Coaching Madison's Youth - Jerreh Kujabi

For Black History Month, we wanted to talk to talk to influential Black folks in our community who have had a positive impact on our community. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Jerreh Kujabi, who has been involved with Capital East Soccer Club for about 8 years now, so we spoke to him about how he got involved with coaching and how he has been able to help Madison youths grow on and off the pitch.

Can you introduce yourself and talk about your role with Cap East?

My name is Jerreh Kujabi. I’m originally from The Gambia in West Africa. I moved to Wisconsin about 21 years ago. Prior to that, I lived in New York City for about 3 and a half years. My involvement with soccer has been just born out of passion. I’ve played soccer myself since I was 4 years old and once my daughter started to run around, I got her introduced to it. Luckily, I was introduced to the current registrar [of Capital East Soccer Club], Gina, and her second-youngest is about the same age as my daughter. We met up at kinder soccer and became friends, and she recruited me to coach soccer when our kids were in kindergarten. So I’ve coached on and off, but I’ve been involved throughout those years with Cap East.

Was coaching something you always wanted to do, or was there a specific moment that led you to it?

I have always been passionate about soccer. I played soccer myself here in Wisconsin in the First Division League and when I got a little old, I quit that and played in the over-40s league for a couple of years. About 4 years ago, I quit playing competitive soccer and just did indoor pickup. We have a very large Gambian population here in Madison, I don’t know if you knew that, that have different level teams that I have coached  outside of Cap East itself, so it’s always been a passion of mine.

Do you think soccer can be used to have a positive impact on the Madison community?

I think so. I, myself, have gotten to meet a lot of families over the years and we have developed a lifetime friendship. I don’t know if that would have happened outside of soccer. Those relationships, I’ll cherish forever. So I think it can be a good thing in the community, and [the sport] continues to grow from back when I first got here to what it is today! In addition to the sport itself expanding, the relationships that you build along the way are invaluable.

Capital East is one of our partners with the Flock Soccer Fund because you have programs that make soccer programs accessible for families regardless of their financial status. How much of a benefit do you think it is to those families and kids?

A lot - I think it is really beneficial. The other thing that I really like about what they did at the end of the season was the equipment swap. I believe that, in addition to the funds that [The Flock Soccer Fund] provides and the fundraising that Cap East itself does, programs like that help a lot of people that, I think, would probably not have been engaged in this sport without that. 

I think it helps kids grow overall, in all aspects of their life. Being a coach, sometimes when you move up a level and you get a completely different set of kids, you would see maybe two kids that would come to their first practice and keep to themselves, but before you know it in a couple of practice sessions, it’s like they’ve known each other forever. Even kids that are introverts, if you will. On the pitch, they open up, goof off, they play around - quite different from the first or second day when they got to a practice session. And you can watch them grow over the course of a season overall as individuals, not just around the game itself. So I think there are other benefits in addition to just the physical activity. 

You’ve talked a little bit right at the top that you were born into soccer culture. Can you talk a little bit about what made you fall in love with soccer to begin with?

It’s one of the biggest games on my side of the world. We don’t have baseball in my country, I didn’t know about football until I came to the United States. Soccer is something that you would find kids doing as soon as they’re able to walk. You almost see it everywhere. We have basketball, but it’s not a game that is really huge, not even at the national level. But soccer is at all levels. 

When you were growing up, was there a specific player that you wanted to be when you were playing with your friends? 

Oh yes! There was a player who played either at [World Cup] Mexico ‘86 or Italy ‘90. The player that I really, really loved to [pretend to] be as a kid was called Roger Milla, he was a Cameroonian forward, I don’t know if you know who he is. I remember watching Cameroon games. The next day, everything he did I would try to do! So I grew up really idolizing that guy.

When you look back at how many people you’ve helped, is there a moment in particular that you’re most proud of?

I would say, those after-game gatherings. Either as a team, going to grab food, organizing a team barbeque maybe on a weekend, where the families could come to meet. Just those gatherings are my favorite. It’s just another way of building the community and bringing people together. 

Is there anything you’re excited to get to do in the future?

Youth soccer in Wisconsin has grown tremendously over the last couple of years, and I want to spend time continuing that growth of the game. As far as me, directly, I haven’t coached in the past 3 years because of last year with COVID and all that. I am still assistant coach of my daughter’s club - Cap East Maroons. I would like to continue doing that for the foreseeable future.