High school culture in the 20th century was dominated by varsity jackets. When varsity letters are awarded, an informational letter is given to the recipient. The letter contains several paragraphs devoted to varsity jackets, and what local businesses sell them. It outlines the steps needed to be taken to receive a varsity jacket.
Today at South, school employees, like Administrative Assistant Kristen Stovall, notice a decline in the purchase of varsity jackets, asserting not as many kids are wearing them.
“I did have another coach the other day say ‘we had no idea [varsity jackets were offered],’” Stovall said. “At all the awards we do give out a flyer, if that makes it home.”
Other athletes, like Adelina Parikh ’25 claim that varsity jackets are only truly seen in the Cross Country and Track and Field athletes, as the jackets serve a greater function to its members. Other athletes, like Football players, wear big bulky uniforms and don’t have the long slews of downtime in the cold like Cross Country and Track and Field do.
“[They’re] really useful for warmth, [but] they’re also pretty expensive,” Parikh said. “You’re almost investing in your winter coat.”
Parikh, when purchasing a varsity jacket, chose to make it her official ‘winter coat’. She can be seen frequently walking in the halls with it on in the colder months. Parikh also believes this has permeated a sort of social culture of owning a varsity jacket, and other athletes at Grosse Pointe South find it “lame”.
“If you don’t do a sport where having a varsity jacket is ‘cool’, it actually ends up being really embarrassing to get one,” Parikh said.
Parikh finds varsity jackets have maintained themselves as “normal” for sports with members stuck in the cold. But, for most sports, they aren’t considered “normal”. Similarly, South athlete Othniel Honablue ’25 finds varsity jackets aren’t too common among athletes, not only at South but across many other schools.
“I don’t see a lot of varsity jackets actually,” Honablue said. “At a game or a track meet I’ll see it here and there, but not as much as you’d think.”
If anything, Honablue finds more students at South wearing varsity jackets than at any other school he’s personally seen.
“South has a lot of pride in the varsity jacket,” Honablue said. “I might be biased because I go [to Grosse Pointe South], but I’d say I see more [varsity jackets].”
However, Honablue finds the lack of varsity jackets may be due to financial reasons, and the implications as to whether or not kids have varsity jackets have nothing to do with social norms.
“[Varsity jackets] cost money at the end of the day,” Honablue said. “Not everybody meets the ‘qualifications’, and not everyone really goes ‘all-in’ on sports.”
