[FF40212]

Our school district has the policy. We are required to travel by bus. Last year, our 38 players and 4 coaches travelled to every game on a bus.

However, in the summer, when we do optional things such as the UK 7 on 7, we are allowed to have the parents sign waivers instead of having to pay for a bus driver and mileage. Believe me, I know how expensive that can be. There will be schools at UK this year who will travel by bus. My school has an enrollment of just under 600 (grades 6-8).

As for paying for the actual tournament, my players and their parents literally picked up trash through a roadside litter abatement program in order to raise the money for us to play. I think that shows how committed my folks are to competing?

Again, I am not picking on Floyd County. I am a little disappointed that Adams signed up to come and then backed out only to offer a 7 on 7 of their own. The 7 on 7s at Murray State, UK, Frankfort, Union and WKU have been advertised since February. They were strategically placed all across the state in order to cut down on travel expenses for schools all over. We even had one scheduled for Pikeville College on the 20th, but that was cancelled after Coach Bryan resigned. I would think that the coaches across the state have had plenty of time to decide if they were interested in participating. These weren't a spur of the moment surprise for anyone.

Perhaps next year some of the teams there will be able to participate. I certainly wish the 4 teams there in Floyd County (and all the middle school in the Eastern part of the state) good luck in 2009. If you all were to find yourself in a position to come next Saturday, I hope you will do so.