TOWAMENCIN- Jersey handout day is always an exciting day, but sometimes stressful day as players can’t wait to get their jerseys but hope their jersey numbers are available.  Jersey numbers are a big part of the uniform for athletes as numbers have a sentimental value, story behind them, or bring good luck to the athlete.  So here are some of your favorite North Penn athletes and the reasons they wear the number they do.  Some athletes may be appear multiple times if they wear a different number in different sports.

#1 Gianna Costello (Softball)

“I wear number one because growing up, I was always the smallest player, so I got the smallest jersey and so I was always one.  So, when I started choosing for myself I just always picked one because that’s all I ever was,” Costello said.

#1 Ryan Stewart (Soccer/Volleyball)

“I’ve worn one for as long as I’ve played sports and for me it’s a symbol of all the work I’ve put in to get to the point I’m at and motivation to be the best I can on the field,” Stewart said.

#2 Megan Cleary (Basketball)

“If I’m being completely honest, I wore one most of my life because it was the smallest size, but my junior year I switched to two because I outgrew extra small,” Clearly said.

#2 Erik Jesberger (Baseball)

“The number two means a lot to myself and my family.  I’m a [Derek] Jeter fan and have always wanted to replicate how he played shortstop and went about things in everything he did in between the lines.  Even more prominent in my choice to wear the number two, was for someone I still to this day consider the greatest shortstop I’ve ever known.  My grand pop, who I idolized for serving in the Vietnam War and being the biggest Eagles fan, wore this number when he played shortstop in high school.  I wanted to carry on the family tradition,” Jesberger explained.

#3 Cory Keim (Football)

“So basically there was never a d-lineman with a single digit number and in college, single numbers are like seen as the best of the team and three was just the one I picked and there was also something I heard about the number three, like it’s just a commoner number or something,” Keim explained.

#3 Evin Sullivan (Baseball)

“Growing up, I was always the biggest baseball nerd, always reading up on the history of the game and reading about the legends such as Jackie Robinson, Honus Wagner, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, you name him, I know him.  However, Babe Ruth stood out to me ever since I was eight.  Just read about him and his stats and looked up to him.  So when I first got the chance to choose my number, I chose three.  I’ve done pretty well while wearing it, so I don’t want to ever change it,” Sullivan said.

#3 Mady Volpe (Softball)

“The girl who was the starting pitcher graduated and had number three, so I wanted to continue the legacy,” Volpe said.

#4 Nicole Chiappa (Water Polo)

“Honestly, it’s because a senior had that number last year and I didn’t wanna have to buy a new polo.  She offered to give me her shirt,” Chiappa said.

#4 Ken Grandy (Football)

“I chose number four because I wanted a number that I could make a legacy out of and people would remember Kenneth Grandy wearing number four.  It was also my fourth year of high school football and it was a very eventful four years, so number four just felt like the best fit,” Grandy explained.

#4 Chris McLean (Baseball)

“When I was a kid, I missed the email about what number I wanted and when I got my jersey it had four on it and I’ve worn it ever since,” McLean said.

#4 Collin Staab (Soccer)

“I wear number four because my favorite player, Sergio Ramos, wears that number.  He’s always been one of the top defenders in the world and I really try to mimic his play style, aggressive tackles, headers, and composure.  He’s the captain for Real Madrid and Spain and plays center back just like I did,” Staab explained.

#5 Ryan Feiser (Baseball)

“I always imagined myself wearing a single digit number and the first year I ever played organized baseball was when I was seven and I wore number five and I liked hearing people call me five and I continued to wear it throughout travel and kinda just made it my thing where I don’t want to wear any other number,” Feiser said.

#6 Sean Faikish (Water Polo)

“My birthday is on November sixth, nothing other than that,” Faikish stated.

#6 Christian Stevens (Baseball)

“Before I became a pitcher, all I would play was first base and back in the day, the best one was Ryan Howard and he was my favorite player,” Stevens said.

#7 Mike Chaffee (Soccer)

“I wear number seven because I grew up under the impression it was a lucky and a special number.  Growing up with a love for soccer I realized that some of the best players on every team wear the number seven.  So as a little kid, I wanted to be the best and I was inspired by all of the great players and decided to be number seven myself” Chaffee explained.

#7 Abbey Picozzi (Softball)

“I wear seven because it’s a family number.  Me and my brother grew up wearing seven on the baseball or softball field.  It’s always felt like a lucky number to me cause of that and I’ve worn it all four years at North Penn,” Picozzi said.

#8 Jamie Stewart (Soccer)

“My favorite player when I was younger, Oscar, was number eight and it was the position I wanted to play so it just became the number I imagined myself wearing,” Stewart said.

#11 Colby Chan (Baseball)

“I wear eleven because as a kid, Jimmy Rollins was one of my favorite players and he wore eleven,” Chan stated.

#11 Jake Homan (Lacrosse)

“My older brother was number one and I thought about being one too, but I wanted to be different so I went with double one, which is eleven and I just like the look of it on my jersey,” Homan said.

#11 Alli Lindsay (Basketball)

“When I was a freshman, number eleven was a jersey of a graduated senior who helped the team make it to states and I wanted to keep the tradition going.  It was just a number to me then but now, it is so much more,” Lindsay said.

#12 Justin Dipietro (Football)

“Basically in my junior year the number I wanted, which was eleven, was taken so I took twelve.  During my junior year, I made my first real contributions to the team and actually did something meaningful.  That felt so special just knowing all the work I put in actually paid off.  From then on I wore twelve as a reminder of that feeling, and to continue to work as hard as possible and be the best I can be,” Dipietro explained

#12 Sierra Gee (Field Hockey)

“I wear twelve because I have played field hockey since fifth grade and I started out with a small league and I chose twelve.  Ever since then, twelve has become my lucky number throughout indoor and outdoor hockey season,” Gee said.

#12 Victoria Juckniewitz (Softball)

“I wear twelve because it’s the first number I had playing softball.  And ever since, I never wanted to change it and I hope that I can use the same number at Jefferson,” Juckniewitz said.

#13 John Graber (Soccer)

“I picked thirteen actually cause twenty-three was too big for me.  Josh Jones wanted thirteen and it was too small for him, so we just swapped with each other,” Graber explained.

#13 Josh Jones (Basketball)

“I wear thirteen because it was my dad’s number and I wanted to be like him as a kid,” Jones said.

#13 Nicky Koch (Baseball)

“I wore [thirteen] because I never really had a number to choose when I was younger, so I just chose Billy [Collin’s number] (Koch’s older cousin and North Penn baseball alum) because we always played a year a part and it stuck with me ever since and the number three in general is a big number in my family,” Koch said.

#14 Sean Brennan (Football/Baseball)

“So I was given the number fourteen when Franek (North Penn’s assistant football coach) gave me the number because they moved me up to varsity in the summer going into sophomore year, so now it reminds me of the hard work that went into getting the number,” Brennan explained.

#14 Carter Houlihan (Soccer)

“My favorite player growing up wore number fourteen.  His name was Theo Walcott,” Houlihan said.

#14 Joe Larkins (Basketball)

“I wear fourteen because my dad wore fourteen in high school and he had a huge part in getting me to where I am at now” Larkins said.

#15 Billy Coley (Basketball)

“In middle school I wore number thirteen, but last year, Chris Caputo took that number, but I also wear number fifteen after Kemba Walker when he was on the Hornets.  I also really like the crispness of the number and like how it’s kind of a flashy number while at the same time being lowkey,” Coley explained.

#15 Deborah Kim (Field Hockey)

“I never really cared much about what number I got.  I chose fifteen though because it was the only number left in the size uniform I wanted.  As far as I know, this number isn’t very popular so I chose it and stuck with it for all my years at the high school.  People argue about numbers they want, but it’s still just a number to me,” Kim explained.

#15 RJ Macnamara (Football)

“Honestly it was just the first number that I ever wore.  There was no real reason, but from the first time I wore it, it became my favorite  number.  One year I wore a jersey two sizes smaller then what I would actually wear just so I could use it,” Macnamara said.

#16 Emmy D’Ambrosio (Soccer/Lacrosse)

“When I was little, I always wanted to be number nine because that was Mia Hamm’s number and I wanted to be just like her and be on the women’s national team, but then the one year I was switching to another team and number nine was already taken, so I was trying to think of a number that would mean as much as number nine did.  Then my parents were like pick any number you want and one day that number will be as special as nine, so I picked sixteen because it wasn’t a common number,” D’Ambrosio explained.

#16 Evan Spann (Football)

“I wear number sixteen because it’s been my favorite number for a long time because I’ve always wanted to be sixteen years old because at that age you can drive and I just didn’t know any good wide receivers that wore sixteen so I wanted to make a legacy of my own” Spann said.

#17 Nate Brown (Football/Baseball)

“When I first got to pick a number when I was younger, I chose seventeen because it was my dad’s favorite number and he grew up playing soccer with the number seventeen.  As I played more and more with it, it really started to grow with me.  Eventually it just became a part of me and I think it also acted as a major connection with my dad and my family.  I think it means so much to both my family as well as myself” Brown explained.

#17  Tyler Greenstein (Ice Hockey)

“My favorite player growing up was Philadelphia Flyer, Jeff Carter, (who also wore seventeen),” Greenstein stated.

#18 Erin Boland (Volleyball)

“I’ve never had like a special number or a jersey number I’ve always had, I was always just happy to play.  Since seniors pick their jerseys first and most of them take small or medium, I’ve always had to wear baggy jerseys until this season.  Eighteen was my first pick and when I put it on, it just felt right and I knew it was my number,” Boland explained.

#18 Cole Egner (Baseball)

“When I opted to play for Lansdale [legion baseball] last summer, it was the only jersey number they had left.  So I figured it was time for a new beginning since I was playing on a new team, and I made the most of it, making second team all league and having the best season I’ve ever had,” Egner said.

#19 Carley DiGiuseppe (Softball)

“I wear nineteen because my dad was number nine when he played baseball in high school and he’s the one I look up to most and has helped me through all the ups and downs that softball has and continues to throw at me.  The number is like him, but also something of my own,” DiGiuseppe explained.

#20 Charlie Marger (Baseball)

“Growing up, I always loved watching the Eagles and Brian Dawkins was my favorite player.  I started playing football and the number I chose was number twenty.  Eventually that transitioned into baseball and that became my go to number for years,” Marger said.

#20 Alaina Mullaly (Basketball/Lacrosse)

“I’ve been wearing twenty since freshman year of basketball.  I never changed it through the four years so it really means a lot to me now and last year during lacrosse I took on twenty, so this has truly been my only number through all of high school sports,” Mullaly said.

#20 Kevon White (Football)

“Well Brian Dawkins and Ed Reed are two of my favorite players of all-time and they play the same position as me, defensive back.  Also I was born on April 20th and I’ve always believed in going past 110 percent, so I say give 120 percent,” White stated.

#21 Jack Durkin (Soccer)

“I picked [twenty-one] cause it was always my brother’s number growing up,” Durkin stated.

#22 Tommy Boyle (Ice Hockey)

“I wear twenty-two because when I was little there was a guy in the NHL, Dan Boyle, who were the number and he played defense, so I wanted to be like him and I always liked the number,” Boyle said.

#22 Mike Chaffee (Basketball)

“I wear twenty-two because I don’t know a lot of superstars that have worn or wear number twenty-two in the NBA.  I wanted to make my own legacy with the number for my basketball career and show people that number twenty-two is someone to be afraid of,” Chaffee said.

#22 Katie Early (Basketball)

“I wear the number twenty-two because it’s my dad’s badge number.  My sister wears it, my brother wears it, and my dad used to wear it too when he played,” Early said.

#22 Amanda Greaney (Softball)

“I’ve worn twenty-two ever since I started playing softball.  I don’t think I have a single picture of me when I was young without the number twenty-two on my back.  I continue to wear it because it reminds me how much I love this sport and how I’ve grown to love it more and more ever since that first game.  Twenty-two will be with me from the beginning to the end of my career,” Greaney explained.

#23 Carley Adams (Basketball)

“Most people think it’s for MJ, but I really wear it because it was my dad’s number in high school,” Adams said.

#23 Quinn Holt

“I usually wear twenty-six because the three most important people in my life, my mom, my dad, and sister, when you add up their birthdays together you get twenty-six.  But Joey [Christian] has put so much work into the program that you have to respect it and give it to him, so I just went with twenty-three, cause it’s my birthday,” Holt explained.

#23 Josh Jones (Soccer)

“I wear twenty-three because of the GOAT, LeBron” Jones stated.

#24 R.J. Agriss (Baseball)

“I wear twenty-four because my favorite player growing up was Miguel Cabrera.  He wasn’t the biggest name in baseball, but I just loved watching his swing.  I would sit and watch YouTube videos of Cabrera and Ken Griffey Jr., who’s also number twenty-four, and try to pick up little things from them to make my swing better,” Agriss said.

#24 Sophia Collins (Softball)

“So, my dad liked the number because of the guy on the Seahawks, Marshawn Lynch, and my brother (Billy Collins) used it so I just wanted to use it too,” Collins said.

#25 Alex Kee (Baseball)

“It’s the day of the month that my birthday falls on,” Kee stated.

#25 RJ Macnamara (Lacrosse)

“Well I wore fifty-one sophomore year cause it’s the reverse of fifteen and twenty-five last year cause that’s just been my go to number when can’t have either of those.  I started to wear twenty-five after [LeSean] McCoy was on the Eagles and when we didn’t have a fifteen jersey I could wear,” Macnamara said.

#26 Joey Christian (Baseball)

“I wear twenty-six because of my childhood favorite player, Chase Utley, because I loved the way he played the game and how he respected the game and all of his fans.  When I was younger me and my sister were at a game hoping to get someone’s autograph but we were stuck behind a bunch of adults and Chase Utley picked me and my sister out of the crowd and brought us to the front to sign our hats.  Also, when Chase came home to Philly on his farewell tour before retiring, me and my sister made sure to go to that game to show our love to my favorite player growing up,” Christian explained.

#27 Steve Corrado (Baseball)

“Mike Trout is the reason I wear number twenty-seven for baseball.  Growing up, I loved watching baseball all the time and Trout was the most exciting player to watch as a kid.  Every season he proves to be a better player than he once was.  Being an outfielder myself, Trout is a player I look up to and is a reason that I try to be the best player I can be,” Corrado explained.

#27 Madison Reilly (Softball)

“I wear twenty-seven because Jennie Finch wore it and she use to be one of my biggest role models when I was little and playing softball,”Reilly said.

#29 Kolby Barrow (Baseball)

“It’s my favorite number,” Barrow stated.

#30 Val McGriff (Volleyball/Basketball)

“I wear thirty because I was obsessed with Steph Curry, so I wanted that to be my first number in middle school basketball.  And I’ve had it ever since,” McGriff said.

#31 Jillian Lampitoc (Field Hockey)

“Freshman year I kind of went into picking a number not really knowing what I was going to do and when I got to go pick my number I saw thirty-one was an option and I really didn’t hesitate long to claim it because my cousin was thirty-two in college and she’s always been a role model in sports and stuff like that growing up, so I thought it would be really cool to get to be the number next to hers,” Lampitoc explained.

#31 Tia Sheehy (Soccer)

“Honestly my number going into high school wasn’t number thirty-one, it was thirty-three, but I got thirty-one sophomore year after a senior got thirty-three, and that’s when everything kinda started for me. For me, thirty-one was like a new identity, and for many people a number means something important, and to me it meant a new start, a fresh start, my first year officially on the varsity squad and a chance to prove myself to the coaches, my teammates, and the school. The truly important number for me was three. I was always a number with three, whether it was three itself since I had began playing soccer when I was five, or thirty-three when I changed club teams, or thirty-one when I came to high school. Every time I see my jersey I see the number 3, and it reminds me why I play, because I have always loved it and that can’t be taken away,” Sheehy explained.

#33 Rob Carangi

“I wear the number thirty-three because in basketball, the number nineteen is illegal.  I was born on the nineteenth of October, so I always liked that number, but when I started playing basketball, they told me I wasn’t allowed to wear it, so I chose thirty-three because it was the number that Larry Bird wore,” Carangi explained.

#34 Gavin Mikulski (Baseball)

“I’ve been thirty-four growing up.  I have a framed picture of my name and the origin of it, what my name means and that type of stuff.  Below it, is a list of my lucky numbers and thirty-four is the first one.  I’ve worn it since I started playing baseball,” Mikulski explained.

#35 Milind Pulugura (Basketball)

“That number was Kevin Durant’s and I wanted to be a number of a great player.  KD is also very good, the way he plays when using his dribbles effectively to create the best shot for himself.  He is also an amazing scorer,” Pulugura said.

#45 Matt Swanson (Basketball)

“I chose forty-five because it was my brother’s number when he played for North Penn and I wanted to carry on the tradition,” Swanson said.

#51 Eric Hamilton (Baseball)

“I wear the number fifty-one because as a kid, I always looked up to Ichiro Suzuki.  He hit lefty and threw righty like me and always played his heart out on the field,” Hamilton said.

#52 Spencer Heilveil (Baseball)

“I wear number fifty-two because up until I was thirteen, I was just a mediocre baseball player.  When I was thirteen, I was about to quit baseball but decided to do one more year for a new team, the North Penn Raiders.  There I couldn’t pick my number and was given fifty-two.  That season was my best ever.  I became an all-star and revived my love for the game.  Therefore the number means something to me and my reason to play,” Heilveil explained.

#80 Quinn Holt (Ice Hockey)

“Basically, I never really wanted eighty.  My favorite player is Patrick Kane and he wore eighty-eight, so that’s what I wanted to wear but at the time, that number was already taken so I just really liked the way eighty looks because it’s almost the same thing as eighty-eight with the last last bar across,” Holt explained.