his sophomore season, James was named to the second team of the
United Soccer Coaches
The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...
2022 Junior College Division III All-America Team.
In April 2023 it was announced that James had transferred to
NCAA Division 1
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
school
Central Arkansas University
The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only ...
to play for the
Bears
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the North ...
.
International career
James represented Barbados as a youth at the U15 and U17 levels,
including three appearances in the
2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship
The 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (19th edition if all eras included), the men's under-17 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in the United States betw ...
.
He received his first senior call-up by head coach
Russell Latapy
Russell Nigel Latapy CM (born 2 August 1968) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant coach of Macarthur. In a senior career which spanned more than twenty years at b ...
in February 2021.
He was called up again for the
2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League B
The 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League B is the second division of the 2022–23 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the second season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations ...
.
James went on to make his senior international debut on 2 June 2022 in Barbados's opening match against
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...
.
James scored his first senior international goal in a 1–1
friendly draw with
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
on 22 February 2023.
Two days later he scored two more goals in another draw with the same opponent.
International goals
''Scores and results list Barbados's goal tally first.''
International career statistics
References
External links
*
*
Feather River College profile*
BFA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Tajio
Living people
2003 births
Barbadian footballers
Men's association football midfielders
People from Bridgetown