How do teams handle long trips?  I am sure it happens in the regular season but this time year it happens more often with a lot more on the line.  An example is Cov Cath traveling to Johnson Central, but they aren’t the only ones that will be traveling 3+ hours this week or in the upcoming weeks.  I am sure every school handles it differently and I was curious, so hopefully some can share their previous experiences or specifics on how teams are dealing with it this year. 

Early in season, if a team is paying lesser comp for them to come play, some teams will get a charter bus to make it easier, as well as leave school early, Playoffs can be similar. I am sure some teams may go the night before and get a hotel for the kids if they can afford it. Usually the team will pay for a "nicer" pre game meal as well. Just in my experience as a coach and player, this was the norm for me. 

Here we go again. Kentucky high school teams DO NOT have long travel times compared to other states. I remember traveling from Durango Colorado to FT Collins on a school bus for a playoff game. A bus trip that took 9 hours, going over Wolf Creek pass, up HWY 285 and thru the mountains and down into the front range and the Denver area and then north to FT Collins . The longest distance in this state for ANY team might be 4-5 hours. 

@Hardin County Preps has a point, but a 3 hr bus ride to go play some football is still a tall task for anybody. When I was coaching it always felt like a scramble to get everything right on the road, especially if it’s your first time playing at the location. Couple that with the lack of space that the majority of these away locker rooms have, the normal routine is always thrown for a loop. What I was told as a player was to treat it like a business trip, one mission and whatever obstacle that was thrown our way it was not to takeaway from what we came there to do.
 

All in all just go play ball, nobody really cares what happens outside of those 48 minutes of game time. However, anyone who tells you that it is not a challenge would be telling you a lie, very difficult to overcome.

It happens all the time in the regular season and no one says anything but if a team has to travel in the playoffs it gets everyone up in arms I never understood why.

I know in high school when our team would have a long travel playoff game, the whole school would be let out early. If I remember correctly around lunchtime. They would also sponsor charter busses that you could pay a small fee to ride for anyone who wanted to go to the game. They would do a going away celebration line for the parents, students, and cheerleaders to send them off after school. Then the busses would follow the team bus in a caravan to ensure a high turnout of fans. (This routine was the same for the basketball teams too)

3 hours ago, Hardin County Preps said:

Here we go again. Kentucky high school teams DO NOT have long travel times compared to other states. I remember traveling from Durango Colorado to FT Collins on a school bus for a playoff game. A bus trip that took 9 hours, going over Wolf Creek pass, up HWY 285 and thru the mountains and down into the front range and the Denver area and then north to FT Collins . The longest distance in this state for ANY team might be 4-5 hours. 

By the way, a beautiful drive in the fall

3 hours ago, Hardin County Preps said:

Here we go again. Kentucky high school teams DO NOT have long travel times compared to other states. I remember traveling from Durango Colorado to FT Collins on a school bus for a playoff game. A bus trip that took 9 hours, going over Wolf Creek pass, up HWY 285 and thru the mountains and down into the front range and the Denver area and then north to FT Collins . The longest distance in this state for ANY team might be 4-5 hours. 

Not too far off....the longest time to travel is about 6 1/2 to 7 hours as shown by Belfry traveling to Union County for a playoff game last year.

I didn’t mean to start the annual tradition of complaining about who travels the most and how unfair it is.  I was more curious about how each team handles it.  As well as, learning how past players and coaches dealt with long travel games.  Things like:  did you rent coach buses?  Did you stop on the way or drive straight through?  Did you ever spend the night?   How was pregame meal handled?   What’s the target arrival time before away games (2-hrs)?  Things like that.  Trying to learn more about the experience.  

32 minutes ago, FatNate said:

I didn’t mean to start the annual tradition of complaining about who travels the most and how unfair it is.  I was more curious about how each team handles it.  As well as, learning how past players and coaches dealt with long travel games.  Things like:  did you rent coach buses?  Did you stop on the way or drive straight through?  Did you ever spend the night?   How was pregame meal handled?   What’s the target arrival time before away games (2-hrs)?  Things like that.  Trying to learn more about the experience.  

I feel like most coaches would never want to spend the night unless it was for the state championship. It also depends on money situations and availability for the coach busses. Many schools have no choice but to take a school bus and probably leave early from school or maybe skip that day of school if it is an essessive. In hs I just don't see traveling the night before in KY. If it is 6-7 hours for a trip I could see driving, stopping halfway to eat and potentially even doing a walk thru practice before finishing the trek. 

Unless you live in or around Lex/Louisville or NKY charter buses become very difficult to afford.  The bus companies start charging when they leave their shop, if you are 2 hours away you get charged for the 2 hours drive time and 150 miles for the bus to get to you and back after your trip.  Depending how far you are away from the companies, a one day trip can get in the 4 to 5 thousand range for 1 bus, if you need 2, double that.  

41 minutes ago, Colonel 17 said:

Unless you live in or around Lex/Louisville or NKY charter buses become very difficult to afford.  The bus companies start charging when they leave their shop, if you are 2 hours away you get charged for the 2 hours drive time and 150 miles for the bus to get to you and back after your trip.  Depending how far you are away from the companies, a one day trip can get in the 4 to 5 thousand range for 1 bus, if you need 2, double that.  

True...the alternative is sticking with second hand yellow school buses and having the passengers pray that the engine light doesn't go on driving in the mountains on the way to a big game.

Charter buses are the way to go. All about having a good plan obviously for the team, need to stay up to date on communication with parents who may wanna see their kid play. Playoffs would assume it's the same thing. 

Leave school early, go eat a nice meal somewhere about halfway go wherever you’re going, then trek on to the stadium. 

On 11/12/2025 at 11:18 AM, nkypete said:

True...the alternative is sticking with second hand yellow school buses and having the passengers pray that the engine light doesn't go on driving in the mountains on the way to a big game.

? Can't make this up, but as a player and coach, two separate instances...the issues came from Charter's (and, they were Cadillac's, too). Yellow birds? None (even on long trips like below). 

1- Playing at Lawrence County. Eating some post game Lee's in their middle school cafeteria? Bus pulls up and the hydraulics on the front right when lowering it down to load all on? Get stuck. Four hours later at 3am they get it fixed. Three hours + later? We're pulling back into the FH as the sun comes up.

2- Playoff game at Bell County? Between Somerset and London on on 80? Engine starts smoking on the hill going east past Shopville. They originally thought a new one had to come from Knoxville, but luckily the company had an empty one coming South on 75. Switched over right on the side of the road.