Alabama’s charter plane

… Alabama took a (charter) plane to three regular season meets this year – Missouri, Florida and Arkansas – and bussed to meets at LSU and Georgia. It also flew to three meets in 2012. There are University regulations that dictate when teams are allowed to fly depending on how far away a destination is. But flying is always the preferred method.

The average cost of a charter flight during the 2012 season was $22,743 compared to $2,004 for each bus trip – a difference of more than $20,000 …

This year, the team flew back immediately following its meet in LSU on March 8 and went straight to the cold tubs, even though it was three in the morning. But being able to do rehab on the night of the meet gave the gymnasts an extra day to recover on Saturday before getting back to practice Sunday.

“You have a recovery day the next day. It’s not that you’re spending all day traveling to get home,” Patterson said. “Not many teams come back and then at three in the morning get in the cold tubs like we did when we got back from LSU.”

It also helps the gymnasts in the classroom. Patterson said the plane usually leaves at 3 p.m. on Thursday before a Friday meet, which means the athletes don’t have to miss any class.

… parties include four coaches and three staff members in addition to the gymnasts. They use 15-16 hotel rooms, which totalled an average of $2,223 last season. The travel party also spent an average of $2,677 on meals and per diems, and $1,666 for a bus to carry the team around once it lands. That brings the total cost of a trip to an average of almost $30,000.

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