Sports Editor

In sports, the number 5 is not a number most people think about.

Most sports score one point at a time. Other sports score two, three and even six points at a time.

Eight NHL teams have the number five retired, seven MLB, one in the NBA, and two in the NFL.

When it comes to soccer, the greats such as Messi, Marta, Lloyd and Pulisic all where the #10; (Pelé, Neymar, and Wayne Rooney to name a few more).

So why is the #5 so important to the CSU Bakersfield men’s soccer team?

“The #5 stands for Water, Food, Health, Housing & Education, the five human needs for all human types and it says it right on the back of our #5Jerseys,” said head coach Richie Grant. “In the CSUB Men’s Soccer locker-room we are equal, we are human, and we support each other.”

The CSUB men’s soccer team has voted to support each other in the locker room and support the community.

If you go to the CSU Bakersfield Men’s soccer games, fans will who arrive to watch the team warmup will notice something similar on the back of the warmup jerseys.

Each player for CSUB, at home and away games, will have the #5 on the back of its warmup jerseys.

“It means were all unified for a common goal. The fact that we all have the number five on the back of our jerseys to warm up just means were standing for this cause,” said senior midfielder Sam Gomez.

The Roadrunners have been wearing the number five on the back of their warmup jerseys for the past couple seasons and this season they are trying to expand it.

To vote for supporting isn’t just believing in the five basic human needs, it’s giving back to the community especially the less fortunate.

“We’ve gone to food banks, and we’ve coached kids at night and have done focus groups,” said sophomore forward Tom Shepard.

Going along with one of the five basic human needs of education, CSUB hosted Education day for elementary school students as it faced the #7 ranked Air Force Academy.

CSUB defeated Air Force 1-0 in front of a sold-out crowd of kids from throughout the Bakersfield area.

Before the game against Air Force, the men’s soccer team wore specially made T-shirts.

The shirts had five white boxes where the players wrote a five-letter work or acronym that represents something that has a meaning to them.

Think of any 5-letter-word or acronym to represent any 5-letter-type of us: Equal, Human, Needs, Women, Males, Trans, Black, Brown, White, LGBTQ, etc.

An example by using numbers is a zip code. All zip codes are five numbers and in Bakersfield those numbers range from 93301 to 93390.

A zip code does not discriminate against anyone and the backgrounds and diversity inside those zip codes make everyone living inside the area all one.

The word Human, is a word that describes every person on this earth. It does not discriminate and the inclusion of everyone is what makes people equal.

Colleges around the country have join the vote to support and it is also growing to Major league Soccer and the US men’s and women’s team.

Justin Morrow a defender for Toronto FC, Brad Guzan a goalkeeper for Atlanta United FC, Servando Carrasco a Midfielder for the LA Galaxy and even Michael Bradley of the U.S. soccer team Veteran USWNT and NWSL goalkeeper, Nicole Barnhart; MLS Captains Alejandro Bedoya, Steven Birnbaum, Evan Bush; MLS Defender-Of-The-Year, Ike Opara; and Bakersfield-native, Liberty H.S. alumnus, and current Montreal Impact Forward, Quincy Amarikwa are all MLS or National team members who have voted to support.

The University of Central Arkansas Men’s Soccer, Roanoke College Men’s Soccer, Wisconsin-Parkside Women’s Soccer, University of Florida Women’s Soccer, Northern Idaho Men’s Soccer and University of Denver Men’s Soccer have all joined the vote.

So what is the #5 jersey? Who may wear it?

When looking on social media of some of the soccer players and college teams, there are taped #5 on the back of the jerseys that have the terms of use that is hand written in sharpie.

“Terms of Use: Peacefully, To Support Any 5-Letter-Type, In Any 5-Digit-Place…Across The USA.”

The #5 jersey can be worn but is not limited to the Human of the Year award. This coming season will be the first season that Coach Grant will assign the #5 jersey to the Human of the Year.

A final statement which is said on the social media posts by players and college soccer teams,

“We Vote To Support Each Other. Will Your Locker-Room, Stadium & Community? It Starts With You: The #5Jersey”