Editor’s note: Each fall, families across our state serve as billet families for players coming to Michigan to advance their hockey careers. MiHockey writer Ryan Zuke shares his own experiences from when his family served as a billet family for a European player skating in Michigan, offering a unique perspective on the subject.
By Ryan Zuke –
Two years ago, my family was in a rather unique situation.
My brother was set to play for the Motor City Metal Jackets Midget Minor team and the coach had recruited two players from the Czech Republic. The only problem was, they had no place to stay.
I was about to leave for my first year away at college, so there was an opening at our house. The coach asked my parents if they would accommodate one of the boys for the season.
At first, you would think this was an easy decision. We had an empty room, one of the kids needed a place to stay – why wouldn’t we be able to take him in? But keep in mind these were two kids we knew nothing about, did not speak very much English and were coming from a country halfway across the world.
Nevertheless, my parents agreed to let one of the boys – Vlad Slyusarchuck – stay with us. And hands down, it was the greatest decision of my life.
Two years later, I have gained a brother, a best friend and memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
But I’ll admit, at first I was not very open to the idea. In fact, I was actually pretty upset at my parents for agreeing to do this. I felt like I was being replaced. I mean where was I supposed to sleep when I came home for the weekend? How would our family events be affected? What if he liked completely different things than me?
As it turns out, all of my worrying was for nothing. He turned out to be the coolest, funniest guy I know.
The first connecting moment
Vlad’s birthday was within the first couple weeks after moving in so we decided to take him to Mongolian Barbeque and celebrate.
At this point, he did not understand much English and it was difficult trying to engage in a full conversation. But there was one thing he could definitely understand.
During dinner, my brother and I spotted some cute girls sitting a few tables down. Vlad was keenly aware of what we were so infatuated with, smiled and said in his distinct Czech accent,
“Girls? I like Girls.”
Welcome to the family, buddy.
Starting to feel like home
I had to come home from school about a month later and he was completely moved into my room. His English was improving at a rapid pace and he was beginning to get acclimated to his new home and lifestyle.
By winter break, it already felt like he was a part of the family. As he became more comfortable around us, his competitive side started to show—and I loved it. One thing I will say for sure, he turned me into one heck of a ping-pong player, and yet, he still beats me nearly every time.
We also had a hockey rink in our backyard, and since he was a goalie, there were plenty of competitions to establish supremacy on the ice.
There were never any dull moments with Vlad. Every day I would come home from work and knew he would entertain me in some way. Plain and simple, the kid could make me laugh like nobody else could.
But it was more than that. He is just a great friend all around. It honestly seemed like he was never in a sour mood, and if he was, it was impossible to tell. Plus, for the two years I’ve known him, I have not seen him get mad at me. I mean think about that, how many people can say they have someone really close to them that has not gotten mad at them in two years?
And it was not like he was just putting on an act around us. You could tell he was truly thankful for having us in his life and we were thankful for him being such a pleasant addition to our family.
From then on, I was ecstatic every time I came home. You know the saying, “That just made my day”? Well Vlad continuously delivered those types of moments, day in and day out. Sure, there were some “What were you thinking?” moments as well, like when he locked my mom’s keys in her car while it was still running. But the only thing I can do now is look back and chuckle. Of course, nobody’s perfect.
Everybody loved him
Not only did he get close with our family, but my whole extended family too. We would take him to all of our family get-togethers and my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles would pepper him with questions about his homeland and how he liked living with us. Sometimes you could tell he was a bit shy, but once again, he was never short on delivering a good laugh for everyone.
My friends admired him too. If they got the chance to meet him or talk to him, they quickly understood why I was so lucky.
Sadly, at the end of the year, we knew he would not be playing with my brother the following season or living with us again.
It was hard on all of us seeing him go back to Czech for the summer, especially because we did not know how much we would see him anymore.
But he decided to attend Orchard Lake St. Mary’s this past year and live and play hockey there. We did not see him nearly as much, but occasionally he would come over for the weekend and I would drive back from school to see him.
It was not the same, obviously, but it still felt like he was part of the family. His English was superb at this point and he was becoming very accustomed to American life.
His parents would routinely email back and forth with my parents to check how he was doing, but they barely spoke any English (Google translate is a beautiful thing).
Since Vlad was thoroughly enjoying living at our house, they asked if my family would like to visit them in Prague during the summer and take a week-long tour of Europe.
We booked the trip in January and the anticipation began to build.
Trip of a lifetime
Vlad came back to live with us for about a week once he finished school and all we could talk about was how excited we were for the trip.
He flew home four weeks before our trip was scheduled and we would Skype every week discussing the planned itinerary.
I was a little bit nervous about how the communication aspect would be at first. Vlad’s mom had been learning English, but he said she was not very comfortable speaking it; his sister, Milly was learning it in school, but she was only eight and his dad spoke an estimated four words in English total.
But it was not bad at all. Vlad’s mom was much better than expected and could easily maintain a conversation. Milly was outstanding and displayed a tremendous amount of confidence for being so young. She even told her mom not to translate for her because she wanted to get better. And Vlad’s dad promised he would be much improved by the end of the trip—and boy was he right.
Just after a couple of days, it was evident he was feeling much more comfortable.
Almost everything about the trip was perfect, well almost (my parents accidently forgetting me at the France-Italy border could probably be put into the not so perfect category).
I have never met a family that was as kind and as genuine as Vlad’s family. You could tell how much they cared about making the trip enjoyable and did everything in their power to accommodate us.
And it was a blast! We stayed a week with them in Prague before doing a week-long road trip to Paris and Italy. I would highlight some of the greatest moments, but there was just too many to count.
After the trip, it feels like I am part of another family. It was undoubtedly the greatest two weeks of my life and I am truly blessed to be given this opportunity of a lifetime.
Looking Back
As I look back at the whole situation, I can only wonder how the last two years of my life would have shaped up if my parents had just said no.
And I think there has to be other billet families out there experiencing the same thing, right?
Sure, not all of the players taken in will turn out like this. But if by some chance you or your family has the opportunity to take in a player for a season, why not do it?
All I know is if my parents had simply declined the coach, I would have missed out on so many memorable moments I have experienced over the past two years.
One thing is for sure, if this world had more people like Vlad and his family, I guarantee it would be a much better place.