It’s going to be a busy Mother’s Day for Judy Bergstrom, who, alongside husband Regan, has 18 sons and a daughter. While it sounds like the next big reality show, it’s simply what happens when a billet family opens their home to Alberta Junior Hockey League players for two decades.
Every year during hockey season, Regan volunteers 30 to 40 hours a week for the Camrose Kodiaks—on top of his full-time job—while Judy coordinates the team’s billet program. The cancellation of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 marks the first time since 1998 that the Bergstroms haven’t been near-daily fixtures at the arena.
“It takes an enormous amount of community support to keep a team in town,” Judy says. “We just want to do our part. Those boys are like family to us.”
*Video filmed Feb. 25, 2020