One of the best parts of a buying a jersey, is seeing the back of it with your favorite player’s name and a huge number beneath it.  But why does that player wear that number?  Sometimes it’s for a family member or just a lucky number that athlete found success with.  And other times, there is a deeper reason behind it.  Here is why these North Penn athletes wear the number they chose.

#18 Jared Albano (Ice Hockey)

“I have worn number eighteen ever since I was in seventh grade because my dad used to wear that number when he played sports when he was younger and I wanted to follow his footsteps,” Albano said.

#13 Chris Caputo (Basketball)

“I chose thirteen because my dad wore that number when he played basketball and he taught me everything I know about basketball and he is the reason why I am the player I am,” Caputo said.

#30 Emily Cooper (Volleyball)

“I wear number thirty because it was my grandfather’s number when he played football in high school and college,” Cooper said.

#4 Kaleem Corbin (Football)

“So I chose the number four because I wanted to start my own legacy at corner and kinda represent a number that no one really had and do anything with so that’s why I chose the number,” Corbin said.

#10 Emily Crawford (Field Hockey)

“Through North Penn field hockey, on occasion, graduating players will bequeath their number to an underclassmen.  Two years ago, Amber Blackshear graduated and passed her number down to me.  I always looked up to Amber because she was a great teammate, highly skilled field hockey player, and a great friend that helped me through my high school career.  Also she went on to play division one field hockey and that is the path I also wanted to follow.  As I continue my field hockey career next at [the University of Massachusetts], I decided to keep my number ten because I will continue to work hard and I want to make a big contribution to my team just like Amber did,” Crawford said.

#15 Francesca Dolan (Volleyball)

“So I wear a few different numbers because of my libero jersey, but for club and everything, I wore fifteen because freshman year, an upperclassmen handed it down to me and she kinda took me in and helped me out since I was new to the school and we became really good friends, so I’ve worn it ever since, for her,” Dolan said.

#15 Morgan Dyck (Lacrosse)

“I wear number fifteen because since I’ve worn it, I’ve had success and luck wearing it and it’s the number my mom wore in high school,” Dyck said.

#4 Alayna Faison (Basketball)

“I always liked Iverson and he had the number three, so I carried that number for awhile in classes until I went to my first tournament and I could get four in my size so I stuck with that and decided I didn’t want to live under Iverson’s legacy,” Faison said.

#13 Shannon Haedrich (Lacrosse)

“I chose thirteen because I like prime numbers and it’s kinda a lucky number to me.  I don’t know really, I just like prime numbers but seven and eleven are too small,” Haedrich said.

#8 Tyler Hall (Water Polo)

“I wore number eight because it has always been my lucky number and I try to wear it every team I am on,” Hall said.

#2 Jon Haynes (Football)

“I wear it because I’m named after my dad so I just stuck with two cause I’m the second,” Haynes said.

#13 Zach Jayes (Volleyball)

“I’ve been number three as long as I can remember because it was my dad’s number and since our shirts go in size order, a three would be a small and I wouldn’t fit that at all, so I moved to thirteen,” Jayes said.

#3 Aidan Jerome (Soccer)

“I wear the number three because of Allen Iverson,” Jerome said.

#10 Liv Jerome (Soccer)

“I’m number ten and it’s because when I was little, I would watch my oldest brother play soccer and that was his number, so I looked up to him and wanted to play like him,” Jerome said.

#4 Tali McIver (Basketball)

“I wear my number because it was my brother’s basketball number in high school,” McIver said.

#10 Luke McMahon (Soccer)

“Ten in soccer has a lot of significance because a lot of the best players in the world wear it, so it’s pretty cool to share the same number as some of those people I look up to.  And it’s just always been one of my favorite numbers,” McMahon said.

#12 Zack Miles (Baseball)

“I wear number twelve because it was given to me as a freshman and grew to like it because I was performing well and the GOAT, Tom Brady, wears it,” Miles said.

#11 A.J. Mitchell (Basketball)

“It was my mom’s number.  I wear it because it keeps me reminded of who I’m doing this for,” Mitchell said.

#16 Haley Muth (Water Polo)

“I chose it because my best friend wore that number for a few years and I wanted to match her,” Muth said.

#47 Elia Namey (Softball)

“I chose it because it was my grandfather’s number when he played football at the University of Maryland and it’s become a really important number to my family.  Me and my brother both wear forty-seven,” Namey said.

#91 Nathan Oh (Ice Hockey)

“I chose the number ninety-one because one of my favorite hockey players to watch highlights of is Sergei Federov, a player from the 1980s and 90s, who also wore ninety-one and I loved the speed and playmaking ability that he possessed,” Oh said.

#11 Amir Pickens (Football)

“That’s the first number I wore when I first ever started playing football.  My favorite number has always been one, but the star of our team in little league, his number was one so I had to double it up with eleven and it’s just been history ever since,” Pickens said.

#14 Jordan Pietrzykoski (Softball)

“I wear the number fourteen because I played basketball in elementary and middle school and it was my first travel sport where we got to pick our number rather than one being assigned to you.  I picked fourteen because I was in the peek of my Troy Bolton obsession and that was his basketball number,” Pietrzykoski said.

#8 Alycia Powers (Volleyball)

“I honestly do not know why I chose the number eight.  I guess it just seemed right, but I’ve worn it ever since eighth grade and kept that number throughout all my club seasons and high school seasons,” Powers said.

#16 Stephen Rinck (Lacrosse)

“I wear the number sixteen and have been since I started playing because one of my favorite players, Sergio Perkovic, wears it and I like even numbers so it fits.  But the main reason is cause my angel number is sixteen.  I feel like I see sixteen everywhere I go, so I thought that someone was sending a message and that it meant something.  If you look up Angel number sixteen, it means ‘They want you to know that your destiny can be created by the thoughts that you put in your head and actions you carry out,’ and I believe this and thought this totally related to me because I’m all about hard work and achieving dreams, so if you put in all the work, your dreams and goals will happen,” Rinck said.

#99 Ashley Schmidt (Soccer)

“I wear ninety-nine because when I first started playing travel soccer when I was eight, I had no idea what number I wanted to pick and we got the option to choose any number, zero to ninety-nine.  All of my neighbors played travel soccer at time, so I asked all of them what numbers were cool.  Two of my neighbors, one being my best friend, wore the number ninety-nine because they wanted to pick the highest number possible.  So I did the same and I have never changed my number once,” Schmidt said.

#5 Allieu Sheriff (Soccer)

“The reason I wear five is because it’s a smaller number and also because my friend, Nick Intrieri, we have this thing called, five era, which is just saying that it’s our time and the number five is taking over,” Sheriff said.

#33 Ryan Schoppe (Lacrosse)

“I wear thirty-three because I have a keychain with my grandpop’s firehouse on it.  The firehouse number is thirty-three and I guess it’s just a way to remember him,” Schoppe said.

#7 Heather Shannon (Lacrosse)

“It was given to me when I was a freshman because my cousin, who was a North Penn graduate, passed away from leukemia in 2015.  She played lacrosse in college and her number was seven,” Shannon said.

#3 Cayla Sharkey (Basketball)

“I wear the number three because when I was seven, I did a skills clinic with Jay Jameson and I got my first ever basketball jersey and I was assigned the number three and ever since then it has stuck with me,” Sharkey said.

#35 Madison Stotler (Field Hockey)

“I wear number thirty-five and it means a lot to me because I want to represent both myself and my family out on the field.  I have three because that was the day my sister and I were born, as in born on April third and May third, and five because my brother was born on the fifth of May,” Stotler said.

#4 Ethan Torri (Soccer)

“Four was the first jersey I ever had, but I changed my number to seven once I changed teams.  For North Penn, the number seven was taken so I chose to take it back to my old days and wear four for my last season ever,” Torri said.

#9 Michael Wang (Volleyball)

“My little league number was one but a senior had it my freshman year so I got stuck with nine and ever since, I’ve just gone with it,” Wang said.

#41 Garrett Zimmerman (Baseball)

“I usually wear twenty-one, which was my grandfather’s number and he passed away, but a coach wears twenty-one so I wear forty-one because it’s similar and also Chris Sale, who’s one of my favorite players, wears it,” Zimmerman said.