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three and half hour drive----does it matter?

southbottomU

VaPreps All District
Dec 5, 2004
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We have seen how the Loudon County Schools have done coming to SW Virginia (Salem)----GW Danville loses going to Champe. Salem lost two years ago going to Sherando. I guess the only success has been Liberty going to Jefferson Forest last year. Is the sample size too small to make an assessment? Or is there really something to this? Is it no difference, a touchdown difference, or maybe more?
 
I gotta believe that trip blows in a typical school bus or even the slightly larger Activity buses that LoCo deploys.
I heard a story, cannot confirm, that some of the larger football players basically laid down in the aisles of a bus going to Salem one year to get comfortable....

Woodgrove is sending the lads in motor coaches to Jefferson Forest on Friday. The motor coaches we have rented in the past have an audiovisual system so I would think they will be watching JF game tapes on the way down.

I'm thinking a great team would handle the travel in stride.

Taking a loss and having that ride home all worn out and bruised up must be miserable.
 
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Courtland had a similar length of trip to GW in Danville last year and was boat raced in the first half--seemed like they were still on the bus. They had a furious come-back in the second half, but still ended up losing 29-26. I think the long trips have a hard effect on the boys.
 
I don't think it makes any difference at all at the HS level, assuming you arrive on time. We had a playoff game against Liberty-Bedford that we were late arriving to (Traffic issue) and everyone at the stadium was just waiting for us to get there. We end up having a very short warm-up and it was pretty chaotic trying to get everything ready to go.

This was a bigger issue in college but still really not a big difference maker. We had some trips that were a lot longer in distance and were sometimes really uncomfortable but that really shouldn't effect how well you play. Of course in college on these trips we would be arriving the day before and get a night at the hotel before the game. I don't think any of the HS teams arrive the day before.
 
I don't think it makes any difference at all at the HS level, assuming you arrive on time. We had a playoff game against Liberty-Bedford that we were late arriving to (Traffic issue) and everyone at the stadium was just waiting for us to get there. We end up having a very short warm-up and it was pretty chaotic trying to get everything ready to go.

This was a bigger issue in college but still really not a big difference maker. We had some trips that were a lot longer in distance and were sometimes really uncomfortable but that really shouldn't effect how well you play. Of course in college on these trips we would be arriving the day before and get a night at the hotel before the game. I don't think any of the HS teams arrive the day before.
Yes some teams do arrive the day before and stay in hotels maybe Devils can verify this but I think lake Taylor stays in Charlottesville and practices at Amherst then work their way down 29. But I kno of other teams who have came the day before and stayed in hotels especially the beach schools when they come to fairfax county to play
 
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We have seen how the Loudon County Schools have done coming to SW Virginia (Salem)----GW Danville loses going to Champe. Salem lost two years ago going to Sherando. I guess the only success has been Liberty going to Jefferson Forest last year. Is the sample size too small to make an assessment? Or is there really something to this? Is it no difference, a touchdown difference, or maybe more?
The previous teams from NOVA coming to Salem didn't affect the outcome in any way imo. Salem was better than Dominion, Fauquier, Woodgrove (2) & Liberty the last couple of years. (Woodgrove & Liberty last year were pretty good, but I think the outcome would have been the same) GW's matchup with Champe last week was between 2 evenly matched teams decided by 3. Sherando & Salem were pretty even in '13 decided by 7. I think traveling a long distance has to have some affect, but I don't think you can accurately quantify it in points. I think the biggest factor in traveling matchups is the equity in competition.
 
Yes some teams do arrive the day before and stay in hotels maybe Devils can verify this but I think lake Taylor stays in Charlottesville and practices at Amherst then work their way down 29. But I kno of other teams who have came the day before and stayed in hotels especially the beach schools when they come to fairfax county to play
They did practice at Amherst but there has also been other teams that practiced at Amherst in years past
 
Yes some teams do arrive the day before and stay in hotels maybe Devils can verify this but I think lake Taylor stays in Charlottesville and practices at Amherst then work their way down 29. But I kno of other teams who have came the day before and stayed in hotels especially the beach schools when they come to fairfax county to play

So in 2012 for the state semifinal game at 2pm at North Stafford we arrived Friday night after practice and came out and had a HORRIBLE first half. So, the next week we left Friday Morning practiced at Monticello because they were the only HS in Charlottesville to allow us to practice there, went to eat, and had a great night in the hotel for a 12pm kickoff.

Last season we left Friday morning, practiced at Monticello, went to eat, stayed in the same hotel in Charlottesville and got up early Saturday morning and traveled the rest of the way to Lynchburg.

Monticello's hospitality is one of the reasons we played them this cycle instead of similar teams as they have been very helpful during our 2 state title runs. First starting with the AD Barnes when he was there and then Mr. Pearman last year.

The bus ride an have a huge impact on a team that is why we leave early for games and just get around to hang out. When we played Amherst we left at 9am just so we can get there relax and not have to worry.
 
So in 2012 for the state semifinal game at 2pm at North Stafford we arrived Friday night after practice and came out and had a HORRIBLE first half. So, the next week we left Friday Morning practiced at Monticello because they were the only HS in Charlottesville to allow us to practice there, went to eat, and had a great night in the hotel for a 12pm kickoff.

Last season we left Friday morning, practiced at Monticello, went to eat, stayed in the same hotel in Charlottesville and got up early Saturday morning and traveled the rest of the way to Lynchburg.

Monticello's hospitality is one of the reasons we played them this cycle instead of similar teams as they have been very helpful during our 2 state title runs. First starting with the AD Barnes when he was there and then Mr. Pearman last year.

The bus ride an have a huge impact on a team that is why we leave early for games and just get around to hang out. When we played Amherst we left at 9am just so we can get there relax and not have to worry.
GW takes charter buses for all games. In 1974 we left Danville in the am and stayed in Fredericksburg to play Woodbridge. We came back Sat am.
For playoff games north of Richmond, GW has a dominating winning record at home and a dominating losing record on the road.
 
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Asking you guys that played in the last 10 to 15 years, did you dread, enjoy, or tolerate the bus trips over an hour?

Just the traveling to the game trips.

The return was either fun, or very quiet, depending on victory or defeat. So that half is self evident.
 
So in 2012 for the state semifinal game at 2pm at North Stafford we arrived Friday night after practice and came out and had a HORRIBLE first half. So, the next week we left Friday Morning practiced at Monticello because they were the only HS in Charlottesville to allow us to practice there, went to eat, and had a great night in the hotel for a 12pm kickoff.

Last season we left Friday morning, practiced at Monticello, went to eat, stayed in the same hotel in Charlottesville and got up early Saturday morning and traveled the rest of the way to Lynchburg.

Monticello's hospitality is one of the reasons we played them this cycle instead of similar teams as they have been very helpful during our 2 state title runs. First starting with the AD Barnes when he was there and then Mr. Pearman last year.

The bus ride an have a huge impact on a team that is why we leave early for games and just get around to hang out. When we played Amherst we left at 9am just so we can get there relax and not have to worry.
Yes I remember the north stafford game that was actually my first time watching LT. I remember that game won on a field goal and north staffords huge band playing non stop loudly. That game will forever be in my memory great comeback for LT. And for Monticello they have always been very hospitable I personally know during basketball season back when I played in the tournaments there.
 
Yes I remember the north stafford game that was actually my first time watching LT. I remember that game won on a field goal and north staffords huge band playing non stop loudly. That game will forever be in my memory great comeback for LT. And for Monticello they have always been very hospitable I personally know during basketball season back when I played in the tournaments there.

The North Stafford was a bit of a shock for our team.. We get there start warming up the music comes on and its like country music (not that I have anything against it) 90's pop just the complete opposite of what my players would ever listen to. They are in the warmup lines like how can we get hype to this??
I remember their band playing loudly the whole time as we had to get on top of the press box. I just remember we having a terrible start to the game and they had two big plays for td's. We are going down to the field and the State Troopers are celebrating, fans talking trash as we are walking down, and it was just a hostile environment. The good thing going to halftime down 14-0 was we started having some success on our last drive before the half.
We came out tied it up fumbled in the 4th quarter they took the lead..Scored missed the 2 point conversion got it back and the rest was LT history. Key play was the fact they left Jalyn Holmes backside one on one with this small safety. Jalyn at 6'5 240 at that time took the ball from the kid and then ran his help over for a 30 yard gain.
Overall it was a great atmosphere and a game that showed us we can win in tight situations and in a hostile environment. Real confidence booster.
 
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Asking you guys that played in the last 10 to 15 years, did you dread, enjoy, or tolerate the bus trips over an hour?

Just the traveling to the game trips.

The return was either fun, or very quiet, depending on victory or defeat. So that half is self evident.
I would say that most tolerated it and some enjoyed. Very few people were actually dreading the trips.
 
Asking you guys that played in the last 10 to 15 years, did you dread, enjoy, or tolerate the bus trips over an hour?

Just the traveling to the game trips.

The return was either fun, or very quiet, depending on victory or defeat. So that half is self evident.
For me it depended on how we traveled. Whether we used school bus or chartered bus. I enjoy traveling and seeing new places so that part was cool but I am 6'3 so my legs would start to hurt after about an hour.
 
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