Muskrats GM, who found 'family' with team after moving to Lakes Region, steps down

LACONIA — Muskrats General Manager Carey Hough is stepping down after three years in the role.

“I never anticipated the path taking in a college athlete for the summer would put me on,” Hough wrote in a Facebook post announcing her decision. “Thank you for everything, Muskrats family.”

Hough started as a fan before becoming a host parent, host family coordinator, assistant general manager and then general manager. This through-the-ranks journey with the team meant Hough understood the value, and return on investment, of forming bonds with players, fans, volunteers and interns alike.

As she steps down to spend more time with family and dive into new career opportunities, players and staff hope that Hough’s focus on cultivating a strong network of community, staff and volunteers remains the keystone of Muskrats leadership. 

“She really brought the team and the staff together,” said Shyla Hamilton, assistant general manager under Hough. 

“The players, we're from all across the country,” said Geoff Mosseau, a Bedford native and former Muskrat. “Having someone like Carey when you’re halfway across the country is the best thing a player can have.”

The Muskrats played their first game at home on Robbie Mills Field in 2010 after the franchise, formerly known as the Silkworms, left Manchester.

The team is among 14 in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, ranked the second-most competitive summer ball league by the Collegiate Summer Baseball Network.

Despite its easy-access and locally rooted live sports experience, the team offers high-level play: four Muskrats from this past season alone are headed for the majors.

Hough has been Winnipesaukee Muskrats GM since December 2019, but has been connected to the team for almost as long as her family has lived in the area.

Though they started as fans, within a few seasons of attending their first game, Hough and her husband Martin — now treasurer on the team’s board of directors — became host parents. 

“When we moved 11 years ago, we didn't know anybody up here, not a soul,” Hough said. They were attracted to the team as lifelong sport fans, but its sense of community drew them further in.

“Once I get involved, get my foot in the door with an organization that I feel passionate about, I kind of take on more and more,” Hough said. “And now we kind of have this second family in the summer.” 

Hough later volunteered to serve as host family coordinator, then assistant general manager, before being tapped as GM.

In that role as in her history with the team, Hough wore many hats. 

GMs are responsible for communication with the league, collaboration with the board of directors on play guidelines, fundraising and marketing strategy, intern recruitment, sponsor engagement — including arranging meals for both home and away teams during the season — social media and advertisements, and communicating with players. 

Hough pointed to community engagement as key to the ability of the team to thrive.

“Overall we have a really strong foothold now in the community and a greater, larger tie or stronger ties to the community than we've had before,” Hough said. Given that the pandemic meant a full season off at the outset of her tenure, this was no small feat.

The work of the team's network of fans, volunteers and staff shows, Hough emphasized.

“This past year, we've come leaps and bounds,” Hough said. “Attendance is up, concession sales, merchandise sales are up, and our talent on the field has immensely improved — and our record can speak to that.” 

Hough brought her personableness to the role, a focus on relationships that colleagues point to as bedrock for the team’s recent success.

“Players may not remember the individual games as much as the experience they had,” Mosseau said. “Carey did everything to make us as comfortable and as welcomed as possible and to ensure we had fun on and off the field.” 

“She made a great effort to build relationships with players, coaches, host families and fans,” Mousseau continued. Emulating that, he said “is the best advice a GM can get.” 

Hamilton described Hough as supportive and attentive toward the team’s staff. She also expressed gratitude: Hough hired Hamilton as a student out of the University of Washington, jumpstarting her work in the industry where she hopes to make a career.

Hough demonstrated, Hamilton continued, that community relationships can deliver success on and off the field. Her legacy will be to “put your community first,” Hamilton said, “because they are the core of your organization.” 

The team has not yet named next year’s GM, as the search must involve stakeholders of the team’s nonprofit, the Muskrats' board of directors and the NECBL.

Coming full circle, Hough will return to her role as a fan, according to her Facebook post. 

“I’ll see you in the stands!” she wrote.