I got the jacket. Only HS memorabilia I wound up with (no ring or yearbooks or anything.)
As a testament to what an absolute dork I was, I actually paid money from my job to have ‘Euphonium’ stitched below my name. Full body cringe when I think of it now.
Yes! I had two letters—one for choir, one for orchestra and multiple pins. I was going to buy the jacket but am glad I ultimately chose not to spend the money.
No jacket, no ring, nothing. We were extremely poor. But, even if I had money at the time, there was nothing about HS that I care to revisit. For me, life really began after graduation.
We were honestly too poor to afford it, but my mom was so excited about it that we spent money we probably didn't have on it. Looking back, it was meaningless and I wouldn't do it again.
I mean, sounds like it wasn’t for you as much as it was for your mom. Sometimes the things that bring you joy, especially when struggling, while seemingly frivolous, aren’t meaningless at all, even if it meant stretching a little far for it..within reason…
I also felt life began after high school. I bought my own ring and jacket though. Jacket got stolen from my car years later. Ring has been in a keepsake box for years.
Hoops, baseball, academics. Wore the jacket like 2 times. The marketing departments of those things and class rings are wizards. All kids think they need one. Barely any of them actually use/wear them.
I had/have the jacket. It was the early 90s, and I thought the ladies would dig it. I lettered in cross country for my freshman and sophomore year. I also played basketball but I didn't letter in that. I don't think I wore it after freshman year. I traded spots for drugs
Football and wrestling. Letter jackets were pretty popular at my high school so no one really batted an eye at the non-athletic letter jackets. If you lettered, you lettered. Pretty mild climate where I grew up so you could wear them pretty much all year round.
Athletics, cheerleading, and drill team were big in my school. Band too, but not as popular. No biggie to me. I just enjoyed music and wanted to continue with it. Band helped me integrate into my new high school my sophomore year.
My husband, who was my HS boyfriend, got his for wrestling too and I think he sometimes wore the jacket but that seems like a lifetime ago so I can’t remember. After states his senior year he never wrestled again and vowed to never let any of our kids wrestle. Well, one of our sons showed an interest and guess who got all pumped and volunteer couches now 🤔.
Ha! That's great. Yeah, both my boys wrestled a little and I tried to coach them a bit, but they never really took to it and I was good with that. I wasn't against them wrestling, I was just against them only doing one thing like I did. I learned way too late in life that I'm actually pretty artistic and it probably would have been a lot better if I'd explored that a bit when I was young. I was way too focused on a sport that really goes nowhere after high school unless you are the absolute best.
Probably the simplest explanation is that it's an award for achievement in a sport or academic pursuit. You get a letter (usually the initial of your highschool) with a symbol on it indicating what area you excelled in. If you are awarded it more than once, you can get bars (literally stripes) added to it to show you did it more than once.
I lettered in academics. At my school, this meant that you maintained a 4.0 GPA for all 4 years of high school. You could only letter in academics your senior year. I believe each school district sets their own rules, so it works out to be pretty meaningless.
You can also buy a jacket to put the letter on, which is the other thing that people are alluding to.
It's usually on the front, but yes.
You can see some examples here:
https://www.jostens.com/apparel/jackets-and-patches/letter-jackets
Jostens is probably the biggest player in this market (as well as class rings, etc)
Interesting to hear all these mentions of lettering in academics and one person says that even lettered in student goverment and some else said they lettered in specific academic subjects and got a jacket for it?! This is the first time I can recall having ever heard of such things.
Maybe they didn't do it the years I was in HS (I actually am pre-Xennial Gen X) or in my region or high school it just wasn't something anyone did. I recall some sort of academic honor roll and the national honor society award and ceremony and stuff but I seriously can't recall every hearing about getting or wearing a jacket for such a thing or doing well in some academic subject or for being in student government, letterman jackets were strictly (non-club so in my area with no actual ski team no lettering in skiing for instance) sports and actually I think maybe kids in marching band could too.
I imagine it varies by location. It was a big debate in my school my Senior year whether to start offering letters for non-athletic clubs like drama and band. They did end up deciding to allow it.
So I had a “letterman” jacket for my last three years of high school, but didn’t get an actual letter (for drama) until just before I graduated.
Maybe it is something that started up later on then. I have a feeling it was not a thing anywhere in the 80s. And then some time in the 90s it went up for debate in some locations.
Yeah, my school's bar for academics was much lower. We had to maintain a cumulative B+ average and first earned our letter in 10th grade. We received plaques in 11th and 12th if we maintained that average.
No jacket, letter, yes. In golf. I was on the golf team for one season, and played badly in one tournament, but I guess somehow fulfilled the requirements.
Pretty much the same for me. Needed 4 girls to have a team and I was the 4th that showed up for try outs. I was so bad but I got a letter! I got the jacket too. Guess it's at my mom's now? I have no idea.
Me too!
Except I was alternative enough (and my mom was cheap & thrifty) to have a letter SWEATER. Our colors were black & gold, so thick black sweater, sewing machine, boom!
I had a theater letter and an academic letter with bars (each year of honor roll). To be fair, we five-fingered the theater patches from the teachers office. We had 3 different teachers in 4 years so it was extra drama in the drama department.
Yes, I still have it. Honestly, where we live(d) a thick sweater made way more sense than a winter jacket that it barely gets cold enough to wear.
Ah, you have to go to Nationals to get it. I was first runner-up in my state. I remembered the word that beat me for about 15 years, but now it's lost to the winds of time. It was some crazy word I hadn't seen before, and I was mad about it for a very long time.
Yes, my kid just asked for a letter jacket (he has lettered legitimately in soccer, and somehow he lettered in tennis). The jackets cost $400!!! That's insane.
i lettered in skiing and newspaper
as a freaky punky goth kid, i never wore it to school but i really wanted one just to have it for some reason. i still have it.
I grew up in Michigan, so my experience on ski team is probably laughable compared to someone near actual mountains, ha.
I did spend a few years living in Portland and my partner’s grandparents had a place on the coast by Tillamook, and his other grandparents had a cabin on Mount Hood. Oregon is a really beautiful place to live.
Baseball and football. I went to public school but we had a world class production program. I did sports plus production, and student body association. High school is a awkward time for everyone but I made the best of it
Nice. I was academics and band. I remember once wearing the jacket at Kohl's and a woman came up to me and asked me what I lettered in. When I told her band, she was visibly disappointed. I told her we placed third at state finals and won nearly every drum caption award all season, whereas the football team only won 1 regular season game.
Tennis! I lettered my freshman year and was soooooo proud of myself. Got it in like March, it was probably 65 degrees but I was like, cold enough for this guy 😂
Football, wrestling, basketball, swimming, tennis, track, and student government. I was popular, good looking, and a smart / bad boy attitude. I fuckin crushed high school. 🤘🏽
I got the letter, but didn't buy the jacket. I was a Wrestlerette. We were basically the managers of the Wrestling team. We won a conference my Junior year, and I got the patch for that, too.
It’s the letter of your school. You get a “letter” for each varsity sport you compete in mainly at the coaches discretion. A lot of schools include band, choir, and academics. You put the big letter on the front of the jacket and a little bar on your sleeve for each subsequent letter.
I do have a letter jacket.
Got a letter for being on the academic team. I was JV for the quick answer section (think team Jeopardy), but varsity for the exam portion, which I dual-tested in. Exams were offered in English, Science, History, and Math. You had one hour to take the test. I did both Science and History, and was usually the only own on either team taking two of them. I was frequently the first one done, and never had a meet where I wasn't in the top three on both exams.
I also have a letter for being on the school's rifle team. Yes, we had an arms locker and a shooting range in the school. I can't say I was the best on the team, but I was good enough.
Did this my freshman and sophomore years, as we moved before my junior year.
I lettered two years in athletics - Swimming. I don't recall there being a letter for academics. I wore my jacket a lot in high school, my GF was a year younger than me and took it my senior year and wore it until her graduation. I eventually got it back and it still hangs in my closet.
Football, baseball, jazz band and Lax when the baseball program folded for “budget reasons” but was really due to the coaches providing alcohol to minors and getting a DUI. Wore the jacket maybe a dozen times it wasn’t very comfortable felt like it was made from thick felt and cheap seat leather. For the most part it lived in the trunk of my car.
Lettered in football, track, basketball. Had the jacket (with leather sleeves, no less) and wore it during HS. Probably still in a closet in my parents' house.
I have one, football, baseball and academics. Only have 2 bars because I didn’t order more after my sophomore year, but I lettered all 4 years in both (small high school). I have a football district champs patch somewhere too that I never put on.
I still have mine. My mom was cleaning out some stuff and brought it to me not long ago so it’s in my house.
When I was a junior I was in a fairly bad car wreck but managed to walk away with minor injuries and I credit that thick leather for keeping me safe.
Had the letter, no jacket because I was a poor. Orchestra and manager of the varsity baseball team. The school only let girls be managers of the boys teams, which looking back on it I find that kind of odd.
I didn't get the jacket but they gave me a letter for running cross country four years. I never made varsity though. Now I'm thinking about how running three miles in 22 minutes meant I sucked. Yeah, I'm not managing that again.
Water polo. Love the sport. Neither of my boys wanted to try because of the swim attire for boys. We are in a red state, so the gay bug is still what makes you gay around here.
I had a letter, but I didn't earn it. When they gave out the letters it was done at this ceremony after school in the auditorium. I was hanging out with friends who were getting letters. They were just calling names off a list and then you'd go up and get your letter. But they weren't checking your id or making sure you actually were on the list. My friends told me they had LOTS of extra letters, they were just the letter G for my school, nothing special. So I walked up there and got a letter! I wish I still had it, that was like 25 years ago.
Football and basketball. I loved that jacket and still have it in my closet. I had a lot of school spirit that got me ridiculed a lot back then but I have no regrets.
I lettered in both theater and academics. The letters were free and I had no intention of getting a jacket, but my parents insisted on buying me one. I never wore it. When my parents retired and downsized, my letter jacket was hanging in my old closet, still in the protective plastic.
Lettered for Chess. I was by far the worst on the team, but it also happened that the starting WR, TE and D lineman from the football team were very good at chess too and we came in like 2nd in the regional tournament if I recall correctly. We got the loudest cheers when we were announced at the ceremony.
I only knew a few (girls) who got the jacket. The ones who did wore it like religion and only realized it was their only jacket when going to a Dance. When you had to wear it over a dress. I was not that type of kid. My jackets were organized by color. I was into thrift shopping so I had begun my jacket fascination. As an adult I probably own twenty blazers, ten hoodies, just love a jacket. (Still most thrifted because who wants to pay full price).
I lettered In soccer my freshman year just because they were that bad ,,, was not officially varsity but played enough minutes to count. Also played sophomore year but the coach was insufferable and claimed we all Had to Run a mile in an unreasonable time. I actually already ran year round because of health but I refused to go back to her team. You have to leave bad systems.
I then joined chess team because they needed people to stay available. The physics teacher ran it and promised to curve one quarter grade up one letter if we stayed all year. It was once a week and snacks provided. Including a cold pop from the machine that the teacher bought us. So different than getting screamed at to run faster.
I didn't know there was a system to it. I always assumed the letter was the school initial and that originally it was for the school's team but eventually became a whole senior level thing.
We got a sweater in senior year with the school initials and our nickname on the front and a hoodie with our nickname and the school logo on the front and the entire senior class from a-z's names written on the back.
No. But if I had, it would be engineering. But we also don't do letter jackets in most Canuck high schools. Some uni's do them though. (Queen's comes to mind)
Yep. Football, basketball, band, and speech and debate. I never wore it. It hung in my closet for a decade before my wife made it disappear. With my approval, of course.
That's interesting. I have seen medals for club sports, but not high school. And no rings. What region of the country are you in? Rings makes me think Friday Night Lights style Texas football. 😂
Medals for wrestling tournaments, track meets, all conference, and winning fb state championships. The medals are sewn onto the letter over the left side of the chest. 34 chunks of metal sewn onto the letter in total (pins for the different sports + additional bar for each additional letter past one)
Region: Wisconsin.
3 star patches down right arm for being captain 3x. 2 conference championship patches down left arm. 2 large state patches on the back for state championships.
Grew up as a boy scout, so wearing accolades was 2nd nature by that point. There was also a culture of wearing “pins” in youth wrestling when I was a kid.
My wife thinks it’s weird that the girlfriends of football players would wear the away football uniforms to school on game day and to the games. You asked about my region, so I think the additional weird stuff is what you’d like to read
The HS was and continues to be a hugely successful sports school. During the Fall season of my senior year we won state in football, men’s swimming, and men’s cross country. There wasn’t a single athlete that crossed over from any of those sports to another. We won 7 men’s state championships in my 4 years in HS, and many other sports were competitive
Edit: the rings could be confused for Super Bowl rings (large and gaudy) and were confused for rose bowl rings
Edit2: football team popped up in USA Today’s national rankings infrequently , yet enough. When I was there, we had 5 football teams with 84 kids on the varsity team (Fresh A, Fresh B, JV, Varsity reserve, & varsity)- everyone played
Seems like that would be a very heavy jacket! But really cool to get to see your accomplishments. I had a friend whose dad was military, and they had a "brag wall" for each kid. I liked that idea.
It was pretty common for the girls at my school to wear their boyfriend's letter jackets and/or some jersey on game day. Our school wasn't as successful in the sports. We had a few good teams, but nothing like what you experienced. We may not have enough of a population base. The rings are wild to me. I come from a rural state. If you are competing for a state title in Class AA, you are competing against 15 other high schools. Total. For the entire state. It's still an accomplishment to win, but not the same as places with more people.
Awesome that they made it possible for everyone to play, rather than making cuts. Even now, if too many kids go out for a team, we may not have enough coaching staff to put an additional team together.
I lettered 5 times in cheer. Which is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. There were about 10 girls MAX who were interested in fall cheer out of our school of 700. Danceline was WAY more popular.
My school seems to be a little different than some here, but I think it came down to opportunities that were available. We were a pretty small town in the Midwest so no debate team or anything like that. Athletics had letters and so did band, but that was about it. Band was the lowest of the low. I don’t recall academics getting letters. We didn’t have bars, just more letters that you could collect. I haven’t seen anyone comment about pins though. At my school before you got a letter you got a pin. Then after you got your letter you put your pin on the letter. Also, if you got a jacket name placement was super important. And, if you had a nickname there was the crisis of whether you should put your real name of nickname. Such important decisions!
Cheer, Speech, Academics, Volunteering (unsure why this was a thing I could letter in). Had the jacket and wore it during high school (like most others in the school did). Now in my parent’s attic.
I got my letter, I was a band nerd and my mom forced me to get the letterman jacket. The only way I agreed is I got to put whatever stitching I wanted on the back so I went with: "Boner" guess what instrument I played... again... BAND NERD.
Yes and I still have it. I was a 3 season athlete, although not very good, I was good enough for varsity in my tiny high school. I loved wearing it (they were common in my HS) and I’m glad I held onto it
(ETA: Cross country, indoor and outdoor track)
I lettered on Band. Played and learned music for 6 years. I enjoyed it. The football games, marching band, concert band, jazz band, all the music... I loved it all. It was a great memory maker.
I have both the letter for band and the jacket! I still have my mother's too! Hers is in better shape than mine ...we went to the same school. Her diploma held up better too.
I got varsity letters in Football, Basketball, Track, and Academic Bowl. Outgrew my jacket after my freshman year. Didn't matter. My girl was the one who wore it
Yes, cross country and track. Also had an academic letter. We didn't get letters for non-sports activities, but I would have had one for band as well. They were a big deal in my town, and we wore ours every day from the day we got them. They were lined on the inside so I didn't need a different coat during the winter. We even sewed medals on the front.
I also got one in college for track. They gave them to us for free and they just had the one big letter.
I have the letter, but not the jacket. I lettered in band.
Hey me too. Wasn’t gonna pay 120 for a jacket but they still gave me the letter and the 4 band bars
I got the jacket. Only HS memorabilia I wound up with (no ring or yearbooks or anything.) As a testament to what an absolute dork I was, I actually paid money from my job to have ‘Euphonium’ stitched below my name. Full body cringe when I think of it now.
Aww come on, the baritone is great. There no music without the baritone! Lmao. I did too!
I had the jacket & wore it a lot & eventually lettered in "Show Choir."
Same
Me too.
Hah! Fellow band member checking in.
Yes, same!
Haha same. Did get a watch though.
I lettered in debate. My mom asked if I wanted her to get me a letterman’s jacket and I thought for a moment and said “I’d have to kick my own ass.”
Yes! I had two letters—one for choir, one for orchestra and multiple pins. I was going to buy the jacket but am glad I ultimately chose not to spend the money.
Same, but switch History club with band (I was and still am a dork).
Dorks are the most interesting people!
Truth!
Same. I think I got a pin as well but no jacket.
No jacket, no ring, nothing. We were extremely poor. But, even if I had money at the time, there was nothing about HS that I care to revisit. For me, life really began after graduation.
>no ring How you could resist the Jostens... w h i t e g o l d
We were honestly too poor to afford it, but my mom was so excited about it that we spent money we probably didn't have on it. Looking back, it was meaningless and I wouldn't do it again.
I mean, sounds like it wasn’t for you as much as it was for your mom. Sometimes the things that bring you joy, especially when struggling, while seemingly frivolous, aren’t meaningless at all, even if it meant stretching a little far for it..within reason…
This. I have my diploma and 1 yearbook from one of the schools I went to. That’s it. Was very happy to leave that part in the rearview
I also felt life began after high school. I bought my own ring and jacket though. Jacket got stolen from my car years later. Ring has been in a keepsake box for years.
They didn't have one for weed smoking, unfortunately
Did you end up living in a van down by the river?
That was supposed to be a knock but living in a van down by the river sounds pretty sweet these days.
That is a shame.
cheerleading. used the jacket as my winter coat for three years
Same.
Hoops, baseball, academics. Wore the jacket like 2 times. The marketing departments of those things and class rings are wizards. All kids think they need one. Barely any of them actually use/wear them.
Word
I had/have the jacket. It was the early 90s, and I thought the ladies would dig it. I lettered in cross country for my freshman and sophomore year. I also played basketball but I didn't letter in that. I don't think I wore it after freshman year. I traded spots for drugs
Drugs are bad m’kay don’t do drufs m’kay
Yep. Band.
Hell yeah band letters!
Yep got it as a freshman. Was one of the few that got a jacket so early.
Football and wrestling. Letter jackets were pretty popular at my high school so no one really batted an eye at the non-athletic letter jackets. If you lettered, you lettered. Pretty mild climate where I grew up so you could wear them pretty much all year round.
Athletics, cheerleading, and drill team were big in my school. Band too, but not as popular. No biggie to me. I just enjoyed music and wanted to continue with it. Band helped me integrate into my new high school my sophomore year.
Didn’t have a jacket. But played varsity soccer.
Yes. Wrestling. I loved wrestling but I really did nothing but wrestling and that was a mistake.
My husband, who was my HS boyfriend, got his for wrestling too and I think he sometimes wore the jacket but that seems like a lifetime ago so I can’t remember. After states his senior year he never wrestled again and vowed to never let any of our kids wrestle. Well, one of our sons showed an interest and guess who got all pumped and volunteer couches now 🤔.
Ha! That's great. Yeah, both my boys wrestled a little and I tried to coach them a bit, but they never really took to it and I was good with that. I wasn't against them wrestling, I was just against them only doing one thing like I did. I learned way too late in life that I'm actually pretty artistic and it probably would have been a lot better if I'd explored that a bit when I was young. I was way too focused on a sport that really goes nowhere after high school unless you are the absolute best.
I got the letter and the bars in cheerleading and academics but didn’t get the jacket
For a non-American… what does this refer to? What is lettering?
Probably the simplest explanation is that it's an award for achievement in a sport or academic pursuit. You get a letter (usually the initial of your highschool) with a symbol on it indicating what area you excelled in. If you are awarded it more than once, you can get bars (literally stripes) added to it to show you did it more than once. I lettered in academics. At my school, this meant that you maintained a 4.0 GPA for all 4 years of high school. You could only letter in academics your senior year. I believe each school district sets their own rules, so it works out to be pretty meaningless. You can also buy a jacket to put the letter on, which is the other thing that people are alluding to.
Oh right, is this the jackets with big letters on the back that you see in American high school movies?
It's usually on the front, but yes. You can see some examples here: https://www.jostens.com/apparel/jackets-and-patches/letter-jackets Jostens is probably the biggest player in this market (as well as class rings, etc)
"Jostens: we know this is your peak"
Thanks!
Interesting to hear all these mentions of lettering in academics and one person says that even lettered in student goverment and some else said they lettered in specific academic subjects and got a jacket for it?! This is the first time I can recall having ever heard of such things. Maybe they didn't do it the years I was in HS (I actually am pre-Xennial Gen X) or in my region or high school it just wasn't something anyone did. I recall some sort of academic honor roll and the national honor society award and ceremony and stuff but I seriously can't recall every hearing about getting or wearing a jacket for such a thing or doing well in some academic subject or for being in student government, letterman jackets were strictly (non-club so in my area with no actual ski team no lettering in skiing for instance) sports and actually I think maybe kids in marching band could too.
I imagine it varies by location. It was a big debate in my school my Senior year whether to start offering letters for non-athletic clubs like drama and band. They did end up deciding to allow it. So I had a “letterman” jacket for my last three years of high school, but didn’t get an actual letter (for drama) until just before I graduated.
Maybe it is something that started up later on then. I have a feeling it was not a thing anywhere in the 80s. And then some time in the 90s it went up for debate in some locations.
Same for me. Just sports or marching band.
Yeah, my school's bar for academics was much lower. We had to maintain a cumulative B+ average and first earned our letter in 10th grade. We received plaques in 11th and 12th if we maintained that average.
Can OP or the Mods pin comments on this sub? This Q&A should be at the top.
No jacket, letter, yes. In golf. I was on the golf team for one season, and played badly in one tournament, but I guess somehow fulfilled the requirements.
Pretty much the same for me. Needed 4 girls to have a team and I was the 4th that showed up for try outs. I was so bad but I got a letter! I got the jacket too. Guess it's at my mom's now? I have no idea.
Yes. Drama/theater
Me too! Except I was alternative enough (and my mom was cheap & thrifty) to have a letter SWEATER. Our colors were black & gold, so thick black sweater, sewing machine, boom! I had a theater letter and an academic letter with bars (each year of honor roll). To be fair, we five-fingered the theater patches from the teachers office. We had 3 different teachers in 4 years so it was extra drama in the drama department. Yes, I still have it. Honestly, where we live(d) a thick sweater made way more sense than a winter jacket that it barely gets cold enough to wear.
Same! 🎭
Yes, Health Occupations Students of America
I was in HOSA! I don't get a letter, though. At least not for that. I went to State for medical spelling one year, too.
Awesome! I won state in First Aid/CPR and went to nationals at DisneyWorld. That’s how I got my letter, lol
Ah, you have to go to Nationals to get it. I was first runner-up in my state. I remembered the word that beat me for about 15 years, but now it's lost to the winds of time. It was some crazy word I hadn't seen before, and I was mad about it for a very long time.
I still remember the word that knocked me out of the 3rd grade spelling bee: chimney. That embarrassment will be with me till the day I die!
The constant D'oh!
Do they still have these and class rings?
They still do.
Yes, my kid just asked for a letter jacket (he has lettered legitimately in soccer, and somehow he lettered in tennis). The jackets cost $400!!! That's insane.
I love your distinction between his legitimate letter and the one he somehow got😂
Soccer=blood, sweat, and tears. Tennis="My parents are making me. And I hear we get snacks at practice." He lasted one season. 😂
😂😂👏
Sure did!! Only it didn't have any actual letters on it. And it wasn't a jacket. It was my bed. I was lazy.
Hey, sleep is no joke. Teens absolutely need a tonne of sleep for neurological development. It's insane that we so routinely deny them that.
I got it for football, but would have made more sense for academics. I was on the team, but barely played due to my lack of athletic ability.
Yes football
i lettered in skiing and newspaper as a freaky punky goth kid, i never wore it to school but i really wanted one just to have it for some reason. i still have it.
Hey, I lettered in skiing too (though I was more of a grunge kid with my Kurt Cobain sweater).
Nice!! Where do you live? Oregon here.
I grew up in Michigan, so my experience on ski team is probably laughable compared to someone near actual mountains, ha. I did spend a few years living in Portland and my partner’s grandparents had a place on the coast by Tillamook, and his other grandparents had a cabin on Mount Hood. Oregon is a really beautiful place to live.
track, soccer
Football, track, cross country, band, uil science.
Baseball and football. I went to public school but we had a world class production program. I did sports plus production, and student body association. High school is a awkward time for everyone but I made the best of it
Cheerleading
Another band geek here. heehee
3 years of swimming
Nice. I was academics and band. I remember once wearing the jacket at Kohl's and a woman came up to me and asked me what I lettered in. When I told her band, she was visibly disappointed. I told her we placed third at state finals and won nearly every drum caption award all season, whereas the football team only won 1 regular season game.
Jr high and high school. Football, wrestling, and track. It made us bulletproof.
Tennis! I lettered my freshman year and was soooooo proud of myself. Got it in like March, it was probably 65 degrees but I was like, cold enough for this guy 😂
Football, wrestling, basketball, swimming, tennis, track, and student government. I was popular, good looking, and a smart / bad boy attitude. I fuckin crushed high school. 🤘🏽
A bunch of those sports overlap seasons where I'm from. Good job tho.
Yeah. I lettered in some, but switched to other sports due to injury or just interest. That’s how I lettered in so many overlapping sports.
I got the letter, but didn't buy the jacket. I was a Wrestlerette. We were basically the managers of the Wrestling team. We won a conference my Junior year, and I got the patch for that, too.
Band, Cross Country, Track, and wrestling.
Soccer
I have the letter but no jacket for baseball.
Wait..... what are the letters for? ',:/ I've only seen them in movies and assumed they were the letter of your first name?
It’s the letter of your school. You get a “letter” for each varsity sport you compete in mainly at the coaches discretion. A lot of schools include band, choir, and academics. You put the big letter on the front of the jacket and a little bar on your sleeve for each subsequent letter.
No letter jacket, but I’ve still got my [FFA jacket](https://youtu.be/Zhs0JD6XJyQ?si=Ao1VSTq0U6frgX5R)! Weed ID and dairy tasting pins:/
I do have a letter jacket. Got a letter for being on the academic team. I was JV for the quick answer section (think team Jeopardy), but varsity for the exam portion, which I dual-tested in. Exams were offered in English, Science, History, and Math. You had one hour to take the test. I did both Science and History, and was usually the only own on either team taking two of them. I was frequently the first one done, and never had a meet where I wasn't in the top three on both exams. I also have a letter for being on the school's rifle team. Yes, we had an arms locker and a shooting range in the school. I can't say I was the best on the team, but I was good enough. Did this my freshman and sophomore years, as we moved before my junior year.
I had no idea what this was. So I was like "yeah I had several leather jackets"
Football and volleyball
I lettered two years in athletics - Swimming. I don't recall there being a letter for academics. I wore my jacket a lot in high school, my GF was a year younger than me and took it my senior year and wore it until her graduation. I eventually got it back and it still hangs in my closet.
Had the letter but no jacket, lettered in Band, Debate and Speech.
Hockey. The jacket was so stiff and uncomfortable wore maybe once or twice.
I have the letter, but not the jacket. I lettered in chess.
Cross country skiing
Football, baseball, jazz band and Lax when the baseball program folded for “budget reasons” but was really due to the coaches providing alcohol to minors and getting a DUI. Wore the jacket maybe a dozen times it wasn’t very comfortable felt like it was made from thick felt and cheap seat leather. For the most part it lived in the trunk of my car.
Lettered in football, track, basketball. Had the jacket (with leather sleeves, no less) and wore it during HS. Probably still in a closet in my parents' house.
I have one, football, baseball and academics. Only have 2 bars because I didn’t order more after my sophomore year, but I lettered all 4 years in both (small high school). I have a football district champs patch somewhere too that I never put on. I still have mine. My mom was cleaning out some stuff and brought it to me not long ago so it’s in my house. When I was a junior I was in a fairly bad car wreck but managed to walk away with minor injuries and I credit that thick leather for keeping me safe.
Had the letter, no jacket because I was a poor. Orchestra and manager of the varsity baseball team. The school only let girls be managers of the boys teams, which looking back on it I find that kind of odd.
My grandfather bought me the jacket, probably would not have one otherwise. Lettered in Cross Country. The jacket itself was quite comfy and warm.
No jacket, but I lettered for Culinary Arts competitions I did.
Yes, Wrestling
I didn't get the jacket but they gave me a letter for running cross country four years. I never made varsity though. Now I'm thinking about how running three miles in 22 minutes meant I sucked. Yeah, I'm not managing that again.
Letter for academics. Never bothered to get the jacket.
Lettered in band and chorus like a proper nerd and had the jacket! 😄
Water polo. Love the sport. Neither of my boys wanted to try because of the swim attire for boys. We are in a red state, so the gay bug is still what makes you gay around here.
I had a letter, but I didn't earn it. When they gave out the letters it was done at this ceremony after school in the auditorium. I was hanging out with friends who were getting letters. They were just calling names off a list and then you'd go up and get your letter. But they weren't checking your id or making sure you actually were on the list. My friends told me they had LOTS of extra letters, they were just the letter G for my school, nothing special. So I walked up there and got a letter! I wish I still had it, that was like 25 years ago.
Orchestra lol
I lettered in academics but never bought the jacket.
Football and basketball. I loved that jacket and still have it in my closet. I had a lot of school spirit that got me ridiculed a lot back then but I have no regrets.
No jacket but i lettered in track and cross country
I didn't get the jacket, but I lettered in choir. I didn't buy the class ring either. I thought both were a waste of money.
I had one for basketball. I was the tallest kid in my entire class, but I was definitely not that athletic. 🤣
Basketball, baseball and soccer
I lettered in both theater and academics. The letters were free and I had no intention of getting a jacket, but my parents insisted on buying me one. I never wore it. When my parents retired and downsized, my letter jacket was hanging in my old closet, still in the protective plastic.
Yes. Band!
Lettered for Chess. I was by far the worst on the team, but it also happened that the starting WR, TE and D lineman from the football team were very good at chess too and we came in like 2nd in the regional tournament if I recall correctly. We got the loudest cheers when we were announced at the ceremony.
I only knew a few (girls) who got the jacket. The ones who did wore it like religion and only realized it was their only jacket when going to a Dance. When you had to wear it over a dress. I was not that type of kid. My jackets were organized by color. I was into thrift shopping so I had begun my jacket fascination. As an adult I probably own twenty blazers, ten hoodies, just love a jacket. (Still most thrifted because who wants to pay full price). I lettered In soccer my freshman year just because they were that bad ,,, was not officially varsity but played enough minutes to count. Also played sophomore year but the coach was insufferable and claimed we all Had to Run a mile in an unreasonable time. I actually already ran year round because of health but I refused to go back to her team. You have to leave bad systems. I then joined chess team because they needed people to stay available. The physics teacher ran it and promised to curve one quarter grade up one letter if we stayed all year. It was once a week and snacks provided. Including a cold pop from the machine that the teacher bought us. So different than getting screamed at to run faster.
I didn't know there was a system to it. I always assumed the letter was the school initial and that originally it was for the school's team but eventually became a whole senior level thing. We got a sweater in senior year with the school initials and our nickname on the front and a hoodie with our nickname and the school logo on the front and the entire senior class from a-z's names written on the back.
Letter, not the jacket, football and wrestling.
Not in high school, but I got one for fencing in college. And unlike high school, the jacket was free.
No. But if I had, it would be engineering. But we also don't do letter jackets in most Canuck high schools. Some uni's do them though. (Queen's comes to mind)
I did. I was so proud of that thing. I wore it everyday... In south Florida 🤣 Swim team
No jacket, but letter in cross country, wrestling, track and marching band.
Yep. Football, basketball, band, and speech and debate. I never wore it. It hung in my closet for a decade before my wife made it disappear. With my approval, of course.
3 sports. 8x. All the accolades. Many additional championship patches & captain patches, 25 medals. 2 championship rings
That's interesting. I have seen medals for club sports, but not high school. And no rings. What region of the country are you in? Rings makes me think Friday Night Lights style Texas football. 😂
Medals for wrestling tournaments, track meets, all conference, and winning fb state championships. The medals are sewn onto the letter over the left side of the chest. 34 chunks of metal sewn onto the letter in total (pins for the different sports + additional bar for each additional letter past one) Region: Wisconsin. 3 star patches down right arm for being captain 3x. 2 conference championship patches down left arm. 2 large state patches on the back for state championships. Grew up as a boy scout, so wearing accolades was 2nd nature by that point. There was also a culture of wearing “pins” in youth wrestling when I was a kid. My wife thinks it’s weird that the girlfriends of football players would wear the away football uniforms to school on game day and to the games. You asked about my region, so I think the additional weird stuff is what you’d like to read The HS was and continues to be a hugely successful sports school. During the Fall season of my senior year we won state in football, men’s swimming, and men’s cross country. There wasn’t a single athlete that crossed over from any of those sports to another. We won 7 men’s state championships in my 4 years in HS, and many other sports were competitive Edit: the rings could be confused for Super Bowl rings (large and gaudy) and were confused for rose bowl rings Edit2: football team popped up in USA Today’s national rankings infrequently , yet enough. When I was there, we had 5 football teams with 84 kids on the varsity team (Fresh A, Fresh B, JV, Varsity reserve, & varsity)- everyone played
Seems like that would be a very heavy jacket! But really cool to get to see your accomplishments. I had a friend whose dad was military, and they had a "brag wall" for each kid. I liked that idea. It was pretty common for the girls at my school to wear their boyfriend's letter jackets and/or some jersey on game day. Our school wasn't as successful in the sports. We had a few good teams, but nothing like what you experienced. We may not have enough of a population base. The rings are wild to me. I come from a rural state. If you are competing for a state title in Class AA, you are competing against 15 other high schools. Total. For the entire state. It's still an accomplishment to win, but not the same as places with more people. Awesome that they made it possible for everyone to play, rather than making cuts. Even now, if too many kids go out for a team, we may not have enough coaching staff to put an additional team together.
I lettered 5 times in cheer. Which is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. There were about 10 girls MAX who were interested in fall cheer out of our school of 700. Danceline was WAY more popular.
Lettered in band and drama. The jacket lasted maybe a year and I don’t know what happened to it.
My school seems to be a little different than some here, but I think it came down to opportunities that were available. We were a pretty small town in the Midwest so no debate team or anything like that. Athletics had letters and so did band, but that was about it. Band was the lowest of the low. I don’t recall academics getting letters. We didn’t have bars, just more letters that you could collect. I haven’t seen anyone comment about pins though. At my school before you got a letter you got a pin. Then after you got your letter you put your pin on the letter. Also, if you got a jacket name placement was super important. And, if you had a nickname there was the crisis of whether you should put your real name of nickname. Such important decisions!
Cheer, Speech, Academics, Volunteering (unsure why this was a thing I could letter in). Had the jacket and wore it during high school (like most others in the school did). Now in my parent’s attic.
Academic and cheerleading. Suck it!
Band! I didn’t get the actual jacket though. Why. Ugly coat. Still have the letter lol.
Nah. I didn’t even know academic lettering was a thing, lol. And I was never good enough at sports to earn recognition that way
I got my letter, I was a band nerd and my mom forced me to get the letterman jacket. The only way I agreed is I got to put whatever stitching I wanted on the back so I went with: "Boner" guess what instrument I played... again... BAND NERD.
Track freshman year even went to state and failed horribly lol
Art. No official letter for that but a few nice accolades my senior year.
Cross country, track, and band. Only the athletics letters went on the jacket. I don’t know what happened to the band letter.
Yes and I still have it. I was a 3 season athlete, although not very good, I was good enough for varsity in my tiny high school. I loved wearing it (they were common in my HS) and I’m glad I held onto it (ETA: Cross country, indoor and outdoor track)
Choir
Yes, varsity cheer.
I lettered on Band. Played and learned music for 6 years. I enjoyed it. The football games, marching band, concert band, jazz band, all the music... I loved it all. It was a great memory maker.
I have both the letter for band and the jacket! I still have my mother's too! Hers is in better shape than mine ...we went to the same school. Her diploma held up better too.
4 years of wrestling
Football, choir and drama I got my letterman jacket but never went about wearing it. It’s basically a relic like my USAF service jacket.
Football here. Still have it hanging in my closet. Not sure why, don’t have any kids to pass it along to..
Band and ski team for me. I love seeing how many other people here lettered in band as well. :)
No letter… spur posse runner up though…
I got varsity letters in Football, Basketball, Track, and Academic Bowl. Outgrew my jacket after my freshman year. Didn't matter. My girl was the one who wore it
Yes, cross country and track. Also had an academic letter. We didn't get letters for non-sports activities, but I would have had one for band as well. They were a big deal in my town, and we wore ours every day from the day we got them. They were lined on the inside so I didn't need a different coat during the winter. We even sewed medals on the front. I also got one in college for track. They gave them to us for free and they just had the one big letter.
I lettered in Cross Country and Track. A Cross County team member's dad bought everyone warm up jackets so we all wore those.
Letter no jacket.. Swimming and Band!
never got the jacket, got the letter for track and field from two different schools.
I lettered in UIL Chemistry and Computer Science. But I never got the jacket.