Dad Ronnie Williams is the key influencer in Kai’s life. Ronnie is a long serving coach with the Coventry Godiva track and field club. His youngest son was always quick and an athletics career was just as possible as a life in football. To this day, Kai retains the club record for the fastest 100 metres for an U13 member. His club record show that in 2021 he ran 100 metres in 10.79 seconds in the Kettering Open Meeting. That’s barely a second slower than the world record of 9.58 (Usain Bolt). His brother Oshay is even quicker and has run for England. It’s a family affair. Dad Ronnie trained his older brother, his sister and more recently Kai’s nephew. Ronnie was famously (in Coventry) a contestant in the first series of Gladiators.
Kai was part of the Coventry City Academy, in the same year group as James Maddison. Running and footballing took a toll leading to too many injuries. At 15, Kai made a choice. He was going to be an athlete so he left the Academy. He played no football for 4 years instead running the 100 metres and striding our in the long jump at events across the Midlands.
At 19, he changed his mind. Now, he’d have to start playing from the bottom. He joined his local club Coventry United. From there, he moved up the ladder slowly. His 11 goals in 39 appearances at Step 3 village club Barwell got him noticed and AFC Telford signed him. “I offer instant speed” he told the Shropshire Star. Whilst at Barwell, he was racially abused during play. He reported the incident to the referee and a man was later charged, which made national newspaper headlines.
Based in Coventry, the 28-year-old new signing eschews social media so details overall remain scratchy. Kai was once described by the AFC Telford captain Adam Walker as “the fastest player I’ve ever played for or against”. He can play on either wing or as a central striker though played only on the left flank for Tamworth.
He’s not a regular goal scorer with just 8 goals over the last four years, with appearances varying between 20-26 per season over those four years. Certainly, injuries haven’t helped. He missed 3 months at Telford. Last season, his first ever in the National League he made 20 appearances, although 16 of these were as an impact sub.
Welcome to Edgar Street Kai.
