The Harlem Jets: 20 Years of Brotherhood

In 2025, the Harlem Jets celebrated its 20th anniversary season. (photo by BL Harewood)

In Harlem, at the heart of New York, lies a pee-wee football powerhouse that is providing the foundation for the next generation. On the field, young boys are learning how to play the game of football. Off the field, they are learning how to play the game of life.

In 2005, Jamel Wright founded the Harlem Jets, hoping to create an opportunity for his son, Jamel Wright, Jr., and other inner city children to grow and develop beyond the gridiron. This year, the Jets are celebrating their 20th anniversary season. 

“I’ve just been trying to keep continuing the work that the 20 years snuck up on me,” said Wright. “I wouldn’t have known it was 20 years if someone else hadn’t told me. The work is just that important.”

The recipe behind the team’s longevity, Wright says, is his motto: Jets Equal Total Success. He believes the total success of his players looks like them doing well athletically, academically, socially, and being all-around, quality young men.

“We’re able to accomplish so much with so little,” says Wright.

Take practice for example. At the corner of 124th and 2nd, parents walk their children across the street to a bus stop where about 100 youngsters (ages 5-13) squeeze onto two yellow school buses to get to and from practice. And two times a week, all the players practice on one field.

“Everywhere else the community makes sure the kids have a safe place to play, but unfortunately here in Harlem, because there are so many things going on, we have to turn [a] little patch of grass into heaven.”

Nonetheless, the program has evolved beyond Wright’s initial vision. Offering SAT Prep, academic tutoring, and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) training, it has shepherded thousands of kids to and through college. 

What started out as a way to keep kids off the streets has now become a brotherhood and the early beginnings for professional athletes, doctors, lawyers, and those in-between.

“The beauty of our program is that I think we’ve done an amazing job at developing good character guys,” said Wright. “We establish what the standards and expectations are and we hold our guys accountable, giving [them] the tools in [their] toolbox to accomplish the mission.”

One of those good character guys he referred to was Harrison Donaldson, whose journey with the Jets began as a seven-year-old in 2010, and is now coaching the seven-and-under age group. 

“I got a lot of brothers out of this,” said Donalson. “I’m back to coach because the same family I had as a kid, I want to continue for the rest of the kids in Harlem and keep continuing to grow and build this community.”

While somewhat reminiscent of the past, Donalson, a recent Howard University graduate, feels he has a brand new perspective on what he experienced over a decade ago. He now understands the bigger picture: 

“We’re trying to get kids to see what they can be, maximize their potential, and give them the tools to really do the best that they can do,” he said. “There [are] certain characteristics that you won’t just take onto the football field, but that you'll take into the office, into the classroom, in every aspect of life.”

When he is coaching, he sees how the little ones are now and where they could be going.

“They’re acting like normal seven-year-olds,” said Donaldson. “They’re complaining, crying, asking to use the bathroom, all that type of stuff. But I see the future for these kids,” he continued.

“I know that as long as these kids trust the process, continue to listen to us [coaches] and their parents, do well in school, they’re going to turn out better than I did.”

Dwayne Seabrooks has a front-row seat to that very process. Since joining the Jets last fall, he has seen the impact the team is having on his son, Daniel.

“I like the way they show the kids how to prepare for a game and to prepare for life,” he said.

“[Daniel’s] played for other organizations before, but we came here and he looked around and said, ‘Dad, this is home, this is where I want to be.’” 

“It made me feel very very proud and comfortable bringing him here,” said Seabrooks. 

After presenting Daniel’s report card for registration, watching him gravitate towards his teammates, and meeting the role model coaches serving as positive influences, it became clear to the elder Seabrooks that, “It was a perfect fit.”

That peace of mind has allowed his son, who plays quarterback and linebacker, to do what he loves best: tackling, scoring touchdowns, and celebrating. But as a father, does Dwayne Seabrooks actually see this program shaping his son into a young man?

“Absolutely,” he says. “Absolutely.”

The Harlem Jets are for kids like Daniel, who simply just want a place to play the sport they love. But it is through football that they learn what matters most: how to win in life.