Canmore, Banff, Deadmans Flats, and Exshaw – The Canmore Eagles are in need of two billet families as soon as possible. Here is a note from one of our Billet Coordinators Barb:
Hello! This is Barb Costley. I work with Monique as one of the Billet Coordinators for the Canmore Eagles Junior Hockey Team. We’re responsible for the placement of players in people’s homes and we’re the communications liaison between players, parents, billet parents and the coaches.
I understand (FULLY understand) that this is a tough time of year to consider moving someone into that spare catch-all room (if there even is one) or that room that’s been used or continuing to be used by visitors enjoying the Bow Valley.
About the Eagles … the group of players that make up the team this year is wonderful. The boys have great chemistry, they are a trouble-free group and are having a good hockey season which makes for a good, positive atmosphere around the players. The players have strict curfews, strict rules, strict schedules and have to abide by all of them. They are a well-disciplined, thoughtful, hard-working group of young men. As a billet family you are expected to provide a safe, comfortable home with food to eat, a room to sleep in and a place they consider home during their stay in the Bow Valley.
I’ll let you know the very basics about being a billet family. You receive $350.00 a month for housing a player. There is also 15% off your groceries at Save on Foods during the course of the season which makes a HUGE difference in the total family bill and your family will receive season tickets for the remaining Eagles games.
There’s more …
You get a big hockey player living in your house. Our family has one. He is spending his second season with us. He’s our third billet. There are many of us billet families. These boys become such a huge part of your family that you miss them on road-trip weekends, look for their shoes at the front door, are happy to see their car out front of the house when you come home, listen for their sounds and watch your kids light up when they walk in the door. A billet can help with errands, help with watching over your younger kids, drive your kids to activities, help bring in the groceries, play with your kids and become part of your family. There are obvious downfalls to billeting. – You get a big hockey player living in your house. Enough said. Sometimes they don’t listen, don’t remember to let you know they’ll be late for dinner, don’t keep their room as clean as you’d like, step over the shovel after a snowfall, forget simple instructions (again and again) and have to be asked to take out the garbage.
Now that I’ve given you the high’s and low’s (there are more of each) … I have to let you know that those of us billeting a player consider this a great experience and absolutely adore our big boys. It’s not for everyone, but it’s for me and the rest of the Eagles family!
If you think you’d be interested in letting a player use an extra bedroom in your house until the end of the hockey season, please contact me, Barb at 403-813-3057 or Monique at 403-679-1830 for more information. Also, please pass this information on to others if you can think of someone who might embrace this opportunity.
Thanks for the consideration,
Barb & Monique, Billet Coordinators
Canmore Eagles, AJHL
