ExScoop
03-09-2012, 11:08 AM
From Houston Chronicle
Kayne Coulter didn't want to jinx anything, so he waited.
Coulter's son, Kyle, is a senior on the Travis basketball team, which is making its first appearance at the UIL state tournament Friday in Austin.
The annual South by Southwest Conference and Festival opens in Austin the same day and is projected to bring in more than 280,000 attendees. Last year, nearly 50,000 room nights were booked in 74 official SXSW hotels.
Rodeo Austin also begins Friday.
That's left basketball fans, some traveling more than 400 miles in the case of Class A Olton, scrambling to make plans. Hotel rates are up, and many places have no vacancies.
"I guess we could have booked in advance, but you run into superstitions. We were supposed to get to state last year and didn't," said Kayne Coulter, referring to the Tigers' losing to Hightower in the Class 5A Region III final after winning the three previous meetings.
Coulter said his father-in-law started checking for hotel rooms during the final minute of Travis' win in the regional final Saturday. They're staying in Bastrop.
"Later we tried looking for rooms closer, and we came across some brutal prices," Coulter said.
Scheduling conflicts aren't new. The tournament and the start of SXSW were the same weekend last year.
The UIL already is looking ahead to November, when the state volleyball tournament is scheduled for the same weekend as Austin's inaugural Formula One race.
"Basketball is not the only one that's had these issues come up, nor will it be the only one in the future that we have," said UIL athletic director Mark Cousins. "But we continue to try to work with our schools and try to work with the (Austin) Convention and Visitors Bureau and hotel people to try to get rates as good as possible for our schools that are participating in the tournament."
The UIL holds rooms only for the participants.
Lubbock Estacado is one of five tournament schools more than 300 miles from Austin. The Matadors are in the tournament for the third time in the last four years.
The school's cheerleaders are staying in San Marcos. Estacado principal Samuel Ayers is staying in Round Rock. He said he did hear some initial frustration.
Estacado plays Thursday, one of six games the first day. All six finals are Saturday.
A "fan" bus will make the 373-mile trek from Estacado to Austin on Thursday, leaving at 5 a.m. (Estacado plays at 2 p.m.) and returning home afterward.
If the Matadors win, a bus leaves Lubbock at 2:30 a.m. Saturday for the final at 10 a.m.
"As long as there's a state tournament or game that we're qualified for, we will travel to wherever it happens to be scheduled," Ayers said.
Football is the only sport whose state championships aren't held in the greater Austin area, with all but two held at Arlington's Cowboys Stadium last season. Finals have been played in San Antonio, Houston and Austin.
There are no active discussions on moving the basketball tournament, Cousins said.
"(State basketball) is one of the things on my bucket list," Coulter said. "I have always wanted to go, but it sounds like it is going to be tough getting in and around Austin."
Kayne Coulter didn't want to jinx anything, so he waited.
Coulter's son, Kyle, is a senior on the Travis basketball team, which is making its first appearance at the UIL state tournament Friday in Austin.
The annual South by Southwest Conference and Festival opens in Austin the same day and is projected to bring in more than 280,000 attendees. Last year, nearly 50,000 room nights were booked in 74 official SXSW hotels.
Rodeo Austin also begins Friday.
That's left basketball fans, some traveling more than 400 miles in the case of Class A Olton, scrambling to make plans. Hotel rates are up, and many places have no vacancies.
"I guess we could have booked in advance, but you run into superstitions. We were supposed to get to state last year and didn't," said Kayne Coulter, referring to the Tigers' losing to Hightower in the Class 5A Region III final after winning the three previous meetings.
Coulter said his father-in-law started checking for hotel rooms during the final minute of Travis' win in the regional final Saturday. They're staying in Bastrop.
"Later we tried looking for rooms closer, and we came across some brutal prices," Coulter said.
Scheduling conflicts aren't new. The tournament and the start of SXSW were the same weekend last year.
The UIL already is looking ahead to November, when the state volleyball tournament is scheduled for the same weekend as Austin's inaugural Formula One race.
"Basketball is not the only one that's had these issues come up, nor will it be the only one in the future that we have," said UIL athletic director Mark Cousins. "But we continue to try to work with our schools and try to work with the (Austin) Convention and Visitors Bureau and hotel people to try to get rates as good as possible for our schools that are participating in the tournament."
The UIL holds rooms only for the participants.
Lubbock Estacado is one of five tournament schools more than 300 miles from Austin. The Matadors are in the tournament for the third time in the last four years.
The school's cheerleaders are staying in San Marcos. Estacado principal Samuel Ayers is staying in Round Rock. He said he did hear some initial frustration.
Estacado plays Thursday, one of six games the first day. All six finals are Saturday.
A "fan" bus will make the 373-mile trek from Estacado to Austin on Thursday, leaving at 5 a.m. (Estacado plays at 2 p.m.) and returning home afterward.
If the Matadors win, a bus leaves Lubbock at 2:30 a.m. Saturday for the final at 10 a.m.
"As long as there's a state tournament or game that we're qualified for, we will travel to wherever it happens to be scheduled," Ayers said.
Football is the only sport whose state championships aren't held in the greater Austin area, with all but two held at Arlington's Cowboys Stadium last season. Finals have been played in San Antonio, Houston and Austin.
There are no active discussions on moving the basketball tournament, Cousins said.
"(State basketball) is one of the things on my bucket list," Coulter said. "I have always wanted to go, but it sounds like it is going to be tough getting in and around Austin."