Lauren James, a striker for England, says she wants to become recognized as more than “Reece James’ sister” at this summer’s World Cup.
The 21-year-old Chelsea star frequently has her name associated with that of her elder brother, Reece James who also represents England in international competition.
“Even just ‘that’s Lauren James, that’s Reece’s sister’,” she said.
“But I want to carve out [my own name] and be known as ‘this is Lauren James’.”
James added: “At the moment, men’s football has a lot bigger profile and I’m sure there are times when I’ve said ‘oh, that’s so and so’s sister’, I think it’s just natural.
“But it doesn’t bother me too much because I know I have my own career.”
The World Cup, which begins on July 20, will provide James the opportunity to become the first member of her family to win a major international competition as she was not part in the Lionesses’ victory at Euro 2022. Despite this, she claims there is not much sibling rivalry with her brother.
“To be fair I think he’d just be proud. We’re just like best friends,” she said.
“His advice was just to enjoy it [the World Cup], have fun, try and score goals.”
James earned a spot in the Lionesses team after helping Chelsea win a third straight domestic double last season.
She said that missing out on Euro 2022 had strengthened her resolve to ensure that she boarded the plane to Australia.
“Watching it, going to the final last summer [as a fan], it obviously made me feel more like ‘I want to make sure I’m there’ this summer, and it gave me a bit more motivation and hunger,” she said.
“I’d like to feel the same as what they felt last summer.”
James played a starring role in England’s victory in the Arnold Clark Cup, an invitational tournament, where she scored her first international goal and she says she is enjoying playing under manager Sarina Wiegman.
“She’s been brilliant with me, she’s just allowed me to express myself and not tried to change me, which obviously plays a massive role because it allows you to just play freely and have confidence,” she said.
“I’m just someone who always wants to just play football so I try not to let the external noise get to me, I like to stay grounded.”
The former Manchester United player says she is relishing learning from the experienced players in the squad, such as Barcelona defender Lucy Bronze.
“I just like to keep learning and [listen to] what advice [Lucy] has and the other experienced players [too] – how she conducts herself, within training and within games,” said James.
