James took over the training of Herne Hill Harriers Middle Distance Squad in December 2002 after the previous Coach,Ollie Wright who he assisted,moved to the North of England.Having had individual success within the squad with 3 or 4 getting to English Schools Finals each year , the rest of the squad developed rapidly over the next few years winning several Surrey County titles,South Of England and National Titles. IN 2011 Katie Snowden, his top Athlete at the time, made it to the finals of the 800m at the World Youth in Lille, France. She was a European Youth Olympic Trials finalist in Moscow and then won the Commonwealth Youth games on the Isle of Man. Shortly after that James was diagnosed with a terrible illness but kept going for the sake of his family and Middle Distance squad. The squad have since won many age group Championships as well as individual titles on the Track, Road and Cross Country with several of his athletes making up the bulk of Herne Hill Harriers teams, winning County, South Of England and National Titles. James was voted Wandsworth Coach of the year in 2008,England Athletics London Regional Development Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2013.In 2015 Wandsworth Active awarded James with an award for his Contribution to Sports.