Jonathan Esmail - Paraeducator & Director of Athletics

Jon Esmail really had no idea what he was going to do with his life when he was growing up. He knew he loved sports, but that was about it. He had assumed that sports would take him beyond high school and would be his opportunity to get to college and beyond. What he didn't know was exactly how sports would the foundation for his career.

Jon began his post-high school career at Worcester State College, but didn't return to campus after suffering an on-field injury during his freshman year.

Having left his college program, Jon began his incredibly serendipitous path of going from being an assistant high school football coach and bar security to helping troubled kids in the classroom to now running the entire athletics department for the Hartford Police Athletic League. 

Listen to Jon give some incredible real-world advice on what life has been like for him since leaving Worcester State and how many incredible people have had some influence on his career and his life. 

This may not have been the journey that Jon expected to take back in 2001, but there is no question that he's impacted the lives of thousands of young men and women across CT in the last 2 decades.