The controversy and anger surrounding girls on the Splendora High School softball teams being given jerseys that say “I achieved failure” continues.
On Wednesday, KPRC 2 Investigates’ Bill Spencer sat down and interviewed both the superintendent and the athletic director, head of all sports programs for Splendora ISD, about just what is going on here.
The first question to superintendent Jeff Burke is, “what would you do if your own daughter came home wearing one of these shirts? Would you say, ‘That’s fine. You go ahead, and wear it?’”
“If I understood the intention and the meaning behind it,” said Dr. Burke.
In a statement to KPRC 2 Investigates, softball coach Jamie Henk explained what the phrase means.
“We have reached the desired level of effort that showed us our mistakes. We welcome the opportunity to learn from our mistakes.”
So, just what does that mean?
“From what I can understand, that is really a message about constantly working hard to achieve your best...and in no way, and I want to be clear about this, did I think that it was an intentional way to demean our kids,” said Burke.
Deana Eubanks is the Athletic Director at Splendora ISD.
We asked her about the shirts.
“Miss Eubanks, did you sign off on these shirts before they were handed out to the girls?” asked KPRC 2′s Bill Spencer.
“So, there’s an approval process that we go through. I did not know what the shirts said, but I signed the approval for the shirts to be ordered, yes,” said Eubanks.
And finally the most important question...
What about the girls and how they feel?
Will they have to wear these jerseys?
“Are these girls going to be forced to wear this shirt or not?” Bill Spencer asked.
”I think force is a very strong word. There’s actually a lot of girls who want to wear the shirt. They’ve contacted Coach Henk and said, ‘We love the shirts, we want to wear the shirt,’” Eubanks added.
