After hearing a beeping sound on their team bus while returning from their trip over winter break, the boys soccer team stood waiting on the side of the ride on the Grapevine outside Los Angeles. The radiator hose in the cooling system had burst, and now the team would have to await a new bus heading from San Jose. “We were really confused [and] a little bit afraid we were going to be here for a while,” junior Stevie Halprin said. Halprin’s fears came true, as the team spent nine hours waiting for the new bus to arrive. Eventually, they returned to Menlo at 5:30 a.m. the next day after driving through the night.
Although boys soccer took a bus to Los Angeles, other Menlo teams, such as volleyball and boys basketball, have opted to fly to locations in Southern California. So how do teams choose which mode of transportation to take?
Assistant Athletic Director Buffie Ward explained that the process of going on trips starts with proposals from coaches. “Typically, a coach approaches the Athletics Department requesting permission to go on a trip,” Ward wrote in an email to The Coat of Arms. The reasons for trips in coaches’ proposals differ. “Most often, trips are planned around an out-of-town tournament, yet, sometimes, coaches pick a destination and plan games with other teams and use the opportunity as a bonding experience for the team members.”
The logistics of these trips concerning driving or flying are at the request of the head coach. “If air transportation is requested (or required), the Athletics Department secures flights (and always hotels no matter what mode of transport),” Ward wrote.
While previous Program Director of Boys and Girls Tennis Bill Shine was a proponent of taking a bus to both teams’ annual San Diego trips, a change in leadership may shift that tradition. “Although I drove with the girls’[team] this year, I am flying with the boys’ [team],” new program director Francis Sargeant said.
As the girls’ trip was his first time ever taking a Menlo tennis team on a trip, Sargeant followed the Shine’s driving recommendation and personally enjoyed it. “I liked the [bus], bonding with the girls and having space to have one-on-one meetings to go over the season,” Sargeant said.
However, Sargeant acknowledges driving is not ideal for the players. “The team had to miss [more] school and […] the 10 hour drive wasn’t the best preparation the day before a tournament,” Sargeant said.
The boys’ team was in favor of flying, so he will use this trip as a trial run to test which mode of transportation is better. “Flying could be a more logistical hassle, but flying could be less time [spent on travel],” Sargeant said. However, both Sargeant and Ward acknowledge that flying is more expensive, which is why many teams opt to drive. “Flying is more costly for trips, as families incur the cost of the flight,” Ward wrote.
While driving is more time-consuming, especially when something goes wrong — as it did with the boys soccer team — the biggest upside is the space and time it gives for teams to bond. After the bus broke down only 30 minutes into their ride home, the boys soccer team and coaches decided to wait by the roadside for the replacement rather than stay at a hotel. Despite the delay, the team bonded through a hike and shared pizzas, which Halprin noted strengthened their camaraderie. “The experience of going through [the bus breaking down] together reinforced our connection,” he said.
Program Director of Boys Soccer Daniel Hicker shares the same sentiment that although the experience was unexpected, it was also a moment to connect. “The experience brought everyone closer together in a sense that when we see each other, we have that feeling of knowing each other a little better,” Hicker said.
