A team photo for a Texas girls high school squad has landed the program’s coach in hot water because of the gestures made by his players in front of him.
As reported by North Texas Fox affiliate KDFW, the Rockwall-Heath (Texas) girls soccer team is temporarily without its head coach, Marco Duran, following a photo in which he is shown with raised arms behind his players, all of whom are flipping off the camera.
The photo quickly circulated across social media, eventually landing in the accounts of Heath administrators. Those officials reportedly moved quickly to place Duran on administrative leave with pay. The school district has given no indication of how long that leave with continue.
Meanwhile, local residents and parents expressed general outrage about the picture and the adult responsible for the students who took part in it.
“Not acceptable at all,” Rockwall resident Jose Lopez told KDFW. “Is that the coach in the back?
“They’re representing the community as well as themselves. That’s unacceptable. Looking at that, I wouldn’t even want my daughter to go to Heath if that’s the kind of staff they have.”