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Home Life
CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON BECOMING A BILLET FAMILY!
Our athletes who need room and board are billeted among a great group of local families. Our billets provide a safe and supportive environment that our student athletes can call home. We have had great success through our billeting program and feel that it has been an integral part of the growth of our Academy.
Daryl, OHA’s Director of Residential Life who billeted students for four years before stepping into her current position, facilitates the process and ensures that our students are placed in a home they will be comfortable with. This process includes an extensive screening process that insures the family and student are the right fit for each other. Each potential billet family goes through a wide-ranging interview and reference check. The student is also asked a series of questions such as if they are okay living with children, pets, etc. This process insures the student and his or her new billet family will be comfortable with one another.
“AS A BILLET FAMILY, WE LOVE BEING INVOLVED WITH OHA. WE HAVE A YOUNG SON PLAYING HOCKEY AND THE EXAMPLE AND DETERMINATION OF THESE YOUNG MEN IS A HUGE BOOST TO HIS CONFIDENCE AND GAME PLAY. WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE HAVING THEM IN OUR HOME AND MEETING THEIR FAMILIES AND GAINING NEW FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY.” – DUSTIN AND KRISTY MALLORY, OHA BILLET FAMILY
Billet families provide student athlete with a home away from home. The families provide meals and transportation, when needed. In many cases, the relationships developed between the student and billet family last for years, even when the student has moved onto the next chapter of his or her life.
"Playing at OHA was great. I had great billet families and made great relationships with people I still keep in touch with. It was a really good learning experience for me being away from home playing hockey, which set me up to go play junior." - Dennis Robertson (Charlotte Checkers, AHL)
For more information on the OHA billeting process, please contact:
Garth Astles
OHA Coordinator of Residential Life
250.219.2275
GarthAstles@okanaganhockey.com
Looking for a program you can trust?
We have over 50 years of experience.
In 2010 I was fortunate enough to play at the Okanagan Hockey Academy on the Midget Prep team. With coaches like Robert Dirk and Greg Holst it was an unbelievable year. I have to this day still never been on such a close-knit team. It was my first year of midget hockey and that meant a lot more travel. Playing in the CSSHL I got the opportunity to play in some pretty awesome spots. The league helped me learn to stay on top of school, which has helped me not only in college but also in junior. I was able to make an easy jump to junior and college academically with the help of Dave Nackoney, a guidance counselor at Penticton Secondary School who works with all the student athletes. To this day if I need anything he is always more than willing to help. It is the great staff that left such an impression on me, and made it possible for me to be where I am today.