PITTSBURGH -- Home-field advantage has a whole new meaning when you factor in rising gas prices.

It's costing more to get high school and college student-athletes to games, causing some school districts to cut corners and change schedules to make up the difference.

For Pittsburgh-area athletic directors like Gateway's Terry Smith, transportation is the top expense.

"Probably 32 to 33 percent of our budget is transportation," he said.

And when it costs more to fill up the bus, schools have to make sacrifices.

"We are buying a little less equipment, and it's things we just can't do anything about, so we have to be a little more economical about it, try to schedule games a little bit closer in our area," said Smith.

For the 10-school city league, there's little that can be done to the schedule, so Pittsburgh Public Schools are regionalizing the slate for the city's 29 middle schools

"What we are looking at is going to the different locations in the city and trying to have those schools particularly play against those schools in that area so the schools that are in the South Hills area, try to keep those folks in that area," said Mike Gavlik of PPS.

That rule should go into effect this fall, said Gavlik.

But for colleges like Chatham University, schedules are already set for the next school year, so that's where cost-cutting gets creative.

"Certainly we will look to cut corners if there are opportunities where teams can travel together," said Chatham Athletic Director Amy Buxbaum. "Our soccer and volleyball teams going to the same destination, they may go in the same bus."

One college athletic director said he believes that if prices get too high, schools might start reducing the number of games in a season.

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