Bethel Trip

I'm off today on one of the last volleyball trips of the year. Bethel, Alaska. It's actually bigger than Nome.

Now before you go thinking that this is all in the glamorous life of a coach, let me explain. First of all, I had to get a sub for myself and my chaperone today, no small feat on a Friday in this district. Sometimes, I would rather go in sick and work than get a sub with all of the planning you have to do for a sub.

Next is the trip itself. It's pretty nice flying on a charter as opposed to a commercial airline, I'll admit. But our schedule is dependent upon all the backhauling and shuffling of other teams around the state to play in various areas. Our plane will pick up Kotzebue, volleyball and wreslters, and continue on to Bethel, dropping off more wrestlers to bring back. Sunday, we aren't supposed to get picked up until almost 1:00 pm(which means I will pretty much miss all of football). When football is really the only sport I watch all year, it's kind of a bummer.

Then is at the new school itself. I fully expect to be taking my showers by using the faucet in the boys' bathroom, since Bethel is undergoing new construction and facilities are being upgraded. We'll get fed the equivalent of school lunches. We'll play tonight and then through most of the day on Saturday, with this being a tournament. Most times, Saturday is pretty boring because you have to wait the entire day in boredom to wait for the Saturday night game. However, here we will have plenty of games.

Above it all, I'm "on" all weekend. There's no alone time, really. Sure, I'm the male coach and have to sleep in another room, but I am still available should anything happen. The nights get pretty late. We have to take the girls to the store or on little walkabouts all together as we can't leave them. It's just a long weekend. Then if you have an "incident" like we did on one trip this year with a few girls making a silly decision, the night can get longer. (I wish I could explain further but dare not.)

But you know, I wouldn't say no. It ends up being a wonderful trip and a wonderful experience.I get to experience a trip to a place that not very many people go. I get to visit new people, with people that I really like, namely my team. We get to play some games and just have fun for a couple of days.

It may not be glamourous, especially the showers, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.