Housing Families

The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy is now accepting housing family applications for the 2025-26 season. Becoming a housing family for an Academy 18U or 16U player is a rewarding experience.  House a player during the season to help a young man on his path to play hockey at the higher levels and further his education with an NCAA college scholarship! You can read through the common question section below. The 'Housing Family Application' document can be downloaded by clicking the directly below.

The strength of a successful junior hockey program is clearly the billet families. Players spend the majority of their time in these homes where they are welcomed in and integrated as a functional part of the family. The experience is rewarding and forges life-long bonds. Our coaching staff & billet coordinator will be in constant contact with you throughout the season to make sure everything is going well.

If interested in becoming a housing family, please fill out the ‘Housing Family Application’ form below and send to Wild Billet Coordinator Jesi Janes at billets@wenatcheewildhockey.com. If you have more questions about becoming a housing family, please feel free to contact Hockey Director Troy Mick at the Wild office (509-888-7825) or email tmick@wenatcheewildhockey.com.

Billet Credential Registration Steps To Follow:

Every year, all billets are required to Register with USA Hockey as a volunteer, complete their SafeSport training, and run a background check (good for 2 years). Please follow the steps below to properly register. Background checks can take weeks to complete, so please get this submitted as soon as possible.

STEP 1: Register with USA Hockey as a Volunteer and obtain your registration confirmation number. You will get a new number each year.

STEP 2: Complete your SafeSport Certification. Every year, all billets are required to renew and update their SafeSport Certification before players can arrive at your house. First time you do this will take up to 3 hours. Any refresher courses are 20-30mins. Please make sure you give yourself plenty of time do this well in advance, there are NO EXCEPTIONS.

STEP 3:  Complete PNAHA  Background Check.  Screening is completed through PNAHA. Select WAHA when asked for district. Screenings are good for 2 years - if you are unable to submit a new report, it means you are good for this year and go to Step 4. To complete this process takes less than 5 minutes and is reimbursable. To receive a refund, please email billet coordinator Jesi Janes at billets@wenatcheewildhockey.com with your receipt & mailing address to send your check. 

Common Questions About Becoming a Billet Family.....

• Why should I house a hockey player? You are doing something great for a young person. For many of these players, it is their first time away from home. You can provide them with a welcoming and comfortable environment to make sure they have a great experience. Secondly, the players will impact your family's lives. If you have children, many times the players will serve as a great role model for your kids. It also seems to be a really good fit for people without children or whose children have grown up and moved out of the house. The billet experience is typically a great experience for both the billet families and the players. 

• What do you need to provide as a billet family? A personal space including a bed, internet access, and a comfortable/supportive living environment...and nutritious food, they are high-caliber athletes and they like to eat!

• What does your family get in return? You will receive a check from the Wenatchee Wild for $600/month, two free Wild Zone tickets for Wild WHL home games, and special 'billet family only' activities.

• Our family travels periodically during the winter, how does that work? We have a team policy that players cannot stay home alone at their billet family’s home. When your family is traveling, just inform our billet coordinators and they will place your player in a different billet home for the time that you are away.

• Do they need rides? Our players will be between the ages of 15-18. Many of the players will have their own car and the players that do not will have the help of their teammates for rides. You can always help your player with rides but it is not something that you would be obligated to provide or ever asked to do.

• Can we house more than one player? Yes. This is up to you, many billet families like having more than one player in their home and many like just having one.

• How are players assigned? The housing families and the players will each fill out a questionnaire regarding specifics of what they are looking for in this experience. The questionnaires, combined with the billet coordinator’s knowledge of each family and player, are used to pair players with families that we believe will be a good fit.

• What are the rules the players need to follow? The Wenatchee Wild and Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy have an extensive rule book for the players to follow with their housing families. The players will be expected to follow any additional house/family rules that you have. These players are moving away from home and are very serious about pursuing hockey at higher levels. They understand that breaking team rules can significantly hinder their dreams of playing college/professional hockey someday.

• What are the players’ schedules like? The 18U Wild and 16U Wild players are very busy. During a typical weekday, they will attend school full-time at Eastmont High School, then come to the rink for practice, then have study hall or team workout. The players play games almost every weekend during the season, either Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun. The players arrive at the end of August and stay until the end of the school year in June. The players will go home for 12-14 days over winter break.

The bottom line is that housing a hockey player should be a great experience for both your family and the player! We are looking for families to provide a comfortable living environment for our players as they transition away from their parents' homes for the first time in their young lives. Our coaching staff will be in constant contact with you throughout the season to make sure everything is going well.

If interested in becoming a housing family, please fill out the 'Housing Family Application' form below and send to billet coordinator Hunter McLeod through the Wenatchee Wild office. If you have more questions about becoming a housing family, please feel free to contact Coach Mick at the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy office 509-888-7825 or email him at tmick@wenatcheewildhockey.com. 

Thank you for your consideration and for your support of the Wenatchee Wild & our Academy teams. We look forward to seeing all of you very soon!

Go Wild!