Team Travel Guidelines

All travel by any Sport Club at The George Washington University must be approved by the Director of Campus Recreation at least seven days prior to any scheduled trip. Each Sport Club is solely responsible for its mode of transportation to and from club activities. The University strongly recommends that sports clubs to utilize charter motor coach service with professional drivers. Under NO circumstances should sport clubs utilize 15-passenger vans for travel. In recent years, 15-passenger vans have been involved in numerous roll-over accidents resulting in fatalities. The Department of Athletics & Recreation @ The George Washington University feels that these vehicles are inherently unsafe for group travel. Sport Clubs are permitted to rent 12-passenger vans, minivans, and cars for travel.

Below are links to three (3) essential forms which must be completed by every student who drives other students during the course of the sport club season. Whether it be in private, personal-owned vehicles or rental cars, these forms must still be submitted to the Office of Risk Management, 2025 F Street, N.W., Suite 101 along with a copy of your state issued driver's license.

Any sport club member who intends to drive other club members in either personal vehicles or rented vehicles must fill out a Driver Authorization Application and return that form to the Office of Risk Management at least one week prior to their trip.

In addition, if clubs are using their own personal van or renting a 10 - 12 Passenger Van, they must also complete the 10 - 15 Passenger Van Safety Acknowledgment and return that form to the Office of Risk Management.

Finally, all drivers must complete the Drivers Safety Program form.

All of these forms can be found at http://www.gwu.edu/~riskmgnt.

Clubs may use University allocated funds for payment of rental vehicles or any travel expenses. The University will pay for gas purchases or tolls associated with team travel. The University will pay for accommodations at hotels or motels when clubs travel to away matches. If renting vehicles from a local company such as Avis, Hertz, Budget, Thrifty or ZipCar, the insurance coverage should be declined.  All drivers of rental vehicles must be 21 years of age or older and have a very good driving record. In any club travel, the number of individuals in each vehicle cannot exceed the number of seat belts provided for the vehicle. (A 12-passenger van may not carry more than 12-passengers) Any violation of this policy will result in the immediate suspension of the club.

A Sport Club officer must complete a team travel/itinerary form and submit it to the Office of Campus Recreation at least seven days prior to any scheduled trip. Submission of this form does not warrant automatic approval for team travel. Any Sport Club member that will be driving a vehicle must have a copy of his/her driver's license on file in the Office of Campus Recreation at least seven days prior to any scheduled trip. If the club advisor or coach is not able to travel with the club on a trip, then he/she must delegate his/her authority to a "Person in Charge". This individual must be a registered club officer and listed as the "person in charge" on the team travel/itinerary form. Any Sport Club member listed on the travel/itinerary form must have a signed waiver/release form on file in the Office of Campus Recreation. Failure to adhere to this policy could jeopardize the status of the sport club. The Director can immediately suspend team privileges of any team that travels without approval. Any accident, serious injury, or unusual occurrence on a club related trip - or even at event held locally - must be reported to Aubre Jones, Director of Campus Recreation by a club officer or advisor as soon as possible. If the club has an accident on the road, they should call the Aubre Jones immediately!

The Office of Campus Recreation will not reimburse the owner of a privately owned vehicle for mileage accumulated on sport club trips. To receive reimbursement for hotel or motel lodging while on a trip, original receipts must be submitted to the Office of Campus Recreation upon return. A legitimate receipt is one on the hotel's letterhead with the correct date clearly indicated and the amount clearly stated. The individual being reimbursed must submit his name, address, phone number and social security number with the receipts. The Office of Campus Recreation will submit the paperwork to the Accounts Payable Department where a check will be issued to the individual. The transportation and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited while traveling on University sponsored sport club trips.