Sleeping in the same bed with a teammate for travel meets (College)

Sliding Scale wrote:

Yes it is normal. Many schools will go three to a room for youngest athletes to stretch a budget at the DI level. Outside the DI level (and some DI schools) will go four to a room out of necessity.

I have even worked at a school that had a policy where athletes could not have their own hotel room. The budget was not super tight, but only seven traveled to XC championship meets. Odd number meant the projected 5,6,7 athletes shared a room and 6,7 shared a bed.

To answer your questions: It is common, many have done it. The coaches are being tight, most likely, but the other option is travel less people (the budget is the budget). It is not against NCAA rules. It probably makes some people uncomfortable; if it make you uncomfortable that is a you problem and not a coaches problem.

Clearly, you are comfortable with being gay

Is this normal??? wrote:

How many of you have shared a bed with a team a teammate for travel meets?

Is this the coaches being tight with money?

Is this a normal practice or against NCAA rules?

Does this make some athletes uncomfortable?

When my team was travelling more we'd usually sleep 3 to a room and someone would have to share a bed. I wasn't uncomfortable with it at all, but I found we were both physically most comfortable if we slept head to toe.

Although I did find out last year that our old coach from my freshman year was pretty tight with the team budget and could have easily bought enough rooms so that most of the team could get their own bed to themselves.

Budget cuts wrote:

Is this normal??? wrote:

How many of you have shared a bed with a team a teammate for travel meets?

Is this the coaches being tight with money?

Is this a normal practice or against NCAA rules?

Does this make some athletes uncomfortable?

My coach once took myself (i'm a dude) and a girl on a trip to Peyton Jordan (we ran for a school in the midwest) and the school had only booked 2 rooms. My coach got a room, and my room had only a king bed. I slept in it with the girl from my team and we hooked up. Both of us PR'd that weekend, but neither ran very fast.

CAP

Pull the other one wrote:

Jonesy and Riley covered this on Letterkenny. The context was for hockey teams travelling but it still applies.

"You can sleep hole to hole, or pole to pole. But never pole to hole."

Ferdaaaaaaaaaa

I have had to sleep in the same bed as other coaches on trips to states. GRRRRRRRRRRR

I was in a male swimming team for 15 years and we always shared beds and had absolutely no issues. We weren’t gay, we never had fights, we were usually so exhausted from hours of speed tests, weight training and pep talks that we literally fell on the beds and were fast asleep for 8 hours until the next gruelling day. We also used communal showers, talked to each other while getting dressed and didn’t think this was weird as we had done it for so long since being little kids. Everyone is so phobic these days about their bodies. It doesn’t turn you into a rapist.

Meh wrote:

My team slept four to a room so you would normally share a bed. I remember one person being uncomfortable about it so she would get an extra blanket and sleep on the floor.

If it makes you uncomfortable, find a way to deal.

We did this, slept feet to head.

The Homophobic guy slept in the bathtub

If you have to share a bed with a dude, follow these rules: Hole to hole, not pole to pole. Shoot for the moon, or bury it.

Snowflakes. HS take here. You guys never take school trips into (insert the major city 3-6 hours from you) and sleep 4 to a room? 100% the practice if the schools putting up for rooms. For NXR/Nationals, more leeway depending on if parents want to shell out more

Yep, my team always had two guys to a bed. Never saw what the issue was. As long as the other person isn't naked and/or farting, no biggie. I know some people are homophobes, so that might be part of it.

Alumni of a D1 power 5 school (money wasn't an issue): generally, 2 to a room. The slowest and/or youngest guys would go 3 to a room if we had a round number. Try to call the front desk and ask for a rollaway/portable bed.

Granted it was pre-covid, but other than the confirmation that you were the lowest on the totem pole, it wasn't a terrible situation and we got some quality bonding in..... pause. Kidding, but we did have a great time!

high school xc coach wrote:

I have had to sleep in the same bed as other coaches on trips to states. GRRRRRRRRRRR

You could just pay. That's what I do. I'm not in the coaching for the money, I just like to do it. And since I have a regular job (as presumably you do), I just pay my own expenses generally. And if it was pay or get stuck with another coach IN THE SAME BED, I'd def pay.

Anyone acting like they would have a problem sharing a bed have clearly never been part of the culture of a high level running team and likely have never run under 17 minutes for a 5k. Sorry but that’s a proven fact of this sport

We did this in high school. I didn't even mind sharing a bed that much, but I hated the practice because I find poor-mouthing to be repulsive.

I don't want to be friends with the full grown adult who can't afford reliable transportation and has to beg friends for rides everywhere. I don't want to be associated with a team that whines that they can't travel without packing 4 people into a room that was meant for 2. Both of those things are just examples of people/entities failing to meet their most basic responsibilities, and it's gross.

Figuring out how to put together the necessary funding is the most basic responsibility of a team. Be a better negotiator during budget discussions. Do a better job tapping your alumni network. Find some fundraising activity to bring in revenue. Do anything other than sit around complaining/demonstrating that you're poor.

32 males and 32 females traveling to a meet. $120 per night in hotel, for two nights = $240. Each room has two beds, you put 4 in a room. You need 16 total rooms. Alternative is 32 total rooms. 16 * 240 = $3,840 for one meet. Do this 10 times total for indoors and outdoors and that's an extra $38k per year for the budget. That is a pretty large percentage if given $150k for budget. That $38k savings allows for your team to fly across country once or twice more than normal to go to the best meets. For example flying out to Stanford for distance runners or flying down to Arkansas for the Tyson Invitational indoors.

The other alternative is the athletic department could just cut the track program if money becomes an issue and everyone needs their own room.

Did it all the time, unless the women were from different universities at the same meet.

In college, my (non NCAA) cycling team once fit 16 people (1 girl, the rest dudes) in one motel room. No funding, so we cheaped out. Don’t know how many shared each bed — it was packed tight on the floor too (where I was).

Not sure what the issue is, former D1 here and we just kicked the underclassman/slower guys to the floor. Problem solved. If somebody wanted to double up, nobody would have said that was gay, but that was rare due to the floor policy. Coaches would let us sort it out, but if a slower guy wanted a bed, he'd best expect a quick beat down. Hell, we would pack six into a room no problem with four on the floor. I can remember one year at conference we had a room reserved for shall we say entertainment purposes and packed everybody else into two other rooms. Anyway, if you were a freshman, you were on the floor. Walk-ons/slower guys, on the floor. Single beds are for All-Americans or at least all-conference. Never once did I see an All-American sharing a bed.