By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
The B12P Bearcats Football 12U team, a Southwestern Washington Youth Football Program in Vancouver, has surged to the number two ranking on the West Coast and is currently ranked 13th in the nation. Leading this talented team is Coach Jamar Howard, a former professional football player who has transitioned his athletic knowledge into a coaching philosophy focused on discipline, leadership, and character development.
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Howard had a successful collegiate football career at the University of Cincinnati, where he earned a degree in International Law and Business. He went on to play professionally in the NFL, CFL, and Arena Football League (AFL) before settling in the Pacific Northwest after finishing his career with the Portland Thunder.
“I ended my football career playing arena here with the Portland Thunder in the AFL, and I just loved it here,” says Howard. “I’m from a really bad place. There are some people who think Seattle is bad, and I try telling them, nah, not even close. I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio, and like Chicago and Detroit, it’s really bad. I just knew I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to be away, and I wanted to focus on growing my family in a better place, and I feel like this is a great place to raise a family.”
Howard is a firm believer in how sports, especially football, can mold young men into productive men, and his coaching philosophy focuses on values like discipline, teamwork, and leadership—traits he works to pass on to his players.
“Knowing the assignment, studying your opponent, being disciplined, doing your job — those are the basics I teach,” explains Howard. “Because if you don’t do your job, you’re going to mess up somebody else, ‘cause they’re going to have to try to take on your job.”
Howard stresses the importance of his players understanding the level of excellence they’re competing at.
“I try to teach our kids that none of the other teams play like us,” says Howard. “I try to tell them [that they’re on an] elite level. Everything y’all do is going to be under a magnifying glass because y’all are the best, so you’ve got to live your life to be the best you can be.”
For many parents, sports serve as an outlet for their children to build friendships, stay active, and avoid trouble. However, Howard believes football can offer much more—mentorship, a value system, and even pathways to higher education, especially for kids who might not otherwise see college as a possibility.
“We are just trying to build something for these youth to be able to reach their goals in life,” says Howard. “I just want them to be successful young men in this world, you know, that’s basically it.”
Howard’s 12U team is performing at a high level at this moment. With standouts like team captain Daeshaun Washington and offensive and defensive lineman Kaleo Tovo, the Bearcats are loaded with naturally talented athletes, and it is showing on the field. Washington says that he loves the game because it challenges him to prepare both mentally and physically, and he is optimistic about the future of his team as the season progresses.
“This is a great team,” says Washington. “We have a lot of leaders on our team, and I see our team going far into the postseason.”
Howard agrees with the assessment and says that his team is a tough matchup for opponents.
“We are very physical, and I have some great skill position talent on this team,” says Howard. “My receiver corps is amazing. My defense at every position is amazing. I have some great running backs, but I have so many running backs it’s crazy.”
“I have a great quarterback that’s a leader, does his job, and manages the team well,” continued Howard. “My line — they’re young. I have two on my line that are 12 years of age and the rest are 11, but they do their job, and we’re really big for a 12U team. Really big.”
As any team experiences success, challenges inevitably arise, and Howard’s Bearcats are no different. Washington identified both his personal challenges and the team’s areas for growth.
“As a player, my challenges, or what I need to work on, is to be more consistently physical in play,” says Washington. “Defense is my strength — playing defensive back and locking people down. I am good at shutting down opponents, and I have good hands. My teammates are disciplined, aggressive, and talented.”
Whether it’s through sports or another conduit, Howard believes it is important for Black men to establish organizations and involve themselves in leadership roles that are designed to help mold and grow young Black boys into productive Black men.
“I think it’s very, very important [to mentor young males],” says Howard. “I had a lot of friends that didn’t have dads, and a lot of them just didn’t have that structure at home or just that person to be able to look up to, to know how it is to be a man and understand that taking care of family is important and doing what you’re supposed to do is important.”
“I feel like us being Black males and in a youth organization or a community is really big because a lot of these kids look up to us,” added Howard. “A lot of these kids don’t have a dad, or they are not present. So, I’m just trying to do the best I can to just basically help them become better men at the end of the day.”
