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Strategies for traveling well

Posted by 2A pony boy on 9/26/2024, 10:25 am

In our new football conference, most of our away games are over 3 hours of travel on a yellow dog. That makes for an additional 10- to 12-hour day on top of normal school hours if you include call times, loading times, game times, etc.

Any particular strategies y'all use to make sure your band members travel well?

We provide good meals and plan stops for restroom breaks and snacks. Beyond providing more food and water, and making sure we aren't rushed for time, I'm not sure what else there is to do. But I know the next two weeks of football travel on top of invitationals and UIL is going to take its toll.

Re: Strategies for traveling well

Posted by banddirhdg on 9/30/2024, 2:11 pm, in reply to "Strategies for traveling well"

If you are a 2A school, they may want you to drive a bus but I want to tell you that you aren't safe driving a bus after a 12-hour day.

Re: Strategies for traveling well

Posted by Formerly 2A on 9/30/2024, 8:26 am, in reply to "Strategies for traveling well"

Depending on how supportive your admin is, you might see if they'll let you leave after halftime on game nights before a contest. The optics of this might cause some headaches if the football team is not doing well and if parents aren't aware that you are leaving for a good reason. Just be sure to over-communicate.

Don't hold your breath expecting coaches to schedule non-district opponents that are closer. They schedule teams (or try to) that will prepare them for district. Sometimes that means you have to play teams that are further away. Along the same lines, I taught at a 2A school just outside of DFW. There were many marching invitationals that would have been much closer to us but we would have gotten slaughtered. Therefore we opted to attend small school friendly contests that were further away.

Best wishes and safe travels!

Re: Strategies for traveling well

Posted by Honestly on 9/28/2024, 12:27 pm, in reply to "Strategies for traveling well"

From my experience, the kids will be exhausted, yes, but they bounce back pretty quickly. When we have those kinds of trips my kids will either rest on the bus or they'll be singing karaoke with their group.

Those pit stops will also help a lot. If anything, it'll give them a chance to stretch their legs or buy some snacks.

Most importantly, they and the parents know it's not your fault. They know it'll be exhausting and crazy long, but it won't be you they'll be looking for answers from. They'll instead be seeing what you're doing to help make it all easier on them.

Re: Strategies for traveling well

Posted by really retired on 9/27/2024, 2:46 pm, in reply to "Strategies for traveling well"

not to cause trouble - but - is the football team traveling on yellow dogs? If yes, I apologize for implying...

Re: Strategies for traveling well

Posted by OP on 9/27/2024, 4:27 pm, in reply to "Re: Strategies for traveling well"

Yes, they are. We don't have much that's nice in the way of vehicles. Yellow dogs with marginal AC is all we have for group travel.

Re: Strategies for traveling well

Posted by Me on 9/27/2024, 7:31 am, in reply to "Strategies for traveling well"

You can't put in 36 hours of work in two days and not suffer. Same with the kids.

Talk to your football coaches and see if those trips can be spread out for next year's schedule. Barring that, pick an invitational closer to home.

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