The Letter Jacket

[InsidePitch]

The letter jacket has started to come up in conversations as the HS sports awards banquet is nearing. It does not appear to be a big deal at DDs school opting more for a Vineyard Vines and topsiders look but she sees the older kids from her 18U team wearing them from their respective schools and has decided she wants one. She was the only freshman to make the team and is the starting catcher so I suspect she wants to join that club.

Are these popular where you live and do the girls wear them much after the newness wears off? One good thing about a girl getting one, I doubt any boyfriends are asking to wear them.

 

[Comp]

I promised my daughter one if she made varsity as a freshman. $380 later and she had her jacket with all her various patches. She wore it quite a bit through high school, now its just a closet ornament.

 

[laker]

I still have mine in the closet. It doesn't quite fit like it used to. I never wore it much when I was in HS. But, I'm glad I have it and my kids think it's kind of neat, along with my old AF service dress blues. I'm glad my parents bought one for me.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

The letter jacket has started to come up in conversations as the HS sports awards banquet is nearing. It does not appear to be a big deal at DDs school opting more for a Vineyard Vines and topsiders look but she sees the older kids from her 18U team wearing them from their respective schools and has decided she wants one. She was the only freshman to make the team and is the starting catcher so I suspect she wants to join that club.

Are these popular where you live and do the girls wear them much after the newness wears off? One good thing about a girl getting one, I doubt any boyfriends are asking to wear them.

Have you checked to make sure she has met the participation level required by the school? DD's school did it by innings played, as a freshman you'd have to play almost every varsity inning from game one to qualify. ( if you did qualify as a freshman, it really felt earned ) Another school we play, basically had a policy of "if you're on the varsity roster, you lettered", even if you actually played very little. ( I felt that was too easy and unearned )

This is a generalization that I've seen, I'm in no way speaking of your daughter.............

The criteria of the letter jacket has been dumbed down over the last decade, I'm not going to get into politics or the social agenda I believe has led to this. The letter was once a long ( successful ) effort by an athlete, once that merit was earned, it really separated them from the other participants. Also the rate ( student school year ) at which you earned the letter was a symbol of pride, a freshman/sophomore who met the inning/quarter eligibility was looked at as a better athlete than one who was a junior/senior.

Where I think the problem started is when schools no longer provided the award ( letter jacket ). Parents didn't use to pay for them ( except thru taxes/tuition ), and because they are not cheap the schools set higher standards of eligibility. Now since we have to pay for our own kid's jackets, it's just an option of how fast you can come up with the $350, buy the jacket and get the letter free mentality.

Good topic InsidePitch, I'd like to hear what criteria others have faced to earn the letter.

 

[nanotech14]

My dd lettered in cross country as a freshman this year and she wears her's with a sense of pride. I know in cross country, you really do earn it, any sport that your cool down is to run some more after you just ran a race. In order to letter here in softball you have to met required playing time on varsity. In cross country, you have to be at every practice and race and show improvement in your times. The coach just doesn't want her runners to go through the motions, she does still understand when a runner is having an off day. I like her coach for that, she has that drive to see her kids improve and doesn't baby them. Not everybody gets a trophy kind of coach. So around here the lettermans jacket is a earned right.

 

[InsidePitch]

She is batting in the no 2 spot and has played all but 4 innings when she split her lip diving back to the bag. She doesn't have the letter in her hand but expect she will at the banquet.

Her xcross team has achievements that must be met to get the letter. I think they are time and or place oriented. The regular track, tennis and golf teams must score in certain places to earn it so I don't think they just give them as participation awards. It's dicey whether she made it in basketball on time and or points.

 

[chinamigarden]

Very popular in our school. We currently have 590 kids in our school and I would bet money that 300+ of them have a letter jacket. Not only do we have a high participation in sports but the school also gives out academic letters, GPA of 3.67 or higher in each of 5 consecutive semesters, my dd has earned hers. Band letters, awarded after first season of marching band, my dd has hers. Each sport seems to have their own participation requirements to be awarded a letter. I know on the boys soccer team if you made varsity you earned your letter, but in Softball you had to play in x amount of games and have x amount of plate appearances. My dd has lettered in Softball, Basketball and Volleyball.

Certain awards equal a medal to hang from your letter, those are sort of hit or miss as some kids don't want them jangling around while other kids sound like a xylophone walking by they have so many medals

Both my ds (when he was in HS) and dd wear the jacket every winter day they needed a coat. My ds does not wear it now that he is in college except for when he is home visiting and going to a school function (ie. Homecoming)

Some of the moms wear their kids jacket when they are spectating and in some cases I have seen grandmas at football games wearing their son's jacket from 1985, while they are watching their grandson play football.

We were lucky with my dd's jacket we won it in a raffle.

 

[nanotech14]

She is batting in the no 2 spot and has played all but 4 innings when she split her lip diving back to the bag. She doesn't have the letter in her hand but expect she will at the banquet.

Her xcross team has achievements that must be met to get the letter. I think they are time and or place oriented. The regular track, tennis and golf teams must score in certain places to earn it so I don't think they just give them as participation awards. It's dicey whether she made it in basketball on time and or points.

Then you have your answer.If she has earned it the right to wear it, then I would get her one wheather she is going to wear it or not. She only is going to go through high school once.

 

[chinamigarden]

Have you checked to make sure she has met the participation level required by the school? DD's school did it by innings played, as a freshman you'd have to play almost every varsity inning from game one to qualify. ( if you did qualify as a freshman, it really felt earned ) Another school we play, basically had a policy of "if you're on the varsity roster, you lettered", even if you actually played very little. ( I felt that was too easy and unearned )

This is a generalization that I've seen, I'm in no way speaking of your daughter.............

The criteria of the letter jacket has been dumbed down over the last decade, I'm not going to get into politics or the social agenda I believe has led to this. The letter was once a long ( successful ) effort by an athlete, once that merit was earned, it really separated them from the other participants. Also the rate ( student school year ) at which you earned the letter was a symbol of pride, a freshman/sophomore who met the inning/quarter eligibility was looked at as a better athlete than one who was a junior/senior.

Where I think the problem started is when schools no longer provided the award ( letter jacket ). Parents didn't use to pay for them ( except thru taxes/tuition ), and because they are not cheap the schools set higher standards of eligibility. Now since we have to pay for our own kid's jackets, it's just an option of how fast you can come up with the $350, buy the jacket and get the letter free mentality.

Good topic InsidePitch, I'd like to hear what criteria others have faced to earn the letter.

I graduated in 1980, when you earned your letter you got a certificate from the school. You then took that to the local shop who would then sell you your jacket or sweater. But not only did you pay for the jacket you paid for the letter as well. Plus if you wanted pins you paid for the one that signified your sport and the bar you would get every subsequent varsity letter season... The schools didn't give us squat, other then a piece of paper that basically authorized you to buy the letter.

 

[chinamigarden]

She is batting in the no 2 spot and has played all but 4 innings when she split her lip diving back to the bag. She doesn't have the letter in her hand but expect she will at the banquet.

Her xcross team has achievements that must be met to get the letter. I think they are time and or place oriented. The regular track, tennis and golf teams must score in certain places to earn it so I don't think they just give them as participation awards. It's dicey whether she made it in basketball on time and or points.

Around here kids buy the jacket in anticipation of the letter all the time. The letter gets sewn on once its awarded. Kids even wear them to school with a big blank spot where the letter will go one day.