Varsity jackets return in full force

Student athletes dedicate their time in the off season to prepare themselves to be good enough to perform on the varsity level. When making the team, students look forward to getting their letters and then getting a varsity jacket, also known as a letterman jacket.

Letterman jackets were very big in the ’50s, but the trend is coming back hard in recent years.
The jackets never went away, but now they are an aspect of varsity sports that kids look forward to.

“It’s weird because before this if you were on a varsity sport you would receive a plaque instead of varsity letters,” Junior Cameron Marino said. A few sports at West Essex participated in the varsity letters and jackets, but not many. Cheerleading and Football were the only two teams participating before the girls soccer team got involved.

“It was a tradition when I grew up and I wanted my daughter to feel the same level being apart of something so special such as a varsity team,” said Cameron’s father, Chris Marino. “Wearing matching jackets showing others what she has accomplished.”

Marino and Andrew McCrone, two dedicated parents, introduced varsity jackets to the girl’s soccer program and the team couldn’t have been more excited.

With now three programs being involved, more students are hoping to introduce them to their teams.

“I think it’s crazy how not every sport participates in varsity jackets,” McCrone said. It has been a tradition forever and one that hasn’t stopped, except it seems like in West Essex.”
Marino and McCrone said they thought it was bizarre that girls soccer receives the physical letters, but never a jacket to put them on. The 2017 season was the first season they got jackets.

The jackets were such a big thing a long time ago and the trend hasn’t faded out.

Letterman jackets are one of the few iconic fashion statements that still remains popular today.

West Essex students are hoping to bring letterman jackets back.