2016: A North American Eddies-sey
Join us in our epic journey to find the most brutish of all the brutal road trips for FC Edmonton this season. Part 2 in a series on how the schedule will affect the club week by week.
Anyone who has taken long haul flights anywhere will already know what kind of toll that takes on the body. Some handle it better than others, but for FCE it is simply an issue that has to be overcome.
As soon as the schedule was released, I started wondering what parts of the season would be the toughest on FCE in terms of travel. So I started analyzing the entire schedule and compiled a list of travel days week by week. We will also consider the following:
- In the past, even if there is around a full week’s rest in between away games, the club will fly out for the 1st weekend and come back home right after that game. It is conceivable that this is to try and minimize costs for hotel and transport.
- Most, if not all, teams would ideally like one full day to practice at their destination before games. For example, if FCE’s away game is on a Saturday that week, they would like to fly out and time their arrival to no later than Thursday night.
- A caveat from my research would be that I could only search for a maximum of 6 adults. The team usually travels with at least 19 people–16 players plus 3 staff–and this would require contact with a travel agent and the airline itself for a group rate and other arrangements. So my research into flights were more to look for what the best options are for minimizing layovers and limiting travel time; rather than best prices.
With the above in mind, I concluded that the toughest trips would be the ones involving midweek road swings. I have presented them here in chronological order. I have also provided links to Google Flights search in the bolded part of the headings of each section, keep in mind that flight availability may change.
Oh, and if you can’t tell by now, I really like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
May 2–8 | Wednesday, May 4 v. Jacksonville; and Saturday, May 8 v. Indy
FCE’s first midweek game will be a visit to Jacksonville. It is the first of three consecutive weeks of Wednesday night games due to the Voyageurs Cup. Starting with this match, the Eddies will find themselves playing once every 3 to 4 days, over the next two and a half weeks, playing six games.
YEG → JAX
Best travel time: 10 hours, WestJet and American. A stop in Calgary before a flight to Dallas or JFK would mean the team going through U.S. border control in Calgary. Some extra time would be needed for this in Calgary.
JAX → IND
Leaving the day after the match with the Armada, most flights require a stop of about an hour Charlotte, before proceeding to Indianapolis. Travel times are around 4 hours.
IND → YEG
The morning after hopefully defeating Indy Eleven, the best option would be a quick hop over to O’Hare in Chicago then back home on United, travel time: about 6 hours. In the past I have seen the club take the Toronto route then a connection back home. Even if heading to Toronto seems counterintuitive, sometimes the price makes sense. Travel time for that increases to 8 or even 9 hours. Such is the nature of flying in North America.
At the end of this trip, a Wednesday night 1st leg cup tie with Ottawa awaits on May 11.
May 16–19 | Wednesday, May 18 v. Ottawa. Voyageurs Cup 2nd leg.
This match gets a special mention because being bracketed by two home league games gives FCE little time to rest or train before the Cup tie. Mondays after home games are usually rest days, but will likely be a travel day towards the east so that FCE can get a training session in in Ottawa the day before the game. Alternatively, the coaching staff may make the Monday an optional day for those who played at least 60 minutes the day before, mandatory for those who did not, keeping training to single session, and then leaving that night for Ottawa.
Thursday is likely a day off for rest and travel back to Edmonton, and having the next game on a Sunday gives the team some leeway in scheduling training sessions on Friday and Saturday. Non-stop flights to and from Ottawa are about 4 hours long, or 5 if a stop in Calgary or Toronto is required.
June 6–13 | Wednesday, June 8 v. Vancouver; and Saturday, June 12, v. Fort Lauderdale
This is a potential Voyageur’s Cup Semi final match, should FCE beat Ottawa and reach it. While a trip to Vancouver is undoubtedly the shortest and most direct flight FCE could make all season, they will have to swing across the continent to MIA/Fort Lauderdale on short rest after the 2nd leg. Should they not qualify, FCE can take advantage of a bye week that will give them 11 days of rest, instead of just 4.
Best travel days from Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale (FLL, not MIA): around 8 hours — including a 1 hour layover — United via Houston; or American via Dallas. There is also a cheaper option of flying through Toronto for a 9 hour trip.
I got curious, and wondered if flights are cheaper to Abbotsford and then maybe the squad could take an hour coach ride in. Short answer: no, it’s not.
August 4–8 | Saturday, August 6 v. Puerto Rico
This is the trip we all have been dreading since the league announced their return to the island. The good news is, FCE has a 6-day break after a home game with Carolina, then an 6-day furlough until Minnesota visits Clarke the following Sunday. Given a bit more time, based on previous experiences with flight delays, FCE may be wise to try and schedule an arrival earlier to recover from what will be their longest travel day all season.
Many think that it may have been better for FCE if the league scheduled a stop — either on the way to or back from Puerto Rico — as part of a road trip. While it may seem a simple enough solution, it may be risky to add a game 3 to 4 days before or after the squad takes a full day of travel to play another game. Miami, the closest team to PRFC, is still another 3 hours away. It may be for the best that the squad takes advantage of a weeklong break to recover from this long round trip.
Most common routes, YEG → YYZ → JFK or Newark→ SJU, in about 14 hours. Best travel day? 10 hours, YEG → MSP → ATL → SJU, but it may be more expensive. The worst travel day? 18-hours.
September 22–29 | Saturday, September 24 v. Carolina; and Wednesday September 28, v. Jacksonville.
By now, one can sense the pattern here. It almost always takes two stops to get to the first destination of the road trip. Heading to Raleigh, however appears to be an exception, because most options include only a single stop, in either Toronto, Chicago or a small detour to Seattle. Best travel time is about 6.5 hours.
Charlotte, as seen previously, is a hub in the region, and is a stop for most flight options before heading to Jacksonville. Best travel time is a relatively quick 3 hours. To head home Jacksonville, the best bet is to fly through Chicago for a 7 hour journey.
October 10–16 | Wednesday, October 12 vs. Fort Lauderdale; and Saturday, October 15 vs. Minnesota.
While it may seem like the squad is used these kinds of trips already, the fact this is occurring this late in the season may prove it to be as tough a part of the season as the 6-game, 17-day stretch in the Spring. This is because it is in the 3rd last week of the season and takes place merely two weeks after another swing through the East Coast. To top it all off, the squad will have to face who will likely be a contender in the form of Minnesota just 3 days later on their way back home to Edmonton. The silver lining here is that Minnesota is still closer to home than all the other teams in league and makes for a decent stop on the way back.
Road trip scheduling appears to be a bit easier on the team this year. Last season, a three-game road swing within a single week saw the Eddies play a game in San Antonio sandwiched in between two games in Florida. There are no such trips this season, as the squad will play no more than two away games within a single week. Home stands are also limited to no more than two consecutive weekends, and it all seems to balance the schedule out quite well.
Planning a season’s worth of travel is tough. Furthermore, even the best laid plans can go awry. Flight delays are always a risk and weather might not cooperate, affecting both the travel plans or even the kickoff. These however, are factors beyond anyone’s control and it is up to the players and staff to be prepared mentally and physically for these challenges.
In the next and final part of this series, you may have already seen from my analysis of the schedule the difference in the amount of rest between games for both FCE and each of its opponents. We will evaluate where this may prove to be an advantage or not for FCE that day. I will also take a look at which holidays and events taking place in Edmonton may affect attendance this season.
Notes:
- The club may make the decision to stay an extra day or so at the city of a previous match if a better deal on a flight or hotel is available, which would mean flying in the night before the next game. It isn’t ideal for footballing.
- DISCLAIMER: I have never done these kind of logistics for a sports team. There are probably better ways to go about planning travel for a group of almost 20 people. This whole process has made me appreciate nuances of this part of the job more, and soccer as a whole has a relatively lighter travel schedule than say, a hockey or basketball team.
