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

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

Here, anyone can get one. Those who want one typically buy it as soon as school starts their freshman year. Many kids will never have a letter to sew on, and some will get a letter & just not bother to sew it on. Typically, you add them as you go. JV sports letters are smaller. Varsity, full sized. All sports have the same letter, all music the same letter. You get a pin for individual sports or individual music programs.
 
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!
No baseball? :confused3

Magpie said:
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. ;)
I think this deserves it's own thread! :surfweb:popcorn:: :laughing:
 
No baseball? :confused3
I think this deserves it's own thread! :surfweb:popcorn:: :laughing:

No football, no baseball! I think it's because there's a badminton court next to the campus, but no baseball diamond. The school is right downtown, so space is at a premium.

(Come to think of it, the hockey has to be happening off campus, too, since it's not like they have a rink.)

And yes, the risk brain injury in contact sports is definitely be a hot topic! I know a 12 year old who is on a year's suspension from playing any school sports, due to having given himself his third concussion. Poor little guy! He needs to learn to stop leading with his head, if he ever wants to play again.
 
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.

For whatever reason, soccer just isn't something that seems to appeal to inner cities (at least around here). A couple years ago, a friend of mine told me they played an inner city school in the district playoffs that they felt so bad for. The team had just enough shinguards for the 11 players on the field, so when they would substitute players, they had to swap shinguards with the kid coming out. After the game, our friend said a number of their kids gave the other kids pairs of their shinguards that they had as extras in their soccer bags.
 


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.

Here, anyone can get one. Those who want one typically buy it as soon as school starts their freshman year. Many kids will never have a letter to sew on, and some will get a letter & just not bother to sew it on. Typically, you add them as you go. JV sports letters are smaller. Varsity, full sized. All sports have the same letter, all music the same letter. You get a pin for individual sports or individual music programs.
This is interesting! I think it's a good idea to be able to purchase it freshman year and put things on it, or not, if the student wants to. That's probably why it's so popular where you are. At our school it's not optional to buy the jacket, and the letter, same size and font for all, is already part of the jacket. You only get it after your first year of playing a varsity sport. (I'm not sure how it works with non-sports.) Then each year you get the little pins to put on the letter. Some kids have different ones for different activities, which is nice. (Come to think of it DS still has some pins sitting around that his coach had forgotten to give him till after graduation!)

I think it's also interesting there have been a couple of comments here about kids thinking they're "all that" when they wear their jackets. Maybe this is why some don't wear them, they don't want others to think they're stuck up or something. (Besides the jackets themselves seeming a little old-fashioned, maybe.) But that's silly. These are things they've earned. Why shouldn't they be proud to wear them? It also signifies cameraderie with other teammates, which is one of the foundations of having a good team, in any activity.
 
Oh, and to go back to the (really old) original question - our son's school does do letter jackets and a fair amount of kids seem to wear them (in the winter). We bought one for our son when he got his varsity letter (for soccer) freshman year and I think he's worn it three times now (he's going into junior year). Freshman year, he didn't want to wear it because he was afraid he would look like he's 'showing off' that he lettered as a freshman. This year, he just said he had no room in his locker for it and it was too hot to wear around school all day.
 
Clearly, the matter of which sports are offered at any school depends not only on the school's funding, but also on popularity and the local culture. I see the words "badminton" and "rugby" and "lacrosse" coming up in this thread, and I'm like, "What the hell?" No school I've ever attended, or into which I've ever paid taxes, have such teams.

Very few schools around here (southeast Missouri) have football teams; even the ones with a big enough student body and good enough funding. Football is just not popular here (baseball rules the day). Compare that to Texas, where high school football rules the day. Or Indiana, where high school basketball is king; good luck finding a lacrosse team outside of wealthy, suburban schools.

You're unlikely to find soccer teams in inner-city schools, especially with a largely African-American student body. But in schools with large Latino populations, you can bet your sweet bippy there's going to be a soccer team.

My high school had a swimming & diving team that was the envy of central Illinois. We didn't have a pool, per se, but a city parks pool (indoor, no less) just happened to be right next door to the school. How convenient! In college, I met a girl from Peoria, and we were talking about where we went to high school. When I said "Springfield Southeast," her eyes got this big, and she was all like, "Ooh. We lived in fear of your swimming & diving teams." I think they won State for like a ten-year streak before, during, and after I attended there.
 


This is interesting! I think it's a good idea to be able to purchase it freshman year and put things on it, or not, if the student wants to. That's probably why it's so popular where you are. At our school it's not optional to buy the jacket, and the letter, same size and font for all, is already part of the jacket. You only get it after your first year of playing a varsity sport. (I'm not sure how it works with non-sports.) Then each year you get the little pins to put on the letter. Some kids have different ones for different activities, which is nice. (Come to think of it DS still has some pins sitting around that his coach had forgotten to give him till after graduation!)

I think it's also interesting there have been a couple of comments here about kids thinking they're "all that" when they wear their jackets. Maybe this is why some don't wear them, they don't want others to think they're stuck up or something. (Besides the jackets themselves seeming a little old-fashioned, maybe.) But that's silly. These are things they've earned. Why shouldn't they be proud to wear them? It also signifies cameraderie with other teammates, which is one of the foundations of having a good team, in any activity.
Here you get the letter, and go to one of several stores in town where you purchase the jacket, five them your letter and patches, and they do the sewing/embroidery. No one would wear a jacket without being on varsity. It's not considered bragging - so many kids have them, they are no big deal. Just as many girls wear them as boys.
 
Didn't anybody else's high school have equestrian, yachting, squash, and skiing teams like mine did? ;)

I know you're joking, but... Mine had skiing and so did my kids'.

It's pretty common here. I remember my mum found me a pair of enormous wooden skis with metal spring bindings at a yard sale, and a horrible seventies-era brown-and-tan snowsuit with a cropped top and flared legs. She was pretty proud of herself, though in 1987, I was dying every time I had to put that snowsuit on. Not even sure how those skis were allowed on the slopes, either. Eventually, I managed to snap my skis taking a tumble on a downhill, and my relatives took pity on me and bought me proper fiberglass skis and a decent snowsuit. Whee!! :laughing:

Also, equestrian was definitely a thing at my husband's school, in Northern Ontario. Tiny community, tiny school, but they do love their horse events.
 
Clearly, the matter of which sports are offered at any school depends not only on the school's funding, but also on popularity and the local culture. I see the words "badminton" and "rugby" and "lacrosse" coming up in this thread, and I'm like, "What the hell?" No school I've ever attended, or into which I've ever paid taxes, have such teams.

Very few schools around here (southeast Missouri) have football teams; even the ones with a big enough student body and good enough funding. Football is just not popular here (baseball rules the day). Compare that to Texas, where high school football rules the day. Or Indiana, where high school basketball is king; good luck finding a lacrosse team outside of wealthy, suburban schools.

You're unlikely to find soccer teams in inner-city schools, especially with a largely African-American student body. But in schools with large Latino populations, you can bet your sweet bippy there's going to be a soccer team.

My high school had a swimming & diving team that was the envy of central Illinois. We didn't have a pool, per se, but a city parks pool (indoor, no less) just happened to be right next door to the school. How convenient! In college, I met a girl from Peoria, and we were talking about where we went to high school. When I said "Springfield Southeast," her eyes got this big, and she was all like, "Ooh. We lived in fear of your swimming & diving teams." I think they won State for like a ten-year streak before, during, and after I attended there.

Football is very big in most of Missouri, as is basketball. Not Texas/Alabama big, but way bigger than baseball. So, it's interesting that baseball is so big in your area. In my HS, the profits from boys basketball and football funded all the other sports (my dad was a coach for many years), and it's like this across much of the state.

Edit: football was the only outdoor sport that charged admission at my HS, while ALL the indoor sports charged (including JV Girls Basketball, etc). Even our band festival - at the time, the biggest one in the state - was free admission.
 
Football is very big in most of Missouri, as is basketball. Not Texas/Alabama big, but way bigger than baseball. So, it's interesting that baseball is so big in your area.

Not for nothing, most of the schools around here are just to poor to field a football team. The insurance costs alone... But yeah, at least around where I live, football is an afterthought.

Edited to Add: We're within shouting distance of St. Louis, which has had one of the best teams in baseball for going on a century, whereas their football teams have consistently sucked dirt. That might have something to do with it.
 
Here, anyone can get one. Those who want one typically buy it as soon as school starts their freshman year. Many kids will never have a letter to sew on, and some will get a letter & just not bother to sew it on. Typically, you add them as you go. JV sports letters are smaller. Varsity, full sized. All sports have the same letter, all music the same letter. You get a pin for individual sports or individual music programs.

Participation jackets?

My high school gave out letter blankets. In college I received a letter sweater.
 
Not for nothing, most of the schools around here are just to poor to field a football team. The insurance costs alone... But yeah, at least around where I live, football is an afterthought.

Edited to Add: We're within shouting distance of St. Louis, which has had one of the best teams in baseball for going on a century, whereas their football teams have consistently sucked dirt. That might have something to do with it.

Definitely not the STL connection. I'm closer to STL than you & our football stadium seats 5,000. Our baseball bleachers don't even hold 200.
 
Interesting to read what sports high schools in other areas offer. Here football is king and I don't know if that will ever change. Baseball is a close second for boy's teams. For girls it's basketball. (Boys basketball just isn't that popular).

Our high school also offers fast and slow pitch softball, soccer, golf, tennis and archery. And now that the community colleges close by have rodeo teams, they are hoping to start one at the high school.

Kids can letter in all sports, band, choir and dance team. And since it's an Agricultural high school, something to do with that. Not sure what they call it officially but they show cows, horses and other animals in competition.
 
Yes, I see them all over the place. They're only for sports here, and not until you make varsity. My daughter has a cheer jacket, my son, (whose brain health I do care about), will be getting his football one this year.
 
Participation jackets?

My high school gave out letter blankets. In college I received a letter sweater.
When I was in high school, anyone could buy a "school jacket," and lots of kids did. Adding the letter made it a "letter jacket" and not everyone got those.
 

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