What team travel looks like with us
Game day runs. One pickup at the arena or school, straight to the venue, driver waits through the game, straight back. Priced from the hourly rate card.
Tournament weekends. The bus stays with the team across multiple venues and game times. A Saturday of back-to-back games runs about 10 hours: from $1,400 on a minibus, from $1,950 on a coach.
League season contracts. Same bus, same driver, every away game on the schedule. Booked once in September, priced per run, cheaper than one-offs.
The details coaches ask about
- Gear space is real. A coach bus swallows 20 hockey bags in the under-floor bays with room left for sticks and coolers. Sprinter vans carry a small roster with equipment; tell us the gear list and we size honestly.
- Early does not scare us. A 6 am ice time in Oshawa means a 4:45 pickup. The bus is idling and warm at 4:30.
- Parents and siblings ride too. Fill the empty seats. Cheering sections cost nothing extra on the same bus.
- Eat on board. Post-game pizza on the bus is fine by us. We just ask that the wrappers reach the bag.
Splitting the cost across the roster
A minibus tournament Saturday at $1,400 across 18 riders is about $78 each for a full day of travel. Compare that with six parents each driving 300 km, and the bus usually wins on money before anyone mentions the team playlist.
When the team van is enough
A Sprinter van covers a roster of 12 with light gear, and for basketball, volleyball, or swim teams it is usually the honest recommendation. Hockey changes the math: 17 riders plus 17 hockey bags outgrows a van's cargo fast, which is why hockey teams jump straight to the minibus or coach. Tell us the sport before the headcount; the gear decides the vehicle as often as the roster does.
What a season contract looks like
Teams with eight or more away games book the season in one agreement: same vehicle class, same driver where scheduling allows, one rate per run that beats the one-off price. The schedule can shift, because leagues always shift; we ask for 72 hours notice on changes and the rate holds. Managers like it because the season budget becomes one line instead of a surprise every second weekend.
Tournament day traps we plan around
Game times move after seeding, so the bus stays with the team instead of leaving between games. Arena parking lots ban coaches more often than anyone expects, so we call the venue about bus parking before the weekend, not in the lot. And the post-final drive home always starts an hour later than the schedule says, so the booking builds that hour in from the start.
Out-of-town tournaments: multi-day trips to Ottawa, Montreal, or U.S. border cities run as custom charters with driver-hours checked before we commit. Cross-border trips need passports for every rider, including the mascot.