North Schuylkill Retires Jaden Leiby's #6

On Saturday, prior to the Spartans' Girls Varsity Basketball game, a special ceremony was held to recognize one of the district's most inspiring athletes.

In 2019, Jaden Leiby was a Senior set to graduate in June of 2020 at North Schuylkill.  He was a starter for the Spartans' football and baseball teams and was looking ahead to continue is career at the collegiate level.

Jaden's whole life changed on October 28th, 2019, during the Spartans' football game against Pottsville after he suffered a traumatic injury during a tackle.

The injury ended Jaden's time on the field while he spent several months recovering in the hospital, but that didn't stop him from pushing forward.

For nearly 4 years, Leiby has continued to push every day to make himself stronger.  Even since graduating, he has continued to be involved with his alma mater as a volunteer coach for the football and baseball teams to pass his knowledge of the sport to new players.

Because of this, North Schuylkill retired Leiby's infamous #6 jerseys and add him to their sports wall of fame.  This is the first time in the school's history that a jersey is being retired.

During Saturday's ceremony, Jaden was joined by his former coach Wally Hall, his former teammates, and his family.

"Today is all about honoring a player that gave his all every time he stepped out on the field.   He played every inning, every down, HARD!  No matter if the scoreboard was in North Schuylkill's favor at the time or not.   I believe it was this attitude and mentality that helped Jaden come as far as he has to this day."  North Schuylkill Athletic Director said when introducing Jaden.

"As a player, all of us up here had the pleasure of coaching him."  Coach Hall said.  "He had all the abilities, his athleticism was incredible, but the biggest thing about Jaden was that he loved his teammates.  He was a tremendous leader.  One of the best leaders, I've ever been around.  He loved to compete.  Every game, every practice."

Jaden's #6 jersey will hang in the lower lobby of the North Schuylkill High School.