Dr. Stephen Roth wrote:
 
The Nanooks have been including airfare for visiting teams ever since the
team went varsity.  And, the Nanooks have been flying Outside for games
for
years.  It's what one has to do with a college hockey program located in
the far North.  It might sound "extreme" to cheechakos from the lower 48,
but it's quite routine for Alaskans.  There are high schools in the 49th
state with athletic travel budgets bigger than many colleges -- a
necessity
if the nearest neighboring schools are hundreds of miles away.  And more
than one Alaskan school district uses airplanes as school buses.  UAF has
made a commitment to field a competitive college hockey program; it should
be lauded for its efforts, not questioned.
 
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And correct me if I'm wrong, but the same situation exists for the Alaskan
schools in ALL sports.  I've a friend who swam competitively at UAA and he
told me of grueling road trips to get to meets (~3 hour flight to get to
their closest non-Alaskan conference opponent) and how UAA would have to
help foot the bill for other schools to come and compete in Anchorage.
 
 
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Steve Weisfeldt
Univ. of Lowell  1986, 1988                       Home of the 'Hawks!!
[log in to unmask]                          3-2-1 [1] (5-4-3)
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