While many Dartmouth students rarely leave Hanover during the term, others spend their weekends flying over the plains of the Midwest on the way back from tournaments in California or Indiana. These Dartmouth student-athletes have become accustomed to studying in buses, airplanes and vans, and work to balance travel and school.
With a looming athletic department budget cut, which could be anywhere between five and 15 percent, according to Athletic Director Josie Harper, some student-athletes are now wondering whether their seasons will stay as rigorous and competitive in the event that a cap is placed on the number of miles teams can travel in any given season.
"There are very complicated formulas they use to select teams to NCAA tournaments, and part of them is strength of schedule," Brian Austin, executive associate athletic director for varsity sports, said. "So, if you're playing better teams, you get more points and have a better chance of being selected."
The second-largest expense in the athletic department after coaches' salaries is team travel, according to Austin.
The manner in which the atheltic department will handle the impending budget cuts, he said, is still in question,
The athletic department has constructed a number of theoretical exercises to examine the possible effects of various cuts, Austin said.
"I think there is a way that we can [cut the budget] having a minimal effect on teams," Austin said. "I don't think it's going to be drastic."
The teams, Austin said, will likely retain the same number of games and still play the entirety of their Ivy League schedules.
The teams that will have to adapt the most to the change are those that are funded by the College.
Some teams, such as sailing or club sports, that fund their travel through fundraising and private alumni donations, will not be affected by the College's budget crunch.
The more expensive, College-sponsored sports such as soccer, football, hockey and basketball will probably have to adapt their methods of travel to fit the cuts in the athletic department, Austin said.
"[Travel expenses] will likely be reduced," he said. "To what degree, I can't say right now. It is one of our biggest expenses."
Austin said that the athletic department remains optimistic about the changes that will have to be made.
Some coaches are preparing to change the manner in which they organize their teams' travel schedules.
"I don't expect us to travel less because, in Division I sports, schedules are often made one to two years in advance," Jeff Cook, head coach of the men's varsity soccer team, said. "I would expect us to travel differently."
Cook explained that, athough he believes teams already try to be as frugal as possible on the road, teams will likely need to be increasingly cognizant of minimizing expenditures while traveling.
"We're going to have to respond to this economic crisis, as every department across the College will have to," he said.
In a previous interview with The Dartmouth, head coach of the men's and women's swimming and diving teams Jim Wilson said that the College's financial situation has already begun to affect his teams' travel.
"We've definitely felt the pinch, especially with travel, but everything has been do-able," Wilson said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "Our endowment is down 18 percent, but that is nothing compared to other schools who have been hurt a lot more."
Life on the road or in the air varies from team to team, but all teams share basic similarities in the planning and logistics of travel.
The athletic department has a contract with Premier Buses, according to Austin. All teams that are supported by the athletic department use only these buses for travel.
For teams like the football team, it is not so much the distance traveled as the number of people involved that makes travel expensive. Coaches try to minimize expenses by bulk ordering food and sleeping two or three athletes to a hotel room.
For example, to fill his athletes' stomachs when meals from Home Plate or the Courtyard Cafe are not an option, head football coach Buddy Teevens '79 said that his team generally tries to pre-order subs or sandwiches.
"A lot of parents travel to support the game," Cook added. "They usually bring food for the players post-game."
In a few specific cases, the College actually makes money off of team travel. There are some universities on the West Coast, for example, who will pay Dartmouth to play their varsity teams.
"There are very few sports that have that opportunity," Austin said. "But there are some sports who do."
This money goes back into the general athletic department budget, Austin said, not into the funds for the specific team that played.
For the majority of teams, however, for which this payment for travel does not exist, coaches propose a travel itinerary to the athletic department.
The department then presents the coaches with the amount of funding the College can provide, as well as a figure for the full cost of the trip.
Coaches will often offer to fill the gap between these two values through fundraising, though this fundraising is contingent on athletic department approval, Austin said.
"We don't automatically say you can do what you want because you can raise it," Austin said.
Some money raised by teams is used for foreign travel.
As an Ivy League rule, teams are not allowed to take foreign trips using school funds, and these trips also are only allowed to be taken once every four years.
Coaches try to provide athletes with travel plans early so they can coordinate their athletic travel with their academic commitments, both players and coaches said.
"We spend a lot of time giving the players itineraries right at the start of the season, so they know if and when they have to miss classes," Cook said. "We find that [the faculty] is supportive as long as the students are proactive."
Many students on varsity teams spend a good deal of their in-season weekends on the road.
Although many believe that the travel helps teams to bond, the time spent off campus makes it difficult for many student athletes to stay on top of their school work, some student-athletes said.
According to Cook, many of the players use the bus rides to get work done, especially when they have access to the Internet.
With buses equipped with wireless Internet and video systems, the trips to and from games have become much quieter than they used to be, he said.
"That said, it's a much shorter journey back from Princeton or Ithaca after you've won," he said.
