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Bucks management launches housing push: Need hosts for June and July

Shelter Island Bucks General Manager Brian Cass is hoping for a season when he and his colleagues won’t have to scramble to find housing for team members and staff.

GM Cass been fortunate enough to have secured 10 beds for June and 10 for July for the summer season for players on the Island’s Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League franchise.

Typically, players arrive during the last week of May and leave by the end of July, although a winning team might play into a few days in August to compete for a championship.

Year-to-year, some families have had to bypass a summer of hosting players, which results in an annual scramble to attract others needed to field a team, GM Cass said.

By pressing the effort now, he hopes to attract host families before they schedule other summer plans.

Those who have hosted Buck players have said they tend to form long-standing relationships with the college players who have stayed with them.

Host families are asked to provide a bed and access to a washing machine so players can launder their uniforms. The hosts are also asked to make room in their refrigerators where the guests can store food. Hosts aren’t required to provide meals, although many do.

Given the baseball schedule and other events during the season, players tend to share many meals as a group at specially arranged venues.

Children in the community get to participate in baseball clinics run by the players, and host parents have contributed to a lot of volunteer services, GM Cass said.

There is strict discipline and players know if they adhere to the rules, they will have a wonderful summer and an opportunity to be scouted by professional baseball teams. But step out of line, and they are immediately sent home, GM Cass said. He noted last summer he had not a single disciplinary problem.

If you have the space and would like the experience of housing a young player or two, call David Austin at 414-613-1991 or email him at [email protected].