CHL Summer Jobs: Childerley’s off-season haul

As the dog days of summer are finally ending, it's that time again for another installment of what we lovingly call 'CHL: The Real World' where we look at players across the Canadian Hockey League who are trying to make a little off-season cash.

According to the yet-to-be-formed CHL Players' Association these kids cannot even afford to buy toothpaste during the regular season, so saving up in the summer is huge.

Keep in mind a lot of these players, like Portland Winterhawks forward Taylor Peters (who you'll read about below), also found the time to work while preparing for NHL development camps. It's really a testament to the kind of dedication it takes to hold down a job — even on a part-time basis — while fitting in daily workouts and training for the season.

Unfortunately for us, some of the players we contacted — Mitchell Chapman, Mitchell Theoret, Scott Kosmachuk, Corey Durocher, etc. — were so busy this summer that we had a difficult time tracking them down (good luck Georges Laraque) to talk about their summer work. As a result, we've got an abridged version to end this off-season.

Brendan Childerley (Owen Sound Attack)
Entrepreneur - Stratford, Ont.:

Brendan Childerley spent his summer like a boss. The Owen Sound Attack winger started his own junk removal business with the help of a government grant. In order to qualify, the 20-year-old had to first submit a business plan which was later approved.

"I was pretty fortunate they selected mine," said Childerley of his plan. "They give you $1,500 to start up and then if you're successful and you meet all of their requirements, they give you another $1,500 at the end of the summer."

He started "Junk In Our Trunk" with the money and even hired his friend and fellow hockey player Jared Culliton as his first (and only) employee.

"It kind of gives you an idea of what people are going through in the work world," said Childerley. "It gives you some knowledge of how everything works running your own business; it's kind of cool to make your own hours, too."

The pair use a pickup truck and a trailer to help haul the unwanted items to the local dump, though they've also been getting calls to help people move. Their rates are determined by the truckload, so the half-ton costs $75, while the truck and trailer will run you $125. That price also includes an hour of labour from the local hockey stars.

Childerley said they're game to move anything outside of hazardous waste and dead animals.

"It's pretty much everything," said Childerley. "Old basketball nets, old lumber that people don't want anymore. We've had a few people take out a whole kitchen, so we've had all that stuff.

"There was one guy who got rid of some Christmas decorations and there was a rotten pumpkin in one of the bags — that was pretty gross. "

If you live in the Stratford, Ont., area and would like help either moving or removing items from your home, give the boys at Junk In Our Trunk a call at: 519-273-2143 — Childerley said he's also considering doing the same thing next summer.

Taylor Peters (Portland Winterhawks)
Sign installer - Delta, B.C.:

Taylor Peters is a busy man. When he's not writing his awesome and incredibly funny blog or saving people from drowning in Portland's Willamette River, the Winterhawks forward is working for the DeSIGNS Group — a custom sign-making company — in his native Delta, B.C.

"We usually work with businesses and a lot of our work is housing and building developments," said the centre. "If there's a big building coming in and they're taking over a block, we usually do the advertising for the entire block with large posters and banners that we hang up."

Like some of the other players we have featured in the past, Peters is lucky enough to have his employer hold his part-time job for him every summer. He said the work is more similar to a small construction job, because his group is usually in charge of building the platforms on which the large signs reside.

"There's a lot of lugging large pieces of plywood around and carrying and digging — all the prep work for the signs — that's probably the hardest part," said Peters. "It's all drilling and hammering and stuff like that. A lot of our jobs take place as the same time as the construction of the building takes place so we usually have to develop a relationship with the construction site workers."

He said he enjoys his job, which he landed thanks to a family connection, and the experience of watching something go from the initial idea through to the completed product is cool to see.

"We're hands on from the start of the design process to the end of the installation."

Sunaya Sapurji is the Junior Hockey Editor at Yahoo! Sports.
Email: sunaya@yahoo-inc.com | Twitter @Sunayas