Jamaine's early life in London consisted
of hanging outside his block of flats in Brixton doing what most young boys
would do. Run the street and get into fights, smoke weed, drink his
"go-to" drink Thunderbird and play football anywhere he could. Life
was good.
At the age of 18, he landed his dream
job at Brixton Recreation Centre but soon discovered that apart from their
infamous swimming pool, there were little to no programs available to
youth.
Jamaine set up football training and
overall became the go-to man with the youths at the centre, (many of which
still approach him to sing his praises today whenever they cross paths.)
Although he helped to put legions of
young men on the right path, it was at 23 when Jamaine became a father to his
own son that sat down and had a more in-depth think about his own.
Passionate about becoming a decent
provider for his family, he made the jump to Peckham Pulse Sports Centre.
Throughout his decade spent there, he helped set up the SE15 walk-in for the
youths of Peckham. As well as organised and encouraged youth to take part in
activities and took time to talk about the problems they faced day-to-day.
At Peckham Pulse, he went from a
lifeguard to management before moving to Elephant and Castle Sports Center to
run two more small centre's. But eventually parted ways to pursue his personal
training qualifications and start his own business.
When pressed Jamaine is quick to credit
the decision to follow his heart with fitness and become his own boss as being
one of the best things he's done in my life.
With his innate abilities and experience
as an outstanding leader operating at max, he worked harder than ever. He made
himself proud, all who he trained with and his family rather than empathetic
big corporations he'd known from the past.
He swapped his love of football for
mixed martial arts and loved every moment. He competed around the world and
with fellow athletes from the scene set up a team called Bandogs MMA, of which
he was the head coach. In that time Jamaine trained around 500 people on MMA.
After retiring from his own stint
competing, he went on to training fights for other athletes in India and around
the world. He travelled to Thailand twice a year to train for a couple of
months at a time and counts the discipline he leant as helping him come through
tough times such as 2020 lockdown.
But before this year, one of his
greatest achievements that deserves mention and a heap of respect is the
outreach program he put in place 'Hands up Guns Down.' Drawing from the
discipline that's fuelled his success, Jamaine brought in men, women, boys and
girls off the street and out of gangs, drink, drugs etc and into MMA. He
changed and won many minds back, as well as inspired them to live great lives
and even some to compete for the club.
Jamaine's
firm beliefs to treat people the way he would like to be treated have been the
force behind his sucesses. He's constantly put out positive energy and pushed
others to check themselves daily and not be scared to adjust what needs to
change. Ater that, he's influenced many to find their purpose for life and not
just exist. To find true happiness and lastly to not give up.
It
might sound like a lot, but in the end, he's only just warming up.
"I didn't choose this, the
situation chose the guys and me. The big notoriety we're recieving around the
world is surreal but it's a good thing. It's integral to make a mark in the
world with the right changes and helping people unite against systematic racism.
I hope the movement inspires people from
all walks of life to change the way they see things and do things. To not just
ignore it but to act on things that are completely wrong."
Jamainie
concludes "I've always been working in the community off my own back and
the first one sent in to help, and that's not going to change. There’s other
people out there doing it, but I hope
with our platform and throughout United to Change and Inspire to teach others
that privilege doesn't mean you're above anyone. It doesn't mean that you get
away with a thing that others would not. The most important thing for me is to
bring fairness and a better future for all."