Time to be creative with flying to sporting events

The Honolulu Advertiser came out with a story on the airline problems that face the Athletic Department at UH Manoa, and I'm sure the athletic departments of every athletic program in the country.

From the Honolulu Advertiser:

"Charter costs are just unbelievable now for us," Donovan said. "It is getting to be stratospheric."

For example, Donovan said the Warriors paid $85,000 to charter to San Jose, Calif. for last year's game with the Spartans and $125,000 to Idaho for the game with the Vandals, but have been quoted a $319,000 fare for Fresno State this year.

This is not meant to be-little what us average joes are going through with the rising costs of flying, because most of us don't have the money that the UH Athletic Department is dealing with. But, let's look at this from a sports perspective. Do we want competitive teams on the Division I level? Rising airline costs can jeapordize that. Look at the UH-Hilo baseball team. The lone DI program in a DII school, will go down to Division II next year, as rising costs to travel and play big named teams are beginning to be too much.

There have been rumblings that if the UH can't bring in enough revenue to sustain itself on the DI level (because DI is all about money), that they may eventually have to make the step down to DII. They are already at a disadvantage compared to every other top tier team in the country. It's expensive to fly there, and expensive to fly outta there. Most big name teams will think twice about going there after this year, and Hawaii may think twice about making flights to Florida.

Let's give Jim Donovan, the new Athletic Director, a lot of credit. He is trying to be creative and cut costs. Mixing commercial with charter flights, albeit not the most star-studded way to fly, is the plan for this coming year. If you have to save money by going on commercial flights, you've gotta do it, even though the players may have to fly coach with the "normal people."

People have suggested the UH get their own charter plane / jet. Seriously? Stop it...UH doesn't want to, and shouldn't have to, pay for a pilot, gas, and plane. Not under a budget that is expected to be $1.5 Million in debt.

For now, and ALL athletic departments need to look closer into this, it's especially important to go after those corporate sponsorships and agreements. No other way to get what you need without strong support from the business community. Who knows what they could provide?

It's all about making the effort now to put all of your resources together to find the most cost-efficient way to get where you need to go. Good luck.