Last season marked the first-year as a billet parent for local, Sherry Funk. Funk is pictured here with Stars’ goalie Adam Dmyterko, left, and defenseman Ryan Granville, at the team’s year-end barbecue in May. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

A Rewarding Experience

North Stars seeking billets for upcoming season

Aug 8, 2019 | 2:00 PM

As autumn quickly approaches and September creeps into the horizon, the changing leaves aren’t the only thing marking the start to a new season.

Hockey season sits just a month away, and as the new campaign begins to loom in the near future, the Battlefords North Stars are searching for billet families for the 2019-20 season.

Billet coordinator for the Stars, Kyle Kellgren said offering the players a welcoming home away from home is of utmost importance to the team.

“Being a billet family for our hockey club is really huge for us,” he said. We have kids coming from all over the country, [and even] some coming from the U.S. Parents are sending their kids to us and we want to make sure they have a positive environment while they are here, so we want to find a home that welcomes them in and treats [the players] as one of their own.”

Kellgren went on to say that serving as a billet parent is a unique opportunity, due to the impact one can have on the lives of a player. Many of the young men who come to play for the Stars are still in their late teens, between 17 and 19-years of age.

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Four new families signed up to billet last year. Kellgren said all four will be returning this season, adding that some families have been billeting players for over a decade.

“Once people start it is contagious and they love these kids,” he said. “[The billets] take a hand in raising them, and kind of bring them in as their own kid and help them become better men as well as better hockey players.”

Stars’ netminder Chad Duran, pictured here with billet parent Jeremy Pethick and his two kids, Sienna and Ryder. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Jeremy Pethick and Dani Williams have been billets for the team each of the last six years. Pethick told battlefordsNOW back in May, at the team’s year-end barbecue, that opening their home to a Stars’ player is something both they and their two children, know well and relish each year.

“It’s always a rewarding experience being a billet parent,” Pethick said. “Just being able to experience every up and down with them and have them in our house, they’re just like another kid to us.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1