State Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham), an attorney representing a Hoover High School football player who was seen on video being mistreated in practice, is claiming the school mishandled the incident on multiple fronts.
Although the coaches, Drew Gilmer and Adam Helms, resigned not long after videos surfaced of coaches exhibiting questionable behavior with their players on two separate occasions, Givan says Hoover High School "did drop the ball." She criticized school leadership for not taking action to make things right with the players and families involved.
“Listen, they did drop the ball," Givan said on Birmingham radio's "Alabama's Morning News with JT." "And it's a very unfortunate situation. You know, and not only did they drop the ball, JT, this is the thing that bothers me, I think more so than anything. The superintendent not one time has sent a letter or anything, reached out to these two students to even just simply say, 'This is a bad situation. We apologize. We are working through this.' Whether they take or accept blame or not, that in itself is bothersome to myself, as well as to some other parents that are out there."
"So let me just say this," she added. "Listen, these are kids. As an educator, you know, I represent educators. I represent the Alabama Education Association. I had to even get permission to take this case. That's number one. But the realization is it's just so egregious in what happened and the handling of it that there's nothing else to do but for us to take action. And we should not even be here in this place because there should have been a discussion had by now to try to bring this thing to a complete resolve and move forward for the betterment of the children."
According to Givan, Hoover High School was negligent because Gilmer, who was in his first season with Hoover after a seven-year stint at Clay-Chalkville High School, had other run-ins and problems before his hiring. She described the situation as a "public embarrassment on the Hoover City Schools system.
"[W]hat was done and how it was handled was wrong," she declared.
“They crossed the line," Givan continued. "And lastly, if they had been college students, if they had been college students, you think a coach would grab a college football player, throw him to the ground, or bring, pull his face to his private penal area, and then thrust it back and forth? Heck no."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email trent.baker@1819news.com.
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