Recently, the Bethpage varsity ice hockey team had to reschedule their home opener to November 23rd from November 8th because of multiple issues with the travel players’ schedules. The ice hockey team would have been missing eight valuable players for the home opener against Long Beach.

Travel sports can also affect students’ everyday lives, as most practices occur 4-5 times a week along with 2-3 games on the weekend. Enjoyed by many students throughout the school, travel sports bring great competition, but can also prove tough to manage.

“Travel games are faster, harder, and more intense than high school games,” Bethpage varsity and Nassau County Lions defenseman Leo Karapetyan said.

The atmosphere of travel games and even practices usually proves to be more intense than that of varsity or junior varsity sports in high school. Most of the time, travel teams have more games and more practices, taking more commitment.

The varsity ice hockey coach, Jeff Schmier, has had to deal with travel players missing high school games constantly .

Mr. Schmier explained, “I understand that the travel teams want a commitment; however, travel teams play anywhere from 40-60 games per season, while the school team only plays 18. I think it would be alright if one of our travel players could miss one of the many travel games and support the school team when needed.”

Ultimately, travel sports tend to be more involved and therefore require more commitment than high school sports. However, there’s nothing better than playing a high school game in front of your home crowd against one of your school’s rivals. That is something you can’t experience in travel.