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Ralph and Karen Zander have 15 sons who have all played hockey for the Calgary Hitmen.
However, none of them share surnames.
The Zander family is one of many who bring junior hockey players into their home and treat them as family, better known as a billet's host family.
“We’ve always been involved with hockey. It’s just part of breathing,” Karen Zander recalls, thinking over her involvement with Canada’s national pastime.
For 15 years, Karen Zander and her family have acted as a billet host family for out-of-town players who play for the Calgary Hitmen.
Photo: Derrick Newman/Calgary Journal
Now retired, Karen relies on these kids just as much as they rely on her to keep on going.
“They’ve certainly kept me young and on my toes.”
Ralph, a volunteer statistician with the Hitmen, and Karen have two daughters of their own and it was originally their eldest who convinced them to start billeting Hitmen players.
However, their involvement in junior hockey started long before the Hitmen were even in Calgary. When the Calgary Wranglers landed in town back in 1977, the Zander family was first on the scene to lend a helping hand.
“When the Wranglers came, I wrote to every parent of the kids who were on that team, just let them know the kids were being looked after, and we enjoyed having them here,” she said. “I just thought they should know that someone is interested in how their kid is doing.”
Hitmen education advisor and billet coordinator Bernie Bajnok explains: “When I need help I call Karen. They know all these hockey players; they know them all.”
But it’s not only the relationship the Zanders’ have with the players while sharing living quarters, it is the lasting bond that is created through the time spent with each other.
Kris Deines, who played for the Hitmen for three seasons, not only calls Ralph and Karen family, but the Deines and the Zander families are now all very close. Kris recently became engaged and guess who was one of the first people he chose to call?
“I got a phone call telling me all about it,” Karen said, recalling the day when Kris sprang the exciting news on her and Ralph.
The two families will forever be interconnected now because of the generosity of the Zander family.
“We see each other every Christmas. Their daughter is actually our wedding planner,” Deines explains. “They’re family now.”
Karen and Ralph attend every single Hitmen game, and have done so since the team’s inception into the WHL back in the fall of 1995. Ralph, of course, is high above the action keeping track of all the minute statistics that happen throughout the course of the game.
Karen attends games with her daughters and five-year-old grandson who, has been attending games since he was 10 days old.
“I think there is an indent in my seat,” she jests thinking about her seat in the Dome.
Billeting these young men has changed Karen and Ralph’s life. On the other hand, without the Zander’s contribution, the Hitmen would have a huge void to fill.
“I need an excuse to dye my hair,” she says. “They’re so vibrant and full of life. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” |
