KJCT8.com - Grand Junction, Montrose - Weather, News, Sports | Athletic directors keep teams safe while traveling

Athletic directors keep teams safe while traveling

DREW WILKINS
DWILKINS@KJCT8.COM

GRAND JUNCTION --Roads will only worsen as colder air moves in Friday night and snow levels plummet.

Palisade football players left around noon Friday ahead of the heart of the storm for their first round playoff game tomorrow in Pueblo against Pueblo Central.

But how do local schools prepare for the possibility of travel hazards?

Palisade athletic director Mike Krueger has his hands full with hundreds of student athletes.

When the weather gets ugly he goes into high alert, searching for the latest road conditions and up to date webcams.

Despite the hazardous roadways expected in the high country, Palisade football players were already scheduled to leave  early for their Saturday game.

Krueger says  preparations are made ahead of time in the event they'll need to extend their stay once they get there.

"We always plan ahead," said Krueger, "A lot of times our district athletic secretary does a great job in working with us and our district athletic director in planning for those circumstances.  If we anticipate that weather could be a concern a lot of times we'll talk to the hotel, put rooms on reserve with some of the places that we work with a lot just to have rooms available in case we're in a situation where weather prohibits us from coming home."

The district does have measures in place to make sure travel stays safe.   When buses are involved the decision of whether or not to travel comes down to the individual bus driver.

In the case of coaches transporting athletes, any type of chain restrictions would put driving on hold.

Parents, students, and anyone else who would like to keep track of changes to the athletic schedules at local high schools can log onto this website:

http://www.highschoolsports.net/myaccount/signin.cfm?CFID=18782047&CFTOKEN=80024384