ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Choosing a career can be a difficult transition for my high school students. Student-athletes often have dreamed of a career on the field, but it’s a challenge to get there. Ja’hmel Brumfield understands the struggle.

“I played in high school and I played a little bit in college. And so with that career, I was able to gain a lot of knowledge that I could give back to these kids because they have the same dream that I do,” Brumfield said.

What You Need To Know

  • Changing the Community is a program for boys to play football as young as 5 years old

  • The Multi-Apprenticeship Preparation Program (M.A.P.P.) trains individuals to be well-rounded trade workers

  • A lot of skills used on the football field are making trades work an easy transition for players going into a new career

Going pro was always Brumfield’s goal, but it’s a feat only 2% of student-athletes achieve, according to the NCAA. That’s why Brumfield turned to coaching.

“What caused me to pull the trigger to really change gears in my life towards coaching was again seeing one of my kids get an offer,” he said. 

Brumfield coaches boys with the Changing the Community program in Rochester. Players are learning skills that can set them up for their future careers. 

“They can use those same values that we instilled in them because trying to go to college and everything sometimes that doesn’t work out for everybody, but the same value that you did in the football field, you can apply those to your training techniques and you’ll be able to make a lot of money out of it,” he explained.

Brumfield started learning a career in trades work at the Multi-Apprenticeship Preparation Program after he retired. 

“It’s all hands-on. You come here and you learn the basic things like safety and just what the things are, their names and what they do,” Brumfield explained.

He says it was an easy transition thanks to his years on the football field.

“It’s just crazy to think that I really do that every five, 10 minutes. You get a good workout, though,” He said. 

Strength, strategy and teamwork are just a few skills he’s re-using in his career in printing.

“That is easy for us football players to find joy in trades because you're always moving, you're always doing something even every day, even if you're in a factory where you have the same order every day, there's still something going on where you have to do something different," Brumfield explained. 

That’s why he’s encouraging all of his players to consider a career in trades if a life on the football field doesn’t work out for them after high school. 

“I already have all of my players lined up to funnel right into the program as soon as they do or don’t graduate college because you can, I feel like everybody should go to college just to try it out. Especially if we give you the opportunity to go for free, but you know, it’s not for everybody. Trade school is something that can actually have you in the manufacturing world and working and making a real living wage before a lot of your peers,” he said.