Jesse Rosen is the Coaching Director for the CJ Brown Foundation. Outside of his time with the Foundation, he is also the Men’s Soccer Head Coach at Malcolm X College, a position he’s held since 2014.

 

His background in soccer, coaching skills, and connections with many young soccer players serves as an excellent resource for the Foundation to find coaches who can bring their talents to CJBF’s programs and remain connected to their communities.  

 

Rosen grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his father taught him to play soccer. As he was growing up, he played soccer for a local Italian soccer club. Both of Rosen’s parents were educators and extremely involved in social justice movements, so teaching and giving back to others has always been a significant part of his life.

 

Rosen eventually attended the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut, where he continued his soccer career. After graduation, he played professional indoor soccer with the Milwaukee Wave. “As I was going through my journey as a player, being able to help other people get the same opportunities I had and provide as a positive role model for kids was always in the back of my mind,” Rosen said.

 

From there, Rosen continued his coaching career. “There are universal languages,” Rosen said. “There’s math, music, love, and soccer being one of those. I think anywhere you go in the world, it doesn’t matter if you don’t speak the same language, but you can kind of connect in those ways.” From his experience in high school helping soccer star and fellow Minnesotan, Jimmy Banks, with his Soccer in the Streets program to coaching a wide variety of clubs and teams, Rosen’s passion for soccer and giving back to others remained strong. “I’ve always looked at sports as a way to bring people together and serve the public in some ways; whether it’s through exercise or a lot of the social benefits that come through participation in sports, the friendship, different experiences you have, learning to compete, learning to be resilient, learning to also fail and be a good sport. I think there are countless valuable lessons you learn about life through playing soccer,” he said.

 

Eventually, Rosen connected with CJ Brown, and, after years of discussion, the two were able to work together to begin the first CJ Brown Foundation soccer program at Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Bronzeville, Chicago. “CJ is just a great, honest person. Lots of people say lots of things and throw ideas around, but he’s always had a reputation for just being a standup person and a man of his word,” Rosen said.

 

As Rosen and Brown worked to develop programming, they remained intentional in their efforts to offer new opportunities to as many individuals as possible, including young men from local communities. “We both thought it would be a good idea to offer opportunities to a lot of the guys that were on my team [at Malcolm X] to get some coaching education and learn how to coach,” Rosen said. “It’s a way for them to work within the game, pursue other opportunities, and also give back to the communities that they come from. Having coaches that are from those areas definitely helps with the work that we do. The kids see that you’re invested in actually getting to know them and working with them, and it definitely feels good for them.”

 

As he looks ahead, Rosen is optimistic about the Foundation’s future and hopeful that it will continue to grow. As a lifelong learner who’s classroom is on the soccer field, he plans to carry on with his coaching career and giving back to others. “I just love being able to transmit all the knowledge that I’ve been able to gain to other people, and then see what they do with it,” Rosen said. “I think that’s the coolest thing in the world, to teach someone, show someone something, and see how they make it their own.”