By Martin Martinson

North Stars looking for billet families

Aug 27, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Hockey season is just around the corner, and with each new year comes new players in need of a home away from home.

Kyle Kellgren is the vice-president of the board for the Battlefords North Stars, and in addition, is going into his second season as billet coordinator for the hockey club.

Kellgren said billeting a North Stars’ player is more than just putting a roof over their heads; it means welcoming them into your home.

“Parents from all over the country, and even some from the United States, are sending their kids to come and play on our team,” he said. “So it’s very important for us to find good families and good homes where these kids can come to play their hockey here, while also having somewhere to go where they’re welcomed and where they’re treated like they are at home.”

Kellgren added it’s important to realize that for the players, a stable billet home is a necessity for their game to be at its best.  

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“A lot of these kids are 17, 18, 19 years old, and for some of them it’s the first time they’ve been away from home,” he said. “It’s imperative for them to come here and feel comfortable, to be able to play at a high level, and do what they came here to do, be a hockey player.”

Kellgren believes that a positive experience at home will lead to positive results on the ice.

“They need that stable environment when they go to the billet house. If they are happy at home, then they are happy at the rink, and the players will play a lot harder if they like the situation they are in,” he said.

A large majority of those who have billeted a player in the past are repeat billet families.

“This year coming up we have an 80 per cent return on people who have billeted last year that are continuing on billeting. We have amazing billets here in the Battlefords; we have people that have been billeting for over 10 years, and every year they’ll take one or two kids in,” Kellgren said.

He went on to add that the response this year has been a positive one once again, but they are still looking for more people to billet.

“We just want our billets to look at the kids coming here like they’re part of the family, and treat them like one of their own,” he said. “We have people who have been billets for years that have gone to weddings of players in the future or have ongoing relationships, so it’s a pretty special bond that billets and billet families have for a lifetime.”

To learn more about the North Stars’ billet program contact Kyle Kellgren at jackfishproshop@sasktel.net.

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca 

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1