Flint schools sports teams are now the Jaguars

FLINT—The Flint team. The teal and black. The Jaguars. 

Flint Community Schools’ newly unified high school sports teams will be called the Jaguars, athletic director Jamie Foster said Monday.

Flanked by the coaching staff—including legendary hometown talents Cory Hightower as basketball coach and former Washington Redskins player Chris Wilson as football coach—Foster delivered the news during an end-of-year celebration honoring outstanding commitment by Flint Community Schools educators, staff, and volunteers.
 

Foster was tapped earlier this year to lead the citywide sports teams. Foster was lured back to the school district to serve, although he retired in 2015 after 30 years in Flint Community Schools as a teacher and coach.

“Next year, for the purpose of athletics, there is no Northwestern and Southwestern: There is north campus and south campus,” Foster said.

Long-time Flint Central football coach Joe Eufinger praised Superintendent Bilal Tawwab for the innovative decision to combine the two high schools’ sports programs. The school board approved the move in April and the teams will combine starting in this upcoming fall season. 

“We’re all in this together,” Eufinger said. “We’re coming back.” 

Flint Community Schools previously had unveiled an example of the new uniforms, which feature a cool teal with black letters and numbers and a simple, yet bold “Flint” printed across the front. 

The Education Foundation for the Flint Community Schools hosted its second annual Excellence in Education Annual Awards on Monday at the Flint Farmers’ Market. Five educators were honored for their commitment to leadership, innovation, students, literacy and lifetime achievement. The athletic update came at the end of the awards ceremony.

“We are all now one,” said George Wilkinson, chair of the Educational Foundation. “We are one heart, one court, one mind, and one mindset. (We are) the Flint Jaguars going forward.”

Check back at Flintside for a story coming soon on the award winners.