LCI Varsity Football Jacket and Letters, c. 1960-1963
P20080001000 & P20080032001-2

Jacket and Letters were acquired/awarded to Lethbridge Collegiate Institute high school football Captain Kendall Russell.

Russell’s motivation to play football came from his enjoyment of the game and his friendships with other team members. Commented Russell in 2008, “I just lived for Friday nights or Saturday, it wasn’t drudgery, it wasn’t a task, [it was] just pure fun.” During Russell’s era there were very few teams to play against. The Rams, he said, traveled to play against teams from Medicine Hat, Cardston (game was an annual Halloween horror event), Cut Bank, MN, and Picture Butte.

Russell claimed that the varsity jacket was acquired at the end of the football season in Grade Ten (1960), and was worn the day it was received. He recalled wearing it every day until Grade Eleven, when he received a new, full leather-sleeved version.

According to Russell, the loose letters were acquired in Grades Eleven and Twelve and were never worn. “If you had the jacket” he said, “it was fairly apparent that you had earned the letter”. To receive them, “you had to display a level of competence [and] … had to play so much time on the field.” Jim Whitelaw, the school’s football coach, decided if a letter was to be awarded and, if so, handed it out at the team’s annual awards assembly.

Jacket private purchase
Patches donated by Kendall Russell

Champs Again!!, c. 1961 P20081080001 LCI Rams’ Captains, Kendall Russell, left, and Murray Shapiro, along with Coach Jim Whitelaw accept the T. Eatons’ department store trophy from a local company representative. Donated by Kendall Russell