With hockey season quickly approaching the Humboldt Broncos are in search of some billet families.
The Broncos fall camp kicks off on Aug. 30, and the Broncos still have some housing needs, notes Billet Coordinator Kathleen Keen.
In addition to needing three permanent billets and five billets for fall camp, Keen notes the team is also searching for a couple of extra billets as well, who can be used as a transitional home for newly arriving players.
“If a player gets cut or traded...it takes them a day or two to get their things together and be able to get to their new home or their new team. But in the mean time they already have a player in so that player’s sitting there waiting for that bed to be empty so we need somewhere for that player to go.”
While bringing a young teenager into your home can be a nerve-wracking ordeal, Keen says the bonds made with the players become incredibly powerful.
“Last year I homed nine boys throughout the season and three of those boys actually met us in Calgary to take my kids to the zoo and they don’t even play for the Broncos anymore...it’s a bond that never goes away, they still talk to my kids, they’ll Snapchat or FaceTime. They become family.”
With nine players coming in and out of her home last season Keen had a number of great experiences with the players.
Keen notes that one of those experiences came while she was trying to make dinner, saying that her three kids all wanted her attention, so the players each took a kid to keep them occupied.
“One of the boys actually started playing with my infant while he was in his high chair occupying him, the other one was helping my then seven year old with her homework and the other one was reading a book to my three year old… none of it had to be asked they totally just took it upon themselves.”
Keen pointed to another great experience where the players helped her daughter celebrate her birthday.
“Two of the boys took a pale of ice cream to her school and gave all the kids ice cream for her birthday. They really become part of your home, you miss them. I still check in with them. I know who’s going to college where and what they’re going for, they’re like your kids.”
Keen notes that anyone can become a billet, saying that all that is required is that the players have their own bedroom and somewhere where they can unwind, and says if a billet has the space they may have more than one player if they would like.
Expectations are quite simple as well, says Keen, who notes that all they ask is that billets provide a safe home and meals for the players so they can cook for themselves.
“As long as the food is there so that they can feed themselves,” noted Keen, who says billets are not required to supply junk food and pop.
“It’s kind of what you would buy for your family is what we would expect you to have for them.”
Being a billet is not a one-way street either, as players and billets are both required to follow the billet guide.
Some of the expectations placed upon the players is following curfew, which changes depending on whether it is a game day and respecting the billets.
Keen notes that the family will be expected to act as any of the children in the family would be expected to act.
“They’re expected to help their billets with chores. They’re expected to be put into the family as if they’re part of the family, so if you have children and expect your children to do chores this boy will be expected to do chores as well and it’s just based on your home preference.”
Keen notes that one of the expectations she places upon the players is that they are required to cook a meal for her family once a week.
“It all depends on the home.”
There are a number of incentives to being a billet as well, notes Keen, who says some of the incentives include two tickets for the season, 10 per cent off at Modern Meats, and at Co-op, $330 a month for permanent players, and 10 per cent off at Family Pizza, Subway, and Tim Horton’s on game days.
“There’s lots of incentives that way but the bond is more powerful than anything,” says Keen.
Making sure the player goes to the right home is a big part of the process, says Keen, who notes that both the player and billet are given information sheets, which are used to get a grasp on the best fit for each player.
“You try to match them so it’s a good fit it’s not just if you sign up this is what you’re getting. So it makes it easier for the billets to open up their homes if they have a say of who’s coming in.”
Keen notes that some of the requests made could include wanting the player to play mini-sticks with the billets’ children or whether or not the player has a pet allergy.
For anyone interested in becoming a billet, Keen encourages them to call her at 1-306-821-4557, or email her at [email protected].
