Seen on high school campuses across the United States, a letterman's jacket is a heavier, winter style coat that typically has a number of school sports letters sewn to the front of it. At almost every high school, coaches and athletic directors reward student-athletes involved in a particular sport for successfully completing the season by giving them the "letter" they earned. Letters are generally awarded at a sports banquet at the end of a particular season.

Letter jackets can come in a variety of styles. However, they usually have a few things in common. For instance, many letter jackets have leather or imitation leather covering over the arm areas, and at both the top and bottom of the jacket, stripes bearing the school colors can be found. The name or nickname of the school will appear somewhere on the jacket -- typically plastered across the back of the coat. In high school, freshmen student-athletes usually receive their "numbers" as their reward for being on a team. These numbers signify the student's year of graduation. A student graduating in the year 2008, for instance, would receive the numbers "08" at his sports banquet. During the second or sophomore year of high school, students typically earn a "minor" letter, a letter smaller than that of a varsity athlete. For a school called "Wisegeek High School," for example, the letter given would probably be a "W". Varsity athletes receive a "major" letter, a letter larger than the minor and it is normally emblazoned with a small football or baseball, depending on what sport the student participated in. Some schools have letterman's clubs where student-athletes with varsity letters can become members. Often times, these students put their varsity letter on a sweater.

Students who participate in a sport each year can add a touch of the alphabet to their jacket each and every year. If a student athlete competes in a number of sports, the front of his coat will often times be covered over with school letters. Colleges and universities also reward athletes with letters or with the entire jacket itself. Be it at the high school or college level, letter jackets afford student-athletes the opportunity to show their pride in their school and in their own individual accomplishments.

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