Eight high schools south of Detroit announced this week they are forming a new league of schools within a 15-mile radius. The cost of gas is one major reason.

"It makes the most sense, especially in these economic times," Allen Park athletics director Ken Stephens says. "Where can you save money? You can cut down on transportation."


Stephens says it costs $490 to take the football team to Monroe — 70 miles roundtrip on two buses at $3.50 a mile. In the Downriver League, which will begin play in 2009, most roundtrips will be 20 miles or less. Allen Park currently plays in the 28-team Mega Conference.

Butte Central Catholic can't make a similar move because schools are spaced much farther apart in Montana. Central Catholic sometimes travels to Browning in the state's northwest corner. That's a 476-mile roundtrip, like going from New York to Washington, D.C., and back.

"There's not a whole lot we can do," activities director Chad Petersen says. "We have to go. We have to pay."