Welcome to another exciting year of Weyburn Red Wing Hockey! As Billet co-ordinator for the 2008-2009 season, I look forward to renewing friendships with our existing billet families and meeting new billet families.

Being a billet family is both a wonderful and rewarding experience. Take it from me, I have been a billet for eight years myself. This experience is a great way to get involved in the community, as well as develop some very special bonds with our Red Wing players and their families. For many of the players, this will be their first time away from home and will be in need of a stable living environment for their move to Weyburn. Part of our commitment to our players and their parents is to provide them with a good home.

In the billet homes, the players are encouraged to become involved with the family that has so generously welcomed them. As a member of the household, the players are expected to share in the daily chores as well as maintain their own rooms and do their own laundry. On occasion, the players may have to look after their own meals, if the billets are away.

The players will have a very structured schedule for the entire time they will be placed in your home. The team will practice mostly every day, except on game days. They also may have a strict workout program to follow throughout the season. Some players may still be in school and others are encouraged to find part-time employment. The team has a set curfew that all of the players need to abide by in order for our team to be successful. To help with the expense of housing a player, the organization provides our billets an allowance per player per month.

Below we have included the guidelines for billets for the 2008/2009 season and a few testimonials from past/current billets.

If after considering the possibility of welcoming a player into your home you have more questions please do not hesitate to contact our office at 306-842-2212 or myself, billet co-ordinator, Shari Cleasby, at 306-842-3929.

Weyburn Red Wings, Billeting Guidelines and Rules

The following guidelines have been set and agreed on by both players and management. If any problems arise, please call Ron, Dwight or Darcy @ 848-3750 or 848-3751.

1. Curfews are for the benefit of these athletes. Players are to be at their own billets by 10:30pm. Nights before a game, curfew is set at 10:00pm. On home game nights, all players are to be at their own billets by 12 midnight. Away games, the players are to be home within 1/2 hour of arrival back at the rink. Special nights will be given off by management.

2. Leaving Weyburn is not allowed. Players must get permission from management and notify billets well in advance.

3. Players, if registered, must attend all classes, either high school or university, including after away games. Notify the Comprehensive office at 842-7494 and the coaching staff if they will be late or absent. Players should give billets a timetable of their classes.

4. Players who are not in school, are encouraged to find a part time job or regularly attend morning skate.

5. Abuse of any substance will not be tolerated. It is a League Rule: offence of any substance will result in a 30 day suspension of playing in any hockey game.

6. Players are to inform their billets well in advance if they will not be home for a meal.

7. There are to be no visitors at billets home after curfew hours or at any time unless proper arrangements and understandings have been made by the players and their billets.***NO SLEEP OVERS***

8. Players shall live by their billets house rules. Communication is the key to success and things that are not acceptable in your home may have been in theirs. Unless these problems are addressed, peeves may fester into larger problems. (ie: shower use, telephone usage, dishes, shoes in the house, tidiness, etc.)

9. Players should take the initiative to make their own meals, do their own laundry and volunteer around the house when billets require assistance.

10. Players and billets should discuss the meals best suited for both. Player should eat a balanced diet. High carbohydrate, low fat diets are ideal. Vegetables are important to maintain proper tissue and cell repair.

11. The most important rule is that of common sense and good communication. Respect is a two-way program.

Testimonials

Why did we start billeting hockey players, the answer is really a simple one. We were asked by a hockey mom to think about giving billeting a shot as the Red Wings were short of billets and we said, ok we will give it a try for training camp. Well that training camp back in the fall of 2000 has turned into 7 years of some great memories and even greater friendships that will last for years to come. The first year was a learning process for us.The hardest is getting a billet and losing him to being cut at camp or possibly being traded before the deadline, but as you become a veteran billet you understand but never get used to losing these young players, and usually once one leaves another takes his place. We give these young men great credit for coming into our homes and living with complete strangers with rules and regulations and by the end of 7 or 8 months being able, hopefully, to feel that they are part of a second family. We hope that we have made it easier for these young men to be away from home. The best rewards that we receive from billeting is when in the middle of summer you receive a phone call or even a visit from one of these young men that lived in your home for a season and he just wanted to fill you in on what he has been up to. Don't get me wrong it's not always a bed of roses all the time because being a family of sorts, things do get heated at times, but for the most part things run quite smoothly. And just like anything you will get attatched to these guys that come into your life every august and leave in May or June. And when they do leave it is like you are watching your son drive down the driveway and I can say that most times the eyes get a bit weepy as you see the taillights vanish but then again you realize that they will be back in 4 months or sooner and you can start all over again with him or start all over with a new boy to train. So if you ever thought about billeting I strongly recommend doing it because the benefits are great.

Larry and Val Tribiger

As a third year billet family, and parents of three boys ourselves, we would have to say it's been one of the most rewarding experiences we have ever had. From the first day they enter our home they become our extended family and we in turn become their biggest fans. We laugh and cheer through their triumphs and support them through their tough times. Sure, at times things can get a little hectic with juggling their schedules and our boys schedules but the kinks get worked out pretty quickly. We have yet to meet a billet that has not been appreciative for a warm bed to sleep in and a hot meal at the end of the day. As an added bonus for billeting, our sons get to experience the benefits of having a mentor for their upcoming season and a role model for living a healthy lifestyle.

When you see the success these players have worked so hard for, it is humbling to know the small part you have played in their journey. It is the lasting relationships we make with the players and their parents that motivate us to billet again the following year.

Chris and Stacey Pederson.

"My great experience in Weyburn would of been nothing if it wasn't for the hardwork and support from all of the billet families. They made me feel apart of the family and this helped a lot when coming into an unfamiliar and sometimes nervous situation.

Chad Anderson

Weyburn Red Wing (2005-2007)