The Search Continues

The Search Continues

It’s a frantic time of year. The last few weeks of summer, back to school and in the hockey world, the search for billets.

The social media posts across the junior hockey ranks have been appearing at a torrid pace.

“Billets needed.”

As I’ve written before “billets” are the backbone of junior hockey in this country and without them teams and organizations are left scrambling or even in shambles.

A few weeks back I had a conversation with one longtime scout, they had heard that the search for billets for one particular league in this region was at a standstill.

A former teaching colleague of mine once said in their own unique and particular way, “Eags, you can’t force a team.” Meaning if you don’t have enough players or can’t force things you can’t field a team no matter how hard you want to, or how much the players and parents might want it, you can’t force things.

Recently the call for billets seems to taken on a similar moniker or feel to that, but can you really blame them? Teams are no doubt entering a desperate time, they’re looking for great families to be a pillar for their players and the team.

With everything that has gone on with the economy, many would be billet families are left scrambling and scrounging, especially those that have young children in sports which are Jr hockey teams traditional base for billet involvement.

Organizations continue to search for billet families well before training camp and even more now at the latter stages of the final selection process. In recent years “older billet” families have taken on more than one player which has greatly helped out teams, but that isn’t the most ideal set up because not a lot of billet families have room to accommodate more than one player.

Opening up your home to a young student athlete isn’t always easy, but it’s evident how critical billet families are to the life and culture of junior hockey in this region and beyond. Things can’t be forced when it comes to billets but ask anyone who has ever billeted a player or has a history of being a billet family and they will always say that it’s a life changing experience for everyone involved.

The backbone of junior hockey appears to be taking a massive hit right now just like the economy. The sporting world has always somehow mirrored society. The game of hockey has become an almost elitest or unattainable sport for so many based on the financial pressures that come along with it. Obviously, the struggle to find billets has become a common trend and obstacle over the past several years for junior hockey leagues and only adds to the financial burden that they are faced with as well. A solid collection of billet families not only strengthens the organizations culture it becomes a massive selling point especially in today’s “wild west” climate with players and their parents weighing all of their options and paths to take. Junior hockey organizations can’t afford to screw up or have their billet community become a weak link or a perceived weak link within their organization.

It’s unclear what has changed faster, the game or the search for billets and support systems within the community when it comes to junior hockey.

Junior hockey needs billet families to survive and thrive. The search continues, but the current trend should be incredibly concerning for organizations and just might be the underlying reason some teams might struggle or worst-case scenario fold in their particular markets.