TERRELL LESTER Column

Scouting around ... While others might be complaining about the price of gasoline and transportation costs in the realm of high school athletics, Ed Gilsleider and Claremore Christian School have a strikingly opposite outlook.

As the school approaches its third season of football, and as a new member of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, CCS has made an acquisition that Gilsleider believes will benefit his athletic program while gas prices stutterstep toward the $4 per gallon plateau.

CCS has purchased a 45-passenger cross-country bus for its athletic teams’ travel needs. Playing eight-man football and carrying a roster of, perhaps, 15 players, or so, the bus will provide plenty of room for coaches, equipment and possibly parents or fans.

A year ago, CCS used two and three vans for game trips, plus a trailer for equipment.

“We’ll probably save some money this year,” Gilsleider said this week. He is the school’s director of athletics, in addition to his practice as a doctor of veterinary medicine.

“The bus is going to help us, we think. We’ll be able to bring parents, maybe some fans with us. Maybe pitch in for some gas money.

“At Claremore Christian, we have always had to pinch pennies. We’ve always had to be frugal. We don’t have a bus fund. I allocate so much from fundraiser in the spring for the following fall to all sports. That’s what they get, except for what they bring in at the gates,” he said.

CCS purchased what Gilsleider called “an old Greyhound bus.”

“It’s got a gazillion miles, but they keep running,” he said. “It’s in good shape, inside and out. It’s been taken care of.”

With the bus using diesel fuel rather than gasoline, that would have been viewed as a bonus at one time. However, diesel now is more expensive at the pump than gasoline. Still, there is something to be said for “going Greyhound.”

Replacing three vehicles with one 45-seat touring bus, he said, “is probably going to be a good deal for us.” ...

At Verdigris, high school principal Randy Risenhoover is taking more of a “wait-and-see” attitude.

“Obviously, we will have to keep a close watch on the cost of traveling to and from games this year,” he said. “If changes need to be made, we will make those adjustments when they become necessary.” ...