Detroit Henry Ford Trojans debuted their "neighborhood" jerseys this past Tuesday in Public School League action. Thought the school is located on Evergreen and Trojan on Detroit's westside, the alternate jerseys read, "Seven Mile 7 Evergreen" across the front.
“People didn’t understand the concept behind the jersey,” said Flowers. “Some people were saying negative things about how the school is not on Seven Mile, it’s closer to Evergreen, it’s ghetto, and typical stuff they didn’t do research on.”
Even after 12 years, the schools Athletic Director and Head Coach Ken Flowers is still breaking rival barriers that he once supported. Flowers played and coached for Henry Ford's rivals, the Detroit's Redford Huskies, where he won multiple city and state championships. Since Redford closed, Flowers has come up with different ways to bridge the rival neighborhoods after the schools merged.
Mirroring the NBA's Nike-branded 'City Edition' uniforms, where teams wear a unique jersey to represent that cities culture. “I’m always watching the NBA and college, looking to do something innovative with my program’s uniforms,” said Flowers. “A couple of years ago, we were the first ones to wear short-sleeved jerseys. The NBA came out with the Nike City jerseys and I wanted to do something for the school. Some alumni came with some extra money for new jerseys and I came up with the idea to honor the neighborhood that has been so good to my kids and my program.”