AVALON, CALIF.View Larger MapIf you go to play the Lancers, it's not a road trip. It's a boat trip.
Located on the famous and isolated Santa Catalina Island southwest of Los Angeles,
Avalon (Calif.) hosts teams for 8-man football games. Those visiting teams have to go through extreme measures just to get there.
Ferries take people from West Los Angeles, Long Beach and Orange County locations on a 20-plus mile journey across the high seas to the vacation island that boasts around 3,000 residents. Along the way the visitors might see orca or dolphins, but they also have the potential to get seasick.
Despite the extreme nature of a trip to Avalon, coach Earl Schrader said he doesn't think his team gets a huge advantage. Life on the mainland provides perks that Avalon kids simply don't have access to.
"It's a wash because we don't have junior
leagues or Pop Warner. Our kids start from ground zero on their first day of
practice," Schrader said. "Most of them haven't really seen football except for TV. And the boat
ride is pretty smooth in the fall. I think psychologically some coaches think it’s an advantage. It's really not."
Avalon has compiled a 25-15 record since 2004 at home on the island. The costs of taking a team to Catalina Island are steep, and so that may be why it's hard to get opponents to cross the sea.
"Just about every league
we play in wants to kick us out," Schrader said, laughing. "I would like to think it's because of us
beating them. It almost wipes out their travel budgets to bring a team over."
Tourism makes the Catalina economy go, so the extreme trip to the island can also become a leisurely one for some visiting players.
"Some people stay and I try to have my kids be ambassadors and take them
fishing," Schrader said.
Editor Leland Gordon contributed to this story
