NASHUA – It will be an odd year for the Futures Collegiate League this summer – as in the number of teams.

The Nashua Silver Knights will begin their 16th season on Wednesday, May 27 at Holman Stadium in what is now an FCBL increased from six to seven teams for the 2026 campaign. The Knights opener will be as it was last year, a 10:30 a.m. Education Day game. The opponent this year will be the Vermont Lake Monsters.

The FCBL announced its schedule this past week, and it will increase in membership by just one – Lowell. What that means is there will always be a day in which one team is not playing, whereas in the seasons of even numbers, Monday was a leaguewide day off.

“Monday’s universal is clean, it’s nice, but it’s not the worst thing in the world for the front office or the guys on the team to have a Sunday off, a Wednesday off, a Thursday. There’s a Saturday off in June, those guys are still college kids, having a Saturday night off is really good for their mental health being an 18-22 year-old.”

The Silver Knights will serve as the home opener for the Spinners, something Cook was hoping for to help develop the rivalry. That will be Friday, May 29 at 7 p.m. at LeLacheur Park, and the teams will play at Holman Stadium the next night at 6:03 p.m., which will serve as really the second home opener for Nashua. In Cook’s mind, it’s “Opening Night”.

“Definitely, the two crowds (Education Day and May 30) will be so demographically different,” Cook said. ” We’re working on some things for that night.”

The league will play a 60 game schedule, down from last year’s 62. The Knights will have 15 home dates in June, 10 in July, and five the first week in August. Their home finale will be Friday, Aug. 7 vs. Norwich, and the season will wrap up at Vermont on Saturday, Aug. 8.

The league’s postseason will begin on Monday, August 10 and likely wrap up on or before Saturday, Aug. 16. Cook said there will be discussion on whether to expand from the four teams qualifying format at the league’s winter meetings next month, but that the odds favor no change.

Game times remain the same 6:03 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 3 p.m. on Sundays. The only exception are the two 10:30 a.m. Education Day games a week apart, May 27 and June 3, plus the team will be home on July 4 for the fifth straight season, a 10:30 a.m. Start.

The league will hold its All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 21, and has said the location for the game will be announced “soon”. Nashua, sources say,very much remains a possibility and Cook said the Silver Knights are “interested” in hosting the game. That announcement he said will likely come in early January.

The Knights best nights have been their Friday Fireworks Nights,and they will have five of those: June 5 and 26, July 10 and 17, and the home finale Aug. 7.

Nashua will be on the road for seven straight games in July19-29) with the league’s annual three-day All-Star break during that time frame. Part of the reason is the NH Senior American Legion tournament will be, as usual, held at Holman during that time, July 24-28.

The team drew very well on Sundays last season and there are four, down one from a year ago. But the most popular day, Father’s Day, remains on the home slate June 21. There were six Saturday home dates last year; that is also down one to five this summer.

Cook said the league talked about but decided to forego going with a travel team for an eighth team, due to finances and the burden of additional home dates.

As for an eighth franchise, with the work put into getting Lowell set, Cook said, it wasn’t prudent with time to get another franchise off the ground. The Silver Knights will have nine days off, not including the three-day All-Star break.

Only three will be on weekends – Sunday May 31, June 14 and July 5, plus Saturday June 20.

All in all, Cook was happy with the way things worked out.

“I look at our schedule and I’m like, this is pretty good,” Cook said.