I was on my university’s varsity rifle team. When we went on the road, the university picked up the tab for hotel rooms, but we were left on our own to pay for meals. On the one hand, it kinda sucked; but on the other hand, it meant we had a great latitude in where we went—there was no, “Okay, we’re all going to Applebee’s”; rather, if somebody wanted to go to McDonald’s, they could go there, while a few went to Denny’s, and another few were happy with Subway and a Coke.
I guess if I’d played football, things would have been different. But rifle is a solitary sport at its heart, so while I knew and liked my teammates, none of us saw it as necessary to bond with each other over meals. That’s what the hotel bar was for.
Nobody has yet mentioned college football. Big-name collegiate football teams have as many as 70+ players on the travel squad, not to mention a number of student managers and a rather large coaching staff. It might be close to 100 hungry people that need to be fed. I would guess that meals would be catered at the hotel where everybody is staying, or perhaps a large restaurant opens its banquet rooms for the team?
Wasted time. If we’re traveling somewhere do you want to eat while I do something else, sit in the car, do homework, walk around, etc. & then you do the same while I go in to eat?
Depending upon the size of the team they may very well just pull up to a rest stop or restaurant, whether they’ve made advanced arrangements or not. For the kidlet’s college soccer team there was typically a tailgate after the game so the parents could hang out with their kids for a few, even at at least some the away games (depending upon distance) before they then got back on a bus to campus.
I assume with a group that large, making travel arrangements is a big job; dozens of hotel rooms (even with shared rooms), and arranging food for that many, some of whom eat quite a bit. Plus you’d need two coach buses to drive everyone around. And how much room is needed for all of the helmets, pads and other gear? Is that too much for the storage under the buses?
Kamloops, British Columbia bills itself as “Canada’s Tournament Capital” and does indeed host a lot of tournaments. I’ve been there when teams descend upon the restaurant in the hotel they’re staying at, sometimes en masse, sometimes in small groups. It can be chaotic but people get fed.
Actually, the marching band could have a hundred or more people traveling as well. So the entire group traveling with the team could be hundreds, plus some students and others who travel to watch the game. It’s a lot.
I’m certain there are organized meals for the traveling contingent, but scholarship athletes also receive a monthly stipend while they are at school. How much depends on the school and the scholarship, but a Power-5 conference football player on a full ride will typically get anywhere from around $400-$1,000 a month.
I remember eleven years ago, a member of UConn’s men’s basketball team (which won the national championship that year) described going to bed hungry some nights because he couldn’t afford food. Apparently the NCCA-mandated dining plan didn’t offer enough to eat. (CNN article here.)
Interesting. Even at my tiny D-III school in the mid-90s standard dining plan was all you can eat. I was not an athlete on scholarship, I was just a regular tuition-paid student. You scanned your university ID at the door and after that, you took whatever you wanted.
I was no athlete either, but I remember plenty of nights when we ordered pizza or other food after the dining halls closed. Kids that age get hungry a lot.
I was in a 200-person college marching band when I was in college (many) years ago. We were given a daily stipend that was enough for us to buy fast food at least. If we were on the road and had to stop for lunch or dinner, we would do it quite a bit after hours, and the five busses would split up and stop at various ff places. I asked the director about it, and he said that yes, they called the restaurants ahead of time. Sometimes a car would pull into the restaurant parking lot, and after seeing the buses, turn around and leave. Sometimes we picked up catered boxes or eat at the cafeteria of whatever college we were visiting. One time we were provided a (delicious) meal at a Mormon church. It took a lot of planning!
In the bands I’ve been in, we’ve usually gotten by with a combination of the storage space under the bus, and a single pickup truck.
Our arrangements were completely separate from those of the athletes. If we were staying in the same hotel, it’s just by chance. Usually we were on our own for most of the meals, though sometimes there was one meal that was arranged.
Seems to be a 50/50 ? consensus here. Either “management” arranges catering, hostile takeover of restaurants, etc., -OR- everybody’s in it for themselves…with a night on the town!
I work in college football, we generally leave mid-afternoon the day before the game and get catered food when we get on the charter flight/bus (depending on distance)…usually something like Chik-Fil-A sandwiches and nuggets or a box lunch from a sandwich shop with a sandwich and chips. Snacks are also distributed in-flight (these guys eat a lot) – Uncrustables, fruit, candy, smoothies, etc. There’s usually a snack bag on the plane with stuff like chips, beef sticks, gummy bears, granola bars, etc. to take to your hotel room. Once we arrive at the hotel, players and coaches eat food buffet-style in a huge meeting room/ballroom provided by the hotel before team meetings and position group meetings. The menu is all worked out in advance with our operations team, nutrition staff, and hotel catering staff. Support staff get preloaded per-diem cards and can eat at whatever local restaurant they want for dinner – we usually go out in groups to a decent steakhouse or Italian restaurant or something. Breakfast the morning of the game is the same deal (assuming like a noon kickoff here) - buffet style for athletes and coaches, per diem for the support staff.
After the game, there is catered food somewhere between the locker room and the bus that will either take us to the airport or drive home if it’s close. This is often an entire pizza per person, but varies from game to game. Then when getting on the plane, there’s usually another catered meal (even if it’s only an hour later), something like chicken fingers or another sandwich box meal. More snacks available on the plane for anyone that wants them.
Sports with less athletes may do things differently or hit up local restaurants, and they may also take custom orders for the post-game catered meal (choose your own pizza toppings, etc.)…but with the sheer numbers of a football team, these things aren’t really possible.
