Check out any youth league to high-school-age baseball or softball team. None exist without the ownership of five-gallon plastic buckets or larger of some brand or color.
Look inside the dugout or around the bench area, and they are easy to spot.
Those buckets have so many multiple uses for teams. Primarily, they are used to hold balls for batting practice, or are around for players and coaches to sit on, because buckets can easily by moved.
Some coaches file necessary game-day paperwork in those buckets. They also can work as a holding place for bats, hats, helmets and gloves; extra cleats and shoes; trash cans or spittoons; or basically all odds and ends.
Sometimes players bring their own individual personal buckets to games or practices to store stuff.
Often a team will have multiple buckets.
Tennis teams use buckets as well, often for the same reasons, and sometimes lacrosse teams.
Some buckets now have cushion lids to make sitting a more comfortable experience. Regularly sitting in the open end of a bucket can cause some health issues.
Basically, with their multi uses, some sports teams can’t get along without those buckets.
– Dave Facinoli
dfacinoli@sungazette.net