Those Who Stay Will Be Champions - Chris Donovan

Those Who Stay Will Be Champions
2017 - ongoing

“1-2-3 Flint! 4-5-6 family!” echoes through the locker room of Flint Southwestern High. A sign above the entrance reads: “Those who stay will be champions.” The sign is a reminder of the basketball glory that the city of Flint, Michigan once enjoyed. It is also a challenge, one that invites students to fight to regain that historic culture of excellence.

Less than a decade ago, Flint was home to a fierce rivalry between four high school basketball teams. In the last 10 years, the city has witnessed the closure of all but one of its high schools as a result of inadequate funding fuelled by outmigration, systematic racism and an ongoing water crisis.

The Flint Jaguars were created in 2017, a year before Northwestern High permanently closed its doors and amalgamated with Southwestern. The new team marked the first time in nearly a century that a basketball team in the city simply wore the name “FLINT,” across their jerseys. It was an unintentionally symbolic gesture in a city that has had to unify for survival. Flint is a city that is more than a crisis. Fighting against the odds, the Flint Jaguars embody the heart and soul of the city.

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