After every moment of glory on the ice an aspiring young hockey player needs somewhere to rest their weary head and recover for their next game day or training session.
The reality of junior hockey is that many players get signed to a team far from home and are expected to relocate. This is where the unsung heroes of junior hockey come into play – the billet families offering a home away from home during what may be a player’s first time out on their own.
Grayson Constable, captain of the Silverbacks, has been staying in a billet home in Salmon Arm for two seasons. Originally from Lethbridge, AB, Constable admits the move over the mountains was quite the change for him.
“It was a pretty big transition for me, just because I have never experienced anything like that before. Moving away from home after 18 years was kind of a big deal for me and my family,” he says.
Such is the life of a junior hockey hopeful. The space on each team is limited, and if they’re after a chance at proving their skills, players often have no choice but to jump at the opportunity presented to them. Having a home to stay in makes this a little easier to swallow.
“I think it makes playing hockey somewhere else a lot easier,” Constable says. “I don’t have to focus about stuff going wrong here in my billet house.”
Beyond helping keep a full roster, Evelyn Cook, billet coordinator for the Silverbacks and billet mom to Constable, feels inviting a player into a local home can help build ties between players and the community that last far beyond a season of play.
“You never lose touch with the boys that have been in your home,” Cook says. “They can be in your home for two weeks or for two years, you never lose that connection with them. You get to know them, and they end up becoming like part of your family. You’ll find people follow the boys later on. For instance our boy Andrew Ebbett is playing in the Olympics and we’re all incredibly proud of him.”
Ebbett, who has played for five NHL teams, including the Vancouver Canucks, is not the only Silverbacks alumni to reach celebrity status. Riley Nash, newly signed to the Boston Bruins, got his start with the Silverbacks and recently opened up about how having a billet family helped him during his first years as a Junior A hockey player.
Nash stayed with the Hagel family in Salmon Arm; a family with a long history of billeting local players that dates back nearly 30 years. According to Jodi Crocker, a daughter of the Hagel’s, her family’s commitment to billeting players is just one part of what inspired her to continue billeting.
“The best part is you have new family members, they become part of your family, it’s nice having other people around the house,” Crocker says. “It’s so rewarding, especially if you have young kids in your home. These [players] are role models. For my daughter it’s like she has a big brother, which she doesn’t normally have. They’re great kids, they bring so much into your home.”
Troy Mick, president of the Silverbacks, believes the importance of providing good homes for players cannot be overstated. A quick glance at the Silverbacks’ roster shows many of their skaters hail from southern Alberta, while players Julian Timba and Trevor Adams come all the way from California and Michigan, respectively.
“I can guarantee you there would be no Junior A hockey team here if we had no billet families,” says Troy Mick, president of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. “Those families are kind of our lifeline. Some people have been doing it since the first year the team was here, 17 years ago.”
Mick also believes that families who billet players can become invested in the team as if their own sons were playing, something Jodi Crocker confirms from her experience as a billet mom.
“You go to all the games because you want to see how your boys are doing, it gives you something to look forward to at the game,” Crocker says. “It just makes it so much more exciting when you have someone to watch who you have a personal connection with.”
