A community team
Billet families play their part in Mavericks’ championship season
Hugs. Cookies. Socks. Dot Hanson only needs to give the Medicine Hat Mavericks she billets a place to put their heads at night and the odd meal, but she'd never stop there.
Armed with a purse that looks like a giant baseball, blinged-out earrings and a Tshirt that appropriately says “Momma Dot,” she's been doing this for eight years.
“They are all my kids,” she said before Thursday's Game 5 at Athletic Park, pausing the interview for another round of hugs as players walked by. “The whole team is my boys.”
Bubbling with energy and a joie de vivre unmatched by many, Hanson is in her element at the ball game. The mother of three and grandmother to two is always moving, always with a smile on her face and quick to laugh.
When Greg Morrison bought the team in 2008, one of the first changes was to not have the players stay in dorm-like accomodations. By having members of the community take them in, the message was simple: you've got the city supporting you, so show them respect.
It's worked. The billets get season tickets to watch the team play, there are a couple group events where they all get together, and the players seem to enjoy the experience.
Certainly, being billeted by Dot is a slightly different experience.
“She goes beyond what she has to do, way beyond,” said Louie Canjura, a rare two-year player who lucked out and wound up with Dot both summers. “I love her. She's like a mom when you're over here.”
Canjura, Jumpei Akunama and David Salgueiro all billeted with Hanson this summer. She made them each blankets. But they're hardly the only ones who benefit from her dedication. She made pillows for players celebrating birthdays during the season regardless of whether she billeted them or not. There was a Fourth of July cake for the American players.
“I've gone through four sacks of flour,” she said. “I'll do it until I can't do it.”
And Hanson is hardly the only billet who goes the extra mile. One family postponed their vacation this past week in order to see the Mavericks win the league title Thursday night.
For the players, the little things are appreciated.
“It's perfect,” said Canjura. “We're just thankful, they give us a home that we can rest in. We love them.”
The experience seems great from a player's perspective, and that seems to go both ways. Billet Wes King-Hunter's family took in pitchers Jonathan Smithey and Junior Pimentel this summer — not the first time they've billeted, but the first time they've had athletes.
“As volleyball coaches, it's been interesting learning about the similarities and differences with baseball, especially from the perspectives of two pitchers with different backgrounds,” he said.
As players departed back home or for their college programs Friday — they'll mostly all be gone by the weekend — some will stay in touch with the families who treated them like sons the past couple months. That's certainly true with Hanson, whose shirt was given to her by former players.
Grant Silva, one of those explayers, has even welcomed Hanson into his home in California.
“We're in touch with him quite often, he's having a little boy in September,” said Hanson. “So we're going next September to go see them.”
Hanson joked she's going to hide the passports so this year's group can't leave.
“They're so close,” she said. “It's like they've been brothers and playing together for years. A very, very close-knit bunch.”