Local transport and Accommodation

Local transport

A bus and a luggage truck should be at the airport or train station to meet you when you arrive at your destination. Buses should be provided for your attendance at all training sessions and match days. Check your schedule carefully, along with what is being provided to you by hosts and what is an additional cost. For instance, a journey to a team activity may be charged to your team, even if you have not used the bus that day for a training session. Time restrictions may apply on the number of hours a driver can operate. 

In some cases, additional vehicles may be provided to the Team which might be driven by Liaison Officers. Again, check what is being provided against your teams wishes so you can manage expectations and budget accordingly. 

Accommodation

Whether you are booking the accommodation directly or working with tournament organisers / host Union, it is important to know the preferences of your team. Some coaches prefer and isolated hotel, other prefer to be in the middle of a city. Some medics prefer to have treatment beds in their own rooms, other prefer a separate area to work in. Establishing your team’s wish list and working with accommodation providers to come as close as possible, will help you manage everyone’s expectations.

Create a rooming list so you can allocate rooms appropriately.  

You will also need to clearly understand the hotel’s cancellation policy so you can correctly manage squad numbers without incurring penalties.  This applies whether you are booking directly with the hotel, or via a tournament organiser. 

Generally, accommodation should provide:

• Twin rooms for players and single rooms for management
• A team room, big enough to hold review sessions for the whole squad and some physiotherapy work simultaneously. The room must be completely private and lockable
• A separate team dining space. The dining may be shared with other guests but should at least be cordoned off to allow the team to sit together
• A tournament organiser may offer a sperate management meeting room and/or separate medical room and/or storage facilities. 

Bedrooms should, if possible, be on the same floor. At worst, bedrooms should be no more than a floor apart with good lift and stairs access. 

Also worth checking, is if hotel can provide:

• Extra-long beds for taller players, a selection of pillows (synthetic/feather)
• Do rooms have baths?
• Enough space to load/unload the team bus and ice/water deliveries
• A safe in each room or a safe in reception that can be accessed by hotel management 24 hours a day
• A space where the team can use ice baths. 

Access to all team spaces should be available 24 hours a day and should be secure. The Team Manager or Team Doctor should have a key that can access all the bedrooms that Team members are staying in.  
If you are contracting directly with the hotel, check the details carefully for additional charges such as bus parking or provision of additional ice.