Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Troy Parks and Recreation will be welcoming in youth baseball teams from all over the state in July and are looking for families or individuals to serve as “Host Families” for those teams.

The 2022 Dixie Youth AAA State Baseball Tournament and the A 6-U Baseball Tournament will be taking place at the Troy Sportsplex July 8-12 with a total of 20 teams descending on the City of Troy. Host Families are responsible for cheering on visiting teams and helping the parents and coaches of those teams with any Troy related questions they may have.

Troy Parks and Recreation Director Dan Smith said that Troy has been utilizing Host Families for a number of years.

“We’ve been hosting state tournaments and (youth) World Series for many years and going back to 1995, when we hosted our first World Series, we have been doing Host Families,” Smith said. “That host family can be a family or a couple or even an individual person, and the responsibility of the host family and purpose is to be a point of contact between that team, the coach and the parents. The Host Family is at all their games cheering for them.

“If the out-of-town families have any questions like, ‘What is a good restaurant’ or ‘who is a good dentist’ or anything like that, the Host Family can help with those types of questions.”

Smith said he feels that welcoming in out-of-town teams and families is one of the more important factors of these summer tournaments.

“Going to a state tournament is always an important goal for any team and we want it to feel like a state tournament here,” Smith emphasized. “When people come to Troy we want them to know that we know they are here and that the City of Troy knows they are here and that they are welcome, especially.

“To have that connection with someone from Troy and making that effort to say, ‘Welcome to Troy,’ and sit in the stands and get to know the parents and cheer for the team, it really does mean a lot to these parents and teams.”

Anyone interested in become a Host Family can contact Troy Parks and Recreation via E-mail, at recreation@troyal.gov.