PALESTINE, Feb. 3, 2012—There has been a lot of talk in the last few days concerning the University Interscholastic League (UIL) reclassification and realignment for the 2012-2014 school years, which was released on Thursday morning. As a matter of fact, we did several stories on the impact ourselves. It's an exciting time of the year for high school sports.
 
As our staff started looking over the schools in East Texas, excited about the prospects of area teams playing teams we may not have seen much in the past, we started to think about the distances that some of these schools were from one another. We know that it's expensive for us, as we travel to several games per week during football season to cover them on our radio stations and web site. The more we looked into it, and the more math we did, the more we began to realize just how high some of the costs associated with travel were to play high school football in the state of Texas. There are many miles to cover, which is hard on schools and players.
 
We have only focused on football in this story, and all numbers represent taking only one bus, round trip, to play your complete schedule on your opponents field one time per season. The numbers for the opponents in the same district would closely resemble one another. Since the numbers below represent only one bus, you would need to multiply the totals by the number of buses your school typically takes. i.e. band bus, cheerleaders, etc. This does not take into account the cost per mile associated with depreciation, maintenance, etc. We have used an average MPG of 12 for a standard school bus, as this seems to be the latest and most accurate information.
 
We decided to choose the following 1A - 4A high schools in East Texas as a representation of the region.
 
Cayuga
1A, DI, Region II, District 6
Cayuga will play Dallas Gateway, Italy, Itasca, Kerens, and Cross Roads in football for the 2012 - 2014 school years. Cayuga will travel 554 miles, round trip, to each opponent’s field one time per season. The cost of the fuel, at today's average of $3.55 / gallon, would be $1,966.70 per season. Each opponent would pay about the same amount to use one bus, round trip, to play their five game away schedule.
 
Cayuga Football Total Travel Per Season: 554 miles
Cost in fuel (one bus, round trip, away schedule, per season): $1,996.70
 
Grapeland
1A, DI, Region III, District 10
Grapeland will play Alto, Cushing, Pineland West Sabine, San Augustine, and Shelbyville in football for the 2012 - 2014 school years. Grapeland will travel 778 miles, round trip, to each opponents field one time per season. The cost of the fuel, at today's average of $3.55 / gallon, would be $2,761.90 per season. Each opponent would pay about the same amount to use one bus, round trip, to play their five game away schedule.
 
Grapeland Football Total Travel Per Season: 778 miles
Cost in fuel (one bus, round trip, away schedule, per season): $2,761.90
 
Palestine
3A, Region III, District 19
Palestine will play Fairfield, Groesbeck, Mexia, and Rusk in football for the 2012 - 2014 school years. Palestine will travel 386 miles, round trip, to each opponents field one time per season. The cost of the fuel, at today's average of $3.55 / gallon, would be $1,370.30 per season. Each opponent would pay about the same amount to use one bus, round trip, to play their four game away schedule.
 
Palestine Football Total Travel Per Season: 386 miles
Cost in fuel (one bus, round trip, away schedule, per season): $1,370.30
 
Crockett
2A, Region III, District 11
Crockett will play Elkhart, Franklin, Westwood, Teague, and Trinity in football for the 2012 - 2014 school years. Crockett will travel 452 miles, round trip, to each opponents field one time per season. The cost of the fuel, at today's average of $3.55 / gallon, would be $1,604.60 per season. Each opponent would pay about the same amount to use one bus, round trip, to play their five game away schedule.
 
Crockett Football Total Travel Per Season: 452 miles
Cost in fuel (one bus, round trip, away schedule, per season): $1,604.60
 
Jacksonville
4A, Region II, District 16
Jacksonville will play Corsicana, Lindale, Nacogdoches, Tyler, and Whitehouse in football for the 2012 - 2014 school years. Jacksonville will travel 458 miles, round trip, to each opponents field one time per season. The cost of the fuel, at today's average of $3.55 / gallon, would be $1,625.90 per season. Each opponent would pay about the same amount to use one bus, round trip, to play their five game away schedule.
 
Jacksonville Football Total Travel Per Season: 458 miles
Cost in fuel (one bus, round trip, away schedule, per season): $1,625.90