Do the HS kids wear varsity letter jackets where you are?

[Dante01]

I still wear one, a lot of the other guys wear them too.

 

[design_mom]

Not popular at my son's high school. I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing one. (Of course, it seems like most of them don't wear a coat at all... even in the dead of winter.)

 

[MillauFr]

I rarely see them here and we live 2 blocks from the high school. Seems like the most popular activities at our high school is jazz band and drama. Been to a couple of football games but very few people show up.

 

[focusondisney]

Interesting choice to revive a 10 year old thread for your first post.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

They wear them here. I had to fight to get my sport recognized so I could wear one.

/Equestrian Team all the way!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

You mean you were in the band and got a letter? That's cool. Way back in the dark ages they were just for the jocks. I like the idea of expanding eligibility.

I had a varsity letter for band in HS - graduated in 1985. Music letters were a different color & font than athletic letters. DD received an academic letter this year which is something we did not do when I was in HS. She doesn't have (or want) a jacket though. They're pretty popular here.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Nope, they were too expensive so our school stopped doing them. I still "lettered" in sports, but it was more symbolic.

 

[aprilgail]

very old thread but I will answer anyway- I have not seen one of those around here in many years- I thought they were more a 1950-1980 thing, didn't even realize some places still had them.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

very old thread but I will answer anyway- I have not seen one of those around here in many years- I thought they were more a 1950-1980 thing, didn't even realize some places still had them.

Same...I don't care how old a thread is if it's still pertinent! Haha

Not very poular around here. We've debated whether to buy one for my son, who got his varsity letter his Junior year. We decided not to because all he wears is a hoodie even on the coldest days and would be WAY too hot in a leather and wool jacket. We will do something else with his letter and awards instead.

Very few kids, relatively, buy one here. We deal with one local business, and they will not allow a jacket to be ordered until they get the Varsity certificate from the high school. They won't sell a jacket to just any kid who plays freshman tennis - they have to letter by making a varsity team first. After all is said and doNE , the jacket with everything sewn on, is about $300. DS17 told us to save it for his college tuition lol. Smart kid!

From the kids I've seen with them, honestly, they all seem to be the "look how awesome I am" type of kids. My son would be just as happy to play the sports he loves in an empty stadium - he plays to play, not to impress anyone. He doesn't care about the letter, or a jacket to put it on.

YMMV

 

[MillauFr]

Interesting choice to revive a 10 year old thread for your first post.

Reviving a 10 year old thread is no problem. 20 years is when they get locked and deleted.

 

[indimom]

Not very popular at my son's school. His letters are just in a desk drawer with other "collectible" items. They are more popular at my nephew's school about 30 miles away. My nephew got one. Very expensive, and then his mom spent another $100 or so to get his name on it. Class rings are still popular around here, but my daughter and son didn't get them. Daughter did want one, but they were ridiculously expensive. Now that she's in college, she could care less about the ring she didn't get in high school.

 

[mjkacmom]

Very popular here, but just for sports. My kids got letters in choir, but only my varsity athletes got them ($300). Rings are not popular.

 

[sk!mom]

I'm not sure if they've fallen in popularity, as class rings have, or if it's just a factor of global warming and our mostly warm location that explains why I've rarely seen them worn in recent years.

Students here earn their first letter and are then given an opportunity to buy the jacket. Letters for other sports, or activities, are added to the same jacket as they are earned.

DD21 pulled out DH's late 70's jacket and wore it some in high school and took it to college with her. She gets lots of compliments on her vintage jacket when she wears it.

 

[Magpie]

I'm not sure if they've fallen in popularity, as class rings have, or if it's just a factor of global warming and our mostly warm location that explains why I've rarely seen them worn in recent years.

Students here earn their first letter and are then given an opportunity to buy the jacket. Letters for other sports, or activities, are added to the same jacket as they are earned.

DD21 pulled out DH's late 70's jacket and wore it some in high school and took it to college with her. She gets lots of compliments on her vintage jacket when she wears it.

See, I was wondering if the lack of letter jackets in my location (Ont, Can) is because it's too cold to wear them most of the year!

Anyway, I didn't see anyone wearing them at my children's school (they graduated about three years ago). We did get a flyer from an outside company offering for purchase letter jackets, class rings, etc. My daughter wasn't interested. My son, who takes his fashion quite seriously, was appalled. I think I'd have better luck getting him into a plaid lumberjack shirt, than a letter jacket!

Although my daughter graduated with a silver medal for academic achievement, there was no talk of earning letters. My son was in band, and similarly, it was just never mentioned.

Maybe it's a local culture kind of thing?

 

[rastahomie]

I never thought of this until this very thread, lol. And the answer is, no, you don't see very many of them at all.

Part of the issue is that this is a small, poor school, and the focus is much more on academics than sports. The only sports are basketball, baseball, and track (and volleyball, basketball, and track for the girls). No football, soccer, swimming, or anything else.

The other issue is that the most popular sport around here is hunting, which, you know, doesn't really make sense in a public school, for reasons that anyone who has heard the word "Columbine" will immediately understand.*

*I'm told that, in the 50's and decades before and after, it wasn't uncommon for schools to have sharpshooting teams. Not so much any more.

 

[luvsJack]

Still popular here. Dd got her letter and jacket her junior year for choir. She had already lettered 3 years for concert, one for show choir and two for a capella. So she had one letter with bars on it for each group and each year.

The school pays $80 toward each jacket and for the letters and the bars added each year. Dd's was less than $200. She still wears it in college. A lot of the students do.

 

[bookgirl]

I haven't seen my nephew wearing one and he's been on Varsity Team in one or more sports every year since he was a Freshman. He does have two state championship rings (one basketball and one soccer) but he doesn't wear those either.

I do however see kids around here wearing them, so it may just be him (he's not the personality type to show off that kind of stuff or bring attention to himself that way). It may be that he attends a prep school and I don't see a lot of the kids wearing them around his campus either.

My brother wore his a lot (class of 81). We also are the capitol and get a lot of the outlying rural area kids in and I see them in their jackets so I think it's still a thing here.

 

[Magpie]

I never thought of this until this very thread, lol. And the answer is, no, you don't see very many of them at all.

Part of the issue is that this is a small, poor school, and the focus is much more on academics than sports. The only sports are basketball, baseball, and track (and volleyball, basketball, and track for the girls). No football, soccer, swimming, or anything else.

The other issue is that the most popular sport around here is hunting, which, you know, doesn't really make sense in a public school, for reasons that anyone who has heard the word "Columbine" will immediately understand.*

*I'm told that, in the 50's and decades before and after, it wasn't uncommon for schools to have sharpshooting teams. Not so much any more.

Your post made me curious about my children's high school. Wealthy school, about 1000 students in grades 9 to 12.

The sports offered are soccer, hockey, basketball, volleyball, rugby, badminton, track and field, and cross country running. Happening somewhere off campus is apparently swimming, rowing, snowboarding and skiing (the school doesn't have the facilities for any of these, but they're still listed in the athletic program). No football!

I would think soccer, given how inexpensive it is to equip students for it, would be a natural fit for your school. All you really need is a field and a ball. Every school in my city offers it for that reason, because even the poorest kids can get out there and play. But it might not be familiar to the school administration in your town, or to the parents who'd be required to volunteer their time.

Football I consider basically on par with Hockey - stupidly expensive and if you have any regard for your childrens' brain health, you probably don't want them playing it.

 

[rastahomie]

I would think soccer, given how inexpensive it is to equip students for it, would be a natural fit for your school.

I would think so too! And if Iron County C4 schools ever decides to add soccer, I'll volunteer to be the coach!

Problem is, I don't think you'll find 11 kids in the school who give a damn about soccer (can I say "damn" here?). In fact, I don't think you'll find 11 kids in this school whose parents don't think soccer is the athletic embodiment of European socialism, lol.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

At our high school, I am told, mainly the football players still wear them. Which makes sense as it's a winter sport.

My DS has one and has never worn it, but he plays a spring sport and they get them, free, at their banquet in late May, so it's really too warm to wear them then. (And I'd imagine the time they'd enjoy wearing them most is when they first get them!) DS also got a lighter sports jacket from the school at one point, again for free, but it was too small and his name was spelled wrong, so I think he wore that once. As a pp pointed out, most kids here today buy more modern jackets and sweatshirts in their sports privately for both high school and other teams they're on. DS mainly wore those.

Neither of my kids wanted a high school ring.