The Can Bou Play Foundation is elated to announce that founder Julius James has joined David Beckham’s new MLS team, Inter Miami CF as an academy coach.
Born and bred in Maloney, the rugged defender has made the United States his home for the past decade and a half and will now call Miami his new base of operates after accepting the position at the MLS expansion franchise.
“I am extremely excited to join such an international brand and I know that this is a blessing from God,” James told Can Bou Play Media.
“Promotion cometh not from the east, nor west, but from God. No good thing would He withhold from those who love God.”
James spent the last eighteen months at NPSL outfit Motown FC before signing on to join MLS’ newest club.
As a brand new organization, Inter Miami CF is being built from the ground up and will make their long awaited MLS debut in 2020. They have already signed Argentine youth international duo Matias Pelligrini and Julian Carranza and Venezuela Under-20 captain Christian Makoun as their first ever players.
Also no stranger to the MLS, James spent many years representing the likes of Toronto FC, DC United, Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew. He was also a member of the T&T National Under-17 team that hosted the 2001 FIFA Under-17 World Cup and has notched up sixteen caps for the senior national team.
This long, accomplished career, coupled with a catalogue of coaching badges and a keen aptitude for developing that coaching trade since his university days, has proven to be stepping stones towards his new role at Inter Miami according to James.
“This opportunity came through a chain of events that only God could have planned and made come through.”
“It all started way back when, when I was now leaving St Anthony’s. The same person who was instrumental in me coming to the US on scholarship back then, is the same person who is sporting director at Inter Miami now. That’s Paul McDonough.“
“He has always been a mentor to me and I reached out to him recently to get his advice on some things as I’m transitioning more into coaching and life after playing and it just so happened that he also had this opportunity at the same time."
The former national defender views this new opportunity as a bonus to Can Bou Play in the long run. The Foundation is centered on using football as a tool to promote positive change through inclusion, education and mentorship and as such, James believes that he is blessed to be associated with two organizations of similar philosophies.
“For Can Bou Play (CBP) it’s extremely significant because as we the founding fathers grow in our personal careers, so will the organization.”
“Part of the mission statement at Inter Miami CF is to provide opportunity for the people of South Florida to pursue their dreams and realize their potential across all aspects of their lives. We will embrace and strive to lead the futbol with humility, passion, innovation, and inclusivity.“
“Seems to me that IMCF’s mission statement aligns with CBP’s and it’s really blessed and refreshing to have all that positivity around me personally. Through my own personal growth, I can lend greater experience to CBP.”
“We want to reach to a point where CBP grows by itself, where our members, the kids that we mentored and the communities we go in to, start planting back and giving back in to where they came from.“
“Our blessings are not supposed to stop at us. They are to flow through us, to others.”
James also made it clear that he has not formally retired from playing but his role at Inter Miami and his responsibilities as social development director at Can Bou Play will take precedence for the immediate future.
SOURCE: canbouplayfoundation.com