Number (sports) facts for kids

Quarterbacks, like Peyton Manning, generally possess a squad number between 1 and 19.

In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, is the number worn on a player's uniform. It distinguishes each player from others wearing the same uniform. This is so that officials, scorers and spectators have something to identify each player. The number is usually shown on the back of the jersey. The player's surname is often written above or below the number. Sometimes the number also displayed on the front or sleeves, or on the player's shorts or headgear.

Related pages

• Uniform number (Major League Baseball)
• Uniform number (American football)

Images for kids

• 

  Squad number, as depicted on an association football jersey

• 

  First use of numbers in South America: Scottish club Third Lanark and Argentine "Zona Norte" combined entering to the pitch with numbered jerseys, 10 June 1923

• 

  Arsenal wearing numbered shirts in a friendly vs. FC Vienna in 1933. Numbered shirts had first appeared in England in 1928 when Arsenal played Sheffield Wednesday. Their use would not be ruled until 1939

• 

  Nick Malceski executing a drop punt in 2006. In Australian rules football, squad numbers are usually not relevant to the player's position on the ground, although some clubs assign No. 1 to captains

• 

  Players of the Cleveland Indians wearing uniforms with numbers on their left sleeves in 1916. The Indians were the first team to introduce numbered uniforms in the MLB.

• 

  Although the NBA does not allow players to change numbers midseason, Andre Iguodala switched from #4 to #9 when Chris Webber arrived to the Sixers in 2005

• 

  English cricketer Ben Stokes wearing 55 in a One Day International match v New Zealand, 2015. Players may choose their own numbers

• 

  Unlike American football, Canadian football has long allowed the use of the number 0, even at the professional level; it is often worn by defensive backs, like Rico Murray.

• 

  Goaltender Jacques Plante's No. 1 jersey exhibited at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Over time, the number 1 became less common among players in that position

• 

  Jeff Burton's car wearing No. 31 (2013)

• 

  Jody Scheckter running with No. 3 in 1976

• 

  Jules Bianchi's No. 17 has not been re-issued after he died in 2015 from an accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix

• 

  Start of a motocross race; a racer with 3-digit number is leading

• 

  A World of Outlaws sprint car race; a pair of cars have numbers with a trailing letter

• 

  Fly-half Dan Carter wearing n° 10, usually given to players in that position

• 

  Number 21 on the road bicycle of Ellen van Dijk at the Ronde van Drenthe

• 

  Los Angeles Lakers retired numbers displayed at the Staples Center in 2013

See also

In Spanish: Numeración deportiva para niños