Published Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Getting fueled up for 08-09 athletic season a challenge
The Times-Herald
In Mississippi, high schools will participate in 10-percent less varsity contests during the 2008-09 school year.
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, one athletic association has shrunk from five high school classifications to three.
Throughout the country, high schools are consistently facing one common rival on the field -- the gas pump. And the hope for the Coweta County School System is that athletics won't fall victim to the recent surge in prices from a year ago. Both of the above were efforts done as a direct result of current gas prices, which on average are at least $1 more per gallon than last year according to the American Automobile Association.
Closer to home this year, Troup County School System has limited the number of miles it will fund for road trips to 150 miles. The rest will have to be covered by the school's athletic departments.
Last year, Coweta Schools kept a 200-mile rule in effect for round-trip travel using buses and attempted to use charter buses on such occasions. Athletics isn't the only aspect of school being cramped by the rise in prices.
Combating the rise in Georgia among diesel prices is no easy task. Diesel remains on average in the Atlanta area at $4.67 per gallon compared to $2.89 a year ago according to AAA.
"The same thing can be said for field trips," said Coweta School System Public Information Officer Dean Jackson. "They'll be a whole lot fewer of them (outside the county)."
While a recent dip in the market is a start, it's still going to take a frugal effort regarding bus travel within the school system's transportation budget before it gets sucked dry. Despite a decrease on average of 33 cents per gallon during the past month, regular unleaded gas is still selling at more than $1 per gallon above what it cost in August 2007.
Added mileage also increases the need for maintenance at a time when the majority of Coweta's current bus fleet runs on diesel fuel and are more than a handful of years old.
As students head to school for the first time today, Associate Superintendent Jerry Davis, who oversees the school systems' operations center says the 100-mile rule hasn't changed.
But it doesn't expect to become an issue among fall athletics with the possible exception of cross country. Northgate High has an Oct. 11 return trip to Hoover, Ala., posted on its 2008 schedule, which is an approximate 138-mile trip one-way from Newnan. The Great American Cross-Country Festival was comprised of 38 schools from Georgia and Alabama in one of the regular season's biggest meets of the year.
Instead, the biggest way that the system says it can combat costs is maximizing the number of students traveling on buses and limiting the number of buses used per trip. That means that the old Forrest Gump "Seat's taken," excuse might not cut it among high school coaches and athletic directors trying to maximize space to two athletes per seat at times.
"We have been talking with school principals about it, and we've just looked at a few things. The biggest thing will do with maximizing the number of buses we use to transport students to events," said Davis. "It may mean that while before there were two (junior varsity) buses, now there might be one for both."
Distance, which the Georgia High School Association takes into consideration during reclassification, dwarfs the issue for varsity teams. East Coweta and Newnan enter a Region 5-AAAAA alignment where it's longest potential road trip is to Pebblebrook in south Cobb County at 44 miles one way. Northgate's longest trip within a new Region 4-AAAA this year would be to Villa Rica in Carroll County at 38 miles one way. Both regions have been subdivided, further limiting potential travel.
And with the Coweta County Middle School Athletic Association set up to keep sixth, seventh and eighth grade athletic contests within the county, freshmen and junior-varsity teams could feel the biggest pinch.
"You can't always limit the number of buses with JV teams because of the schools. Some schools don't have teams, some of them do," said Davis.
A potential partnership, however, with Fayette County Schools is possible to help fill junior varsity and/or freshman schedules with non-region games.
"We have talked with Fayette County and they are looking to play more games closer to home," he said. "They're in the same situation we are."