<p>My four kiddos are all out of highschool. Once an athlete earned 4 varsity letters, the school gave the athlete a jacket. All emblems are given as earned but the chenille last name has to be paid for by the parent (our long name was $28!). Not one of them took his/her jacket to college and now they (the jackets not the kids) are lined up in my closet. Ironically my youngest D chastised me for not saving my high school letter jacket because she would have worn that if available. Note that she never wore her jacket in highschool. The athletic department has since wised up. It used to be that the local athletic jacket supplier would not sell a letter jacket to anyone who wanted a jacket but didn’t earn the required number of letters. Some type of agreement with the schools. When money got tight, suddenly the school encouraged students to buy a jacket after earning his/her first letter. Most athletes rush to get them instead of waiting to get the free one with their 4th letter.</p>