FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Eric Lindley

Director of Baseball Operations

operations@newportgulls.com

NEWPORT R.I. - With the New Year just recently ringing in the beginning of 2026, the Newport Gulls have so much to look forward to as another exciting and incredible season of Gulls baseball is just 148 days away! The 25th Anniversary of the Newport Gulls, along with another Hall of Fame Ceremony to take place later this Summer will no doubt be the hallmark of the 2026 season. However, the Gulls would be remiss to not credit the most important factor of the organization each Summer: OUR HOST FAMILIES!

At the beginning of each year, the Gulls team is right back to the grind beginning the initial planning stages of all of our pre-season happenings, our Game Days, and all of our community activations and programs. Currently at the top of these priority lists is the development of our Host Family Structure for 2026. Host Families are the rock of the Newport Gulls, serving as the organization's foundation year-in, and year-out. This Winter, the Newport Gulls are excited to announce the beginning of what will become a wonderful tradition!

The Newport Gulls will be hosting a Host Family Informative presentation and community gathering for ALL aspiring & interested Gulls Host Families centered in Newport, Middletown, or Portsmouth. Aspiring Host Families can expect to learn about the Gulls organization itself, as well as what the Host Family Program in Newport entails each season. Whether it’s the “do’s or dont’s”, specific requirements/recommendations, or even the explanation as to why hosting a Gull will be the best decision your family has ever made, this community event will touch on all aspects of the Host Family Program and more! Attendees can also expect to have the opportunity to meet and ask specific questions to current Host Families & Gulls staff, and how the experience of becoming a Host Family is as rewarding as it is memorable! 

This Host Family Informative session will be held on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH at THE CLUBHOUSE - directly adjacent to Cardines Field - located at 8 West Marlborough St., Newport, RI 02840 from 6:00PM - 7:00PM. Food and refreshments will also be provided by the Gulls. Each family in attendance will also receive a Host Family Brochure. 

For more information regarding the Host Family Informative, or the Host Family Program itself, please contact Director of Baseball Operations Eric Lindley at operations@newportgulls.com

The Newport Gulls cannot wait to welcome all of our aspiring Host Families in February! 

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The Newport Gulls, members of the 13-team New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded as the Rhode Island Gulls in 1998 in Cranston, R.I., before moving to Newport in 2001. In addition to recruiting, fielding, and developing a team of the nation’s top collegiate baseball athletes and attracting 50,000 fans annually to Cardines Field, the predominantly volunteer organization strives to benefit the community via summer camps, reading programs, fundraisers, scholarships, and charitable donations – totaling over $1 million since 2001. The Gulls are eight-time champions of the NECBL – the winningest franchise in league history – and were ranked as the overall No. 1 summer collegiate baseball team in the country by Perfect Game USA in 2012.

For more information about the Newport Gulls, visit facebook.com/newportgulls, follow the Gulls on Twitter @NewportGulls or visit www.newportgulls.com.