CNN picks up on something we were talking about a few months ago – how will high gas prices affect youth soccer? They have a video up that talks about the impact of high gas prices on youth sports, with the reporter following a girls soccer team to the Georgia State Cup. The interviews with various soccer parents made it clear that prices were having an impact, with parents talking about missing matches and carpooling more.
I definitely think leagues will need to be proactive in putting in place tools or procedures to help families carpool. Procedures will be especially important in terms of the safety of the kids, common sense procedures for the adults, etc. But I’m curious if we’ll see more creative ideas put forth to address the growing cost of travel soccer due to fuel prices.
What types of ideas are being floated around in your area besides carpooling? League realignments? Grouping matches on weekends (two every other weekend vs one every weekend)? Increasing referee fees? Larger leagues taking their mid level travel programs ‘in house’? Renting mini buses for longer trips (some economy of scale, perhaps, for larger teams)?
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June 11th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Try checking out the Drive $marter Challenge (http://www.drivesmarterchallenge.org). You can enter your specific vehicle data and figure out how much money you can save by taking six fuel-efficiency steps. They also provide other fuel-efficiency tips to help you save on gas costs.
June 11th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Interesting site. Definitely good to get people thinking about proper tire inflation, quality oil, and driving habits. Bit probably the one that would save the most $$$, driving slower on highways, is not going to happen because of the danger in being one of th e’slower’ cars, known to increase the risk of accidents vs those that drive with the ‘flow’ It’s a chicken and egg problem. Will be interesting what price gas must hit before people shave 10 MPH off their cruising speed, regardless of what everyone else is doing.